Harry Potter and the Tribe of Mystics
by Lord of mystics
Summary: Harry Potter is competing in the Triwizard tournament as someone is out to get him again. meanwhile, Susan Bones is trying to get to him. But what is the interest of mystics in Harry Potter? Who are they and why are they interested in Harry Potter? Why the blue eyed slytherin want to get to Harry Potter? Starts at end of year 4. [COMPLETED]
1. Chapter 1

**The idea for this fic came to me when I was finishing working on some other works on Hindu mythology. Hope you all you enjoy it.**

**I have started editing the chapters to make it more interesting for you all. **

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH HELP OF HYPERGYM, THE FINEST AMONG MUSES.

* * *

**Somewhere in the magical mountains of the Himalayas, 1966**

Harsh Vardhana, the master of the tribe of mystics was worried. You see, the mystics were wizards. No, no, not the parlor tricks wizards but real wand wielding wizards who can do impossible things with a bunch of words and a stick. Today, Harsh Vardhana was worried because they had encountered a foe so strong that they could not kill him. It had been centuries since they had come across such an abomination of magic. The being who had called himself Voldemort reeked of the vilest form of soul magic, bore the gifts of serpents and came of the magical land of Avalon.

The mystics were assassins whose work was to kill wizards who used magic for nefarious purposes and this Voldemort was one of them. Having duelled him for 2 hours, Harshvardhana had been able to subdue and capture him. During the subsequent interrogation under Veritaserum, he confessed having made not just one of those abominations, but five! Just one transgression against nature was enough to offend mother magic and that base being had made five!

A visit from the seer Varahmihir showed that he would not meet his fate by the hand of any mystic, but his destiny was intertwined with another, who was yet to be born. With no facility to hold him, unable to kill him and knowing full-well the perils of tampering with destiny, the mystics obliviated Voldemort and released him to wander in the wilderness of the Sahara Desert. They heard of him no more, until he turned up, years later, mutilated and vicious, offending mother magic, murdering wizards, witches and muggles. Some because they opposed his will, others just to amuse himself.

The Mystics decided to send a message to one of the most powerful modern wizards, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. They hoped it will not be too late before Albus Dumbedore was able to stop him for the time being and found a way to bring him down.

**June 1980, Godrics Hollow**

"James, are you sure about it? I mean is it fair to our children that we take away their right to choose their partners, to take away their chance to love? What if they do not like each other?" asked the brown haired man with blue eyes.

"Edgar, I know it is not fair but we are in the middle of a war. We do not know if we will survive. I have no family left and I will not let Harry be raised by Petunia or her husband. As far as muggles go, they are the worst. If we die, Harry will have a family who would love him", replied an exasperated James Potter who had recently wrote a marriage contract for his son and the other man's daughter.

"Lets hope we all survive this war so we can watch our children grow up.", said Lily.

**October - November 1980, Magical Britain**

Lord Voldemort had been ravaging Magical Britain for a decade and the war was tearing the magical world apart. It was only due to the intervention and courage of Albus Dumbledore and his vaunted Order of the Phoenix that the light side had been able to keep a foothold or magical Britain would have fallen before him. Wizards and witches were dying every day and Voldemort was gaining power. Dumbledore feared that it would not be long before Voldemort would make a move to besiege Hogwarts. Even the wards rumoured to have been erected by Rowena Ravenclaw herself would not last long under the weight of sheer numbers from such an attack. Then what would happen to the children, the future of wizarding kind? Albus feared that the wizarding world stood on the edge of doom and the prophecy made by Sybill foretold that his foe was about to be born which he meant would need years before he would be ready to take down Voldemort. Albus resolved to make it happen.

**October, 1981**

The mystics decided that it was time for them to intervene before Tom Riddle could bring the ruin of wizard kind. One of their number was dispatched as an emissary to Dumbledore with the information about Voldemort and his horcruxes. But before he made contact, little Harry Potter survived the killing curse and Voldemort disappeared, his power broken. Although they knew that Voldemort was not dead and that he would return, the mystics happily kept their peace. It was not for them to interfere. But still, they decided to keep an eye on events for the coming years and on the life of little Harry Potter.

**November 1981, Hogwarts**

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office in his rather large armchair, his finger-tips touching, looking over his half-moon spectacles at the young man sitting on the other side of the desk. Severus Snape had made some bad decisions in his life and Dumbledore knew he would be haunted by the consequences, but he knew that Tom Riddle was not finished and that he would need Snape when Voldemort returned.

Severus raised his head and said in a hoarse whisper, "What will become of Potter, Dumbledore? The dark lord will return and he will be in mortal peril. How will we keep him safe?"

"Severus, We have hidden him in the muggle world, with his aunt behind the blood wards. He will be safe there as long as he can call it home or until he comes of age. I have hope that Mr. Potter will find love there and have a happy life.", Dumbledore replied. "They are his only living relatives. It is the best that we can do."

**1991, Hogwarts**

Ron Weasley was Harry's best and first friend. Who would have believed that before he came to Hogwarts, the famous Harry Potter had no idea who he was to the wizarding world and that his cousin, Dudley had seen to it that nobody would be Harry's friend. Ever since that day on the train, when people realized who Harry was, there were gawkers, groupies and, believe it or not, people who wished Harry harm. Ron kept them all away. Of course, there was Hermione Granger. She was buck-toothed, bushy-haired, bossy and annoying. But, being muggle born, she was no groupie and being the smartest person in their year, she was also handy with the homework, so Ron didn't drive her away.

With a careful combination of maneuvers and tactless remarks, Ron managed to keep most of the groupies and gawkers away. Even Neville Longbottom with his story about being Harry's god-brother was told to keep his mouth shut or suffer the consequences. The five of them may be room-mates, but only Ron really basked in the reflected glory that came from being Harry's bestie.

Then there was that girl from Hufflepuff who kept trying to talk to Harry. Really, what does a girl from another house want with him. For most of them, one tactless remark about the quidditch team they support or the way they wear their hair would do it, but this one kept coming back for more. As the Gryffindors were making their way from Herbology, which they took with the Hufflepuffs, to potions, which they took with the Slytherins and Prof. Snape, a girl called out, "Harry!"

He turned and saw a girl with strawberry blond hair tied in pony tails and blue eyes wearing the colours of Hufflepuff jogging toward him along side of another girl with dark hair.

"Hi Harry, I am Susan Bones and this is Hannah Abbott. Can I talk to you for a minute?", asked Susan quickly and shyly.

Ron huffed out," We have potions with that slimy git Snape next. We don't want him giving us detention for being late."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's rudeness, while Harry rounded on Ron and growled, "I can speak for myself Ron. She wasn't talking to you."

Susan flushed a bit and looking down said, "It's ok Harry. I will see you later.", then she ran off with Hannah to catch up with the other Hufflepuffs on their way to defense against the dark arts.

Over the next few years, Susan kept coming back to befriend Harry but Ron made sure that she could never reach him. He joined Harry at the waist, shared in all his adventures and kept others way from Harry anyway he could. Harry was his best mate and no one else's.

**January 1995, Hogwarts**

Dumbledore was sitting in his office behind his desk, immersed in paper-work, looking for the funds to keep the school running, when the wards flared telling him of an unauthorised apparition in the castle. But as young Miss Granger so often reminded her friends, it was not possible to apparate anywhere in the school grounds. Albus drew the elder wand and with a quick tap the Head Master's Map, similar to the Marauder's Map, but a bit more sophisticated, showed that the intruder was in front of the gargoyle guarding the entry to the moving spiral stairs to his office and giving the correct password. But, who ever it was had managed to confound the map so that no name was showing. What's more, the anti-apparition charm had not been lifted or dispelled. it had simply been bypassed.

Albus was getting tired of paper-work anyway. Friend or foe, this visitor was a welcome diversion. As the gargoyle admitted the visitor, Albus flicked his wand and cleared away the paperwork and the map. While the moving spiral stairs sprang into motion, another flick of the wand conjured one of Albus's favorite poufy chintz chairs. While the stairs carried the visitor upward, a more complicated flourish of the wand conjured two tumblers and a bottle of Madam Rosmerta's finest, oak matured mead. Then for a finishing touch, one more wave of the wand opened the office door just as the visitor raised his hand to use the knocker.

One powerful stride carried the man over the threshold. He was deeply tanned with dark brown eyes and his black hair in a braid that went right down his back. He held a rather unusual looking wand out with his well muscled right arm. Magical power, strength and vitality vibrated from every inch of his six foot frame. It was not lost on Dumbledore that even with the elder wand, this man may be more than his match. In one quick glance, the visitor took in the entire office, including the fact that the elder wand was ready and not quite pointing at him.

Dumbledore reflected that he had only encountered such power three times in his entire 130 years. One was his old friend Gellert Grindlewald. Another was Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. And the third being this stranger. But, try as he might, Albus was sure that he had never met nor heard of this man before. A closer inspection of the stranger's wand showed that it was both thicker and longer than most. It was made of a wood not familiar to Albus and covered with runes in a language that was not one of the seven taught at Hogwarts. The man made his way to the freshly conjured chair and sitting, made himself comfortable.

"May I offer you some of Madam Rosmerta's finest?", asked Dumbledore as he began to pour.

"I will decline, hopefully without offense, young Albus.", the stranger purred, in a deep melodic voice, as he produced a flask from within his robes.

"You have the advantage of me sir.", said Albus, "Just who are you? And how did you come to be here anyway?"

"Trouble not yourself with such trifles, young holder of The Elder Wand, I may enter and leave Nurmengard at will. And this," he said gesturing to the grounds and castle, "this is only a school."

Well, thought Albus, if this man could waltz in and out of the most heavily guarded place on earth, certainly Hogwarts did not present much of a challenge.

Albus was taken aback by the stranger's presumptuous manners and his identification of the Elder wand. There were very few who even believed in its existence and a small handful that could identify it on sight, the only two in all of Britain being Garrick Ollivander and himself.

He said in his most carefree tone "So, you know this wand." Then, Dumbledore thinking that he may gain some clue to this stranger's identity inquired, "May I enquire, the composition of your own wand?"

"This, my boy,", he said gesturing with his own wand, "has a core of Ganda Berunda feather and is carved from the seasoned wood of the sacred Amaltas. It is 15 inches in length and the runes are in ancient Sanskrit. It serves me well."

Wands like that, Dumbledore thought, are not common and, certainly are not made in Britain. Perhaps a test of this man's skill and intention is in order. Faster than thought, more subtle than the faintest twitch, Dumbledore tried a disarming spell while the visitor appeared to be distracted, focused on his own wand, but he casually batted it aside leaving Albus flustered.

"Albus, this is old trick. I never fell for it. Now, be a good boy and behave.", he cooed.

**June 1996, Little Hangleton Graveyard**

Harry Potter knew that he was dying, bleeding from the fresh wound in his arm, the spider venom in the wound on his leg working its way through his system, the scar on his forehead feeling like his head was going to explode and the sickening weakness in the aftermath from the cruciactus curse. The port key had carried him and Cedric to the graveyard where Wormtail had murdered Cedric before Harry's eyes, simply for being there. Then used Harry's blood to bring Voldemort back to life. When the death eaters had assembled, the resurrected Voldemort had ordered Wormtail to return Harry's wand to him and they duelled. Things did not all go the dark lord's way however, Harry resisted the imperious curse, then the power of the twin cores and Harry's own unsullied soul forced Voldemort's wand to give up the shades of his more recent murder victims. For the first time in his life, he was able to speak with his mother and father. With all that he had endured and the prospect of being with his own loving mother and father again, Harry thought that maybe dying would not be so bad.

Harry had time to think about how he had suffered at the hands of the Dursleys. Even a house elf would have been appalled with such treatment. Dumbledore had left him there for ten years without even bothering to check on him. He thought about how his best friend, Ron had turned against him when he thought that Harry had put his own name in for the Tri-Wizard tournament without bothering to tell Ron how he did it. He felt ashamed that he had not bothered to contact Remus during his fourth year at Hogwarts. Leaving all the pain and suffering and shame behind would be a relief.

But then he began to think about leaving his god-father, Sirius being left alone in the world. The man who had risked everything to come to the aid of his god-son, who had endured 12 years in Azkaban for a crime he did not commit, who had become a fugitive and lived in caves to be there when Harry needed him. He thought about his best friends, Ron and Hermione How they had been there for him through all those unbelievable adventures and how lost and devastated they would be without him. And finally how his own mother and father had died that he might live. a different thought resonated in is conscious. 'NO! He would not die here!

With a deliberate effort of will, Harry lifted his wand with both hands. Once the contact of the wands was broken, the shades distracted Voldemort so that Harry could escape. The last request that Cedric's shade made was for Harry to take his body back to his parents. A request that Harry felt honour-bound to carry out. In the darkness and the confusion, Harry took his best guess as to where Cedric's body and the Tri-Wizard cup lay and ran for it.

As he dodged curses and hexes, weaving his way through the grave markers, a stray killing curse disintegrated his wand. The destruction of his wand felt like losing his right arm. The holly and phoenix feather had protected him and been a part of him. He felt his heart break with the loss.

As he dodged yet another crimson curse, he bowled over a short, pudgy death eater who yelped as they hit the ground in a tangle of limbs and robes. Harry recognized the traitor Wormtail and interrupted the "Incar..."*Ghack!", by kneeing Wormtail hard in the groin and wrenching the wand from the silver hand. In the moment that it took Voldemort and his death eaters to realize where Harry had gone and re-aim their wands, with a strong possibility of hitting Wormtail, Harry did not hesitate nor did he even consider trying to get to his feet. In one swift motion he used the pilfered wand and stunned Wormtail, summoned Cedric's body and summoned the Triwizard Cup, "Stupefy! Accio! Accio!". In the very same moment that the cup touched Harry's outstretched hand and he began to feel the familiar tug behind his navel, there was a rushing roar accompanied by the flash of green light and Harry knew no more.

Three bodies and the cup landed with a heavy thud and a clatter in front of the judges stand. The band began to play and the crowd went wild as they supposed that the winner of the Tri-Wizard tournament had emerged from the maze. But the band stopped playing and the cheers turned to screams of shock and dismay as they realized that none of the bodies were moving. Two of them were Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory, but who was this third one, the short pudgy one with the silver hand? Not everyone in the crowds knew him. Those who recognised him from the distance, were shocked. "Peter Pettigrew was supposed to have died over 13 years ago at the hands of Sirius Black!"

Fudge, pale as a ghost, dithered while Albus ran to the aid of the fallen champions. Padfoot recognizing Wormtail, charged over to tear him limb-from-limb. But before Padfoot could reach him, Alastor fired a dark cutting curse, which was countered with another yellow light and followed-up with a bludgeoning hex at Alastor knocking him out and finishing with the body-bind curse.

Fudge, his face purple, found his voice and bellowed, "Albus, what is happening? Who is this man? Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"This is no joke Cornelius, we will know in a minute. For now, I believe we need to interrogate this man before the dog kills him.", saying this, he raised his wand and stunned the dog. Then he bound Wormtail with an anti animagus jinx and beckoned Severus to watch him.

The moment Severus laid eyes on the dark magic masquerading as a hand attached to Wormtail's wrist, he recognized it for what it was. "Albus," he whispered, " I recognize this magic. The Dark Lord is back."

Albus then approached the new healer trainee who was standing menacingly over the stunned and bound Moody. Albus opened his mouth to ask something when he saw Moody begin to transform. The scars on his face and body vanished. His Claw-foot wooden leg fell off and hit the ground with a clunk as a leg of flesh and bone replaced it. the magical eye popped out and a natural one replaced it. The grizzled gray mane smoothed and darkened to a full head of sandy hairs. In the place of Alastor (Mad Eye) Moody was a much younger man with aristocratic features. Dumbledore recognizing him as Barty Crouch Junior, a man who was supposed to have died in Azkaban over 12 years ago, realizing that he had to think fast to secure him before Fudge blew his lid and did something stupid and permanent which would put everyone in mortal peril. He noticed Amelia Bones, the head of DMLE in the crowd, who was rushing towards him, anger etched in every line of her body and a scowl on her face.

He observed that Madam Pomfrey was taking a comatose Harry Potter in a Conjured stretcher to the infirmary while the Diggorys were crying over the body of young Cedric, clutching him. The scene tore at Albus's heart. Things were beginning, just like the last war. And perhaps Voldemort had risen again, but he needed proof. And the only reliable witness was on his way to the infirmary and in a coma. Here were two less reliable witnesses, only stunned, but they would require some persuasion before they would divulge anything useful.

Without preamble, Amelia launched into her interrogation, "Albus, what is happening? How is it that Peter Pettigrew is alive? And what happened to Mr. Potter and Mr. Diggory? I demand an explana...' her words were caught in her throat as she recognized the impostor Moody, "Barty Crouch Junior! But Albus, he was supposed to have died in Azkaban. How can he be alive?"

Dumbledore hurriedly whispered to her, "Amelia, I cannot explain everything right now. Just keep Cornelius from finding out about Barty Crouch Junior for the time being and take Pettigrew into your custody before our minister gets them killed. I fear that in his idiocy he may perpetrate our doom."

Nodding her head reluctantly, she barked orders to two of her Aurors to disillusion Barty Crouch Junior and move him to one of the safe houses. She was proceeding to secure Pettigrew when she saw Fudge summoning two dementors. Hastily going to him she snapped, "Cornelius! What do you think you are doing? You cannot bring those infernal monsters in here!"

Fudge blustered, "Amelia, I remind you that while you are the head of the DMLE, I am the minister and I will have you sacked if you don't stand aside and let me deal with this my way!"

Fudge, the idiot, thought Amelia, if he wants to throw his weight around, it is time that I reminded him of the law and what the name of Bones really means. With a casual flick, two patroni erupted from her wand and drove off the dementors. Then, commanding Fudge's attention with a rock-hard glare, she began in a calm and measured tone, "Mr. Cornelius Fudge, this is an ongoing investigation. Minister or not, if you attempt to interfere again, I will arrest you for obstruction. And, if you threaten me again, I will employ my position and seats as the regent of the Ancient and Most Noble house of Bones and you will be out of office before you can say, 'Non-confidence motion.'"

Fudge could say nothing but only gasp in shock at her.

**PLEASE LEAVE ME SOME REVIEWS.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- **Hi guys, this is the second part. I hope you all like reading it as much as I love to write it. The story will be AU from here and Harry will not be super hero or something like that. He will be powerful but he will have to work very hard for it. Romance would not bloom until later and then it will not be without some pain. There will be more characters later and I am trying to bring together some of the popular characters from the series with some fanfiction characters that I have come to love. Hoping to have some reviews.

This chapter has been updated by the generous muse, Hypergym whose every update makes the story more beautiful.

**Disclaimer- Of course, if I owned Harry Potter, you all would have read this already. Harry Potter belongs to JKR. I just own this little fic and the OC.**

* * *

**One Week Later**

Arthur Weasley was tired. The fiasco at the end of the Tri-Wizard tournament a week ago had been a harrowing experience for the Weasley patriarch. The boy his family had come to consider as one of their own was in the hospital wing under the care of Madame Pomfrey. All that she would say about Harry's condition was that he was alive, but in a coma due to magical exhaustion. What she was not saying is that the boy who lived, had done what nobody else had ever done and this for the second time. He had been hit with the killing curse and survived again. He could remember when a day after he was brought into the hospital wing, smirking Madam Pomfrey had attached a permanent brass plaque to the head of Harry's bed with his name on it, something she had been threatening to do for years.

The ministry was keeping the fact that Peter Pettigrew was alive and being held for questioning as a suspected death eater quiet. It was embarrassing after 13 years of hailing him as a hero and two years of relentlessly hunting Sirius Black for his supposed murder. Madam Bones was keeping his location quiet. She didn't want anything to happen to her star witness before he could be thoroughly questioned. Barty Crouch Junior was also being held, at a different location, but even the Minister of Magic knew nothing about him being alive or being in custody of the chief of DMLE.

Fudge, in terrified denial, refused to accept Dumbledore's word that Lord Voldemort was back. Later that same evening of the third task, after a heated debate with Dumbledore, just outside of the hospital wing, he forced his way in, against Madame Pomfrey's orders, to interrogate Harry. Finding Harry unconscious, he ordered Poppy to wake Harry. She quickly explained that Harry's injuries were extensive and that there was no telling when or if he would ever wake up. Frustrated at every turn, Fudge started to stomp out of the hospital wing, then remembering, turned and placed a large sack of Galleons on Harry's bed-side table. "His Triwizard winnings", he muttered, then he left as quickly as he could, slamming the door behind him.

Now it was a week later and still, Harry was in a coma. The Daily Prophet had started the very next day with its smear campaign against the Hogwarts head master, making him out to be senile, confused and delusional. This likely because the Ministry of Magic was leaning on them to discredit Dumbledore's claim that Voldemort was back.

As Harry's coma stretched on, gloom began to settle over the Weasleys and his friends, with the exception of Ron. He was putting on a brave front that life-threatening injuries were old-hat for Harry and he would be waking up any minute now. Arthur recognized this as an act and knew that Ron was hiding his deep concern for his friend and fear that he may never wake. Hermione and Molly had taken to camping beside Harry's bed from early morning to late in the night until Madam Pomfrey had to threaten to bar them both from the hospital wing. Ginevra had visited the boy a few times but she seemed strangely disenchanted when her father came upon her on the way to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Arthur was on his way to the hospital wing from the Gryffindor tower when he came upon Ginevra looking out of a window with a view of the forbidden forest with a far away look in her eyes. He was worried for her because he had never seen her behave like that before.

"Ginny, you look like you are a million miles away. Are you alright?", He asked tenderly.

Ginny's focus came back to earth as she turned and noticed him, and whispered, "Dad, I used to think that Harry was some kind of hero like Merlin reborn and that no one could ever defeat him. I've been studying with him for three years now and I thought that he was no different from the heroes in my children's story books. Yet I see him lying in the hospital wing, battling magical coma."

"Ginny, I knew you saw him as a hero, especially after he slew a basilisk and rescued you from the possession of Tom Riddle's diary and from the Chamber of secrets. And he has done extraordinary things. But, as your mother is so fond of reminding us, he is just a boy", he said gently. "And I just hope that one day; he will grow to be a fine man."

"Oh, Dad...", She began, tears welling in her eyes, "It's hard to give it up. I believed that as long as Harry was there, everything would be alright. And now, now I don't know if he'll ever wake up and it's just too...", and she broke down and wept into her father's shoulder as he wrapped her in his embrace.

After a few moments, Arthur began, "Ginny, that young man has done more, suffered more on our behalf than anyone his age ought to. I just hope that we will have the opportunity to thank him."

"Dad", she began as she pulled herself together, "The real reason that I feel so wretched is that I'm scared that I - I c - can't rely on him to protect me anymore. And I can't stand it."

His eyes misted as he smiled down at his only daughter, "Ginny, that was possibly the hardest and most honest thing you have ever said to me. I love you with all of my heart and I would never judge you. I cannot take away your pain any more than I can make decisions for you. Trust your heart. It will always steer you right."

"But dad," she sniffed, then continued, "It hurts so much."

"Yes Ginny. It does, and that is as it should be. It will take time." He gave his wonderful daughter his handkerchief and placing his arm around her shoulder, walked with her back to Gryffindor tower.

Having seen Ginny through the portrait hole, he turned back toward the hospital wing. His heart wept for his daughter. Growing up is so hard, and, he thought, perhaps giving up the hero worship of Harry Potter was just part of that. Speaking of Harry, that poor boy, laying there in that cursed coma, will he ever wake up? He was not looking forward to dragging Molly away from his bedside again, but he had to. She must get some rest. With everything on his mind, Arthur was not paying much attention to his surroundings and he nearly bumped into Madam Bones in the corridor.

"Madam Bones, what brings you to Hogwarts at this hour?" He asked.

"Arthur, I came looking for you. I wanted to talk to you regarding Pettigrew who is an illegal animagus of...", she trailed off, leaving Arthur to fill in the rest.

Arthur, taking the hint, continued, "A rat. Yes, he turned up and attached himself to Percy at first years ago. Now that I think of it, it was less than a week after Sirius Black had supposedly killed him. We gave Percy Hermes when he was made a prefect and Percy gave the rat to Ron who was just starting his first year at Hogwarts. He lived a remarkably long time for a rat and there was that toe missing from his right fore-paw, but other than that, he seemed like a perfectly ordinary rat. If you want, I will give a statement before the entire Wizengamot."

"Thank you, Arthur. That will do for now. I'll let you know if we need anything more on that subject. But, there is one other thing I need to discuss with you."

"How may I help you?"

"Have you noticed how often my Susie comes to visit Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, and Molly even more so. I find it surprising because we didn't know that they were friends", replied Arthur.

"Surprising, yes, that is because there is something important that you do not know about Harry Potter and my Susan, and it is high time that you knew. This is something that even young Mr. Potter has not been told."

"Yes," said Arthur, giving her his full attention, "Please do go on."

"Shortly before they died, James Potter met with my brother, Edgar. As you will recall, it was a terrible time. People were being murdered every day and none of us could be certain of a future. As in the days of old, they decided to join their houses and wrote a marriage contract which betrothed Susan to Harry. I knew nothing about it until Susan got her Hogwarts letter. They were only 11 and I did not want to interfere, so I have kept it to myself. You should know that Susan has been trying to be Harry's friend, but your son, Ronald keeps chasing her off. And not just her, but several heirs of Ancient and Ancient and Most Noble houses who are part of the Grand Alliance. Can you shed any light on that?"

"Thank-you for bringing this to my attention. I need a minute to take all this in". Arthur paused glancing up and to his right as he made an effort to recall anything about Ron keeping people away from Harry. Then he started, "I apologize for my son's rude behavior. By way of explanation, we have never had a lot of money or put on airs in spite of our status as pure-bloods. With everything that you-know-who and his followers did, we consciously chose to be as different from them as we could be. Sadly, this means that we have never educated our children about the great houses, who they are or the noble obligations which exist between them. Add to that, Ron's embarrassment with being poor and always feeling that he has to be better than the rich and privileged and I suppose he can seem quite abrasive."

"Indeed," Remarked Madame Bones, "What will you do about it?"

"I will correct him, of course. Especially with the recent return of He Who Must Not Be Named, we need to recall the old alliances and stand together prepared to fight once more. It will do my son some good to apologize for the slights he has committed against the other ancient and noble houses. He may begin with House Bones."

"I accept your apology as regent of House Bones and I would appreciate it if young Ronald would apologise to Susie personally, as she is the offended party", she said sincerely.

"Agreed.", said Arthur, "That would be a good start."

"That is the unity we must show in these perilous times. If we stand united, we will have a chance to win in the dark times ahead of us", said a voice from behind them. Turning around, they saw Dumbledore standing there in midnight blue robes patterned with moving sun and stars, sucking on a lemon drop, his eyes twinkling above his half-moon spectacles.

Madam Bones, rounded on him and glaring sternly demanded, "Dumbledore, you had promised full disclosure to me regarding the events of that evening and I have yet to be told anything. I demand you explain everything."

Dumbledore chuckled at her demeanour, causing her to frown, "my dear Amelia, you need to take lessons in glaring and scowling from Minerva. Believe me no one can glare at someone like her. Yes, I promised to tell you everything and I will, but not until Mr. Potter has come out of his magical coma and I have had the opportunity to confirm what I now only suspect."

* * *

**Limbo**

Harry Potter was standing in a homely, small cottage which seemed familiar to him from a time long ago. Walking upstairs, he found his mother and father sitting together on a love-seat, smiling their welcome to him. Seeing them, he felt elated and ran to embrace them. Laughing with joy, James Potter embraced his son sniffing his head while Lily embraced both of them smiling serenely. They both looked like they had not aged a single day since the photos he had. Contentedly, he sat between them while Lily kept moving her fingers through his hair.

"Harry, my son, we are so proud of you. You stood defiant in the face of that monster and beat him... again! That took real guts", said James smiling at him.

"Mom, where is this place? Am I dead? What happened to Voldemort? Did I make it back to Hogwarts? IS everyone okay? Dumbledore needs to know", said Harry ranting which amused his parents.

"Yes, my brave boy. You made it back to Hogwarts with Wormtail and poor Cedric's body. Dumbledore captured Wormtail, but I wish he hadn't stopped Padfoot from ripping him to pieces", finished Lilly with some venom.

"Yes Lilly, he betrayed us, but we will deal with him in his turn. Right now, time is short and there are things Harry needs to know", James said as he patted her arm.

"What do you mean, 'Time is short'? Can't I stay here? I don't want to go back. I don't think I can defeat him. I barely know anything", said Harry anxiously.

"No Harry, you cannot stay. Only you can defeat Voldemort. The second war is almost upon Magical Britain and only you can defeat him. You need to train hard. There is someone waiting for you at Hogwarts who will teach you everything you need to know to defeat him", said James consoling him, "and you need to embrace your heritage. You need to learn your family magics. Mother magic's gifts are not easily given and should not be scorned."

"'But, I cannot kill. I am not like that monster!", protested Harry.

"That's right my son, you are nothing like him. And, the taking of an innocent life is an offense against the laws of God and man which scars your soul forever. Even when the need is dire and the cause is just, killing another human being is not a light matter. But, when the alternative is to give up life and liberty or stand idly by while everyone and everything you love is destroyed, it is your duty and your honor to put a stop to it by any means necessary."

"You are the heir of House Peverell. We are warrior mages who have defended Avalon since the time of the Romans", said a voice from the doorway. Then entered a man Harry remembered seeing once in the Mirror of Erised. He was tall, heavily built, with brown eyes and raven haired like Harry and James but his eyes were brown. Beside him was a lady who was elegantly built, of petite frame with black eyes above high cheek bones with black hair.

"Harry, these are your grand-parents, Charlus Potter and Dorea Potter nee Black", said James.

Harry rushed towards them and they engulfed him in a hug and Harry felt a sense of completeness. He always dreamt of a family and now he had one. He did not want to leave but he knew he had to.

"Harry, remember you are a warrior like your father and me. When the war comes, you will have to kill. Don't hesitate because, if you do, you and those people you cherish will suffer and die.", said Charlus gravely, "It is time you claimed your heritage. Go to the goblins and ask them to give you an inheritance test. Some powerful magics are your birthright. Be the warrior you were born to be."

"My child." said Dorea in a soft whisper, "We have watched you from afar and for every pain that you had to go through our hearts wept. I wished we could reach you and embrace you, protect you from harm and pain, but; the dead cannot interfere in the world of the living. We were helpless to do anything for you. If it was up to us, we would never let you go but it is not your time yet. You have a long life ahead of you and a lady waiting for you to wake up.", she said, her eyes filled with mirth."

"Dorea, please don't scare the lad before he wakes up or he may decide not to go", said Charlus, laughing at Harry's puzzled expression.

"But I don't want to go back. Why do I have to go back?" pouted Harry.

Charlus put his hand on Harry's shoulder turning him towards him, "Harry, you are a Potter. The Potters have always been warriors ever since Linfred of Stinchcombe who was one of thirteen wizards who helped Merlin establish the Wizarding society as it exists now. You are also a descendant of the Peverells who were all mages who fought in battles. Where there has been a war, there has been a Potter in the middle of it. I myself fought in the Grindelwald war. You have to fight your war. Only you have the power to defeat Voldemort and without you any hope to defeat him is lost. Do you think you would choose to stay here knowing that everyone who ever loved you or cared for you will die at his hands when you could have prevented it?".

Harry understood what his grandfather was saying but was reluctant. He knew he would have to eventually confront Voldemort and that it was his war to finish and no one else could defeat him. He turned to his grandmother who was looking at him with tears in her eyes. She embraced him in a hug and whispered in his ear, "You are not just a Potter but also a Black, Harry. You may have heard that we were the darkest of families but do not believe everything you hear. The Black heritage is also yours and you must embrace it. Sirius will also need you since he cannot take up the family magic. All our hopes go with you, Harry. We will all be here to greet and embrace you when your time comes but, hopefully that time is very far away."

Reluctantly she let him go then his parents hugged him fiercely. In that moment, Harry felt at peace, peace like he had never known.

Lily spoke to him next, "Tell Severus that I have long since forgiven him for what he said to me and to let go of his hate and anger. Tell him that he needs to see that things are not the way that they were and his hatred is pointless. Finally, if he can't change himself then when we meet again, I will have words with him", she winked at him as she finished this and James snorted seeing her wink.

James grasped his hand firmly and stroked his shoulder saying, "I am proud of what you have accomplished, son. You are a fine young man. Tell Padfoot that he should never torment himself thinking that it was his fault we had to die. It was not his fault and since he fought with us to have the honor of being your godfather now he needs to live up to it. Tell Moony that I miss him like the brother that he is to me and that I expect him to be around and look after you. There is a war coming son and you must keep people around you who are willing to fight in this war. You are never alone Harry and do not try to deny others their duty, right and offer of noble sacrifice to fight in this war by your side. Tell Severus that he is a better man than we were and that I am sorry. He needs to let go of his hatred and rise to be better than he is. Harry, remember there is someone waiting for you when you wake up who will help you realize your destiny. Trust that person and do what he says. If Dumbledore tries to interfere, then tell him of this conversation and that I will have words with him when he comes on his next great adventure."

"But how do I go back?", asked Harry confused.

"The way you came in, son. Through the door", chuckled James, "and Harry, consider Neville. He is your god-brother and he will be essential in this coming war. Your fate is intertwined with his more closely than you know."

Harry turned away and walked downstairs with a heavy heart. Outside the door was a void where he could see nothing, but trusting his parents, he stepped out of the door, into the void and knew no more.

* * *

**Hogwarts**

Dumbledore was worried. The Triwizard Tournament had been a fiasco and they were still reeling with the after-shock of the events. Cornelius was in stubborn denial about what Dumbledore had openly declared to the students, that Voldemort was back and that he had Wormtail murder Cedric Diggory. But thanks to Madam Bones there was very little damage that the minister could do.

Madam Bones came to the headmaster for an unannounced visit one day to inform him about everything Pettigrew had revealed and confirmed under questioning. She was quickly assembling a case against him. What's more, since the crime for which Sirius Black had been convicted, without trial, had clearly not been committed, and, according to Wormtail's testimony, that he had set off the explosion which killed all those muggles all those years ago to cover his escape into the sewers, there would be a hearing convened forthwith to exonerate Sirius Black.

The wrongful conviction of Sirius Black, his 12 years in Azkaban, his subsequent escape to come to the aid and protection of Harry, the relentless man-hunt of the ministry, all that young man had suffered and lost had all been weighing heavily on Dumbledore's mind. His heart-felt gratitude and relief that justice was being done at last overflowed and spilt out through his eyes. . Finally, Sirius and Harry could have a life together. Then, both of them could have some much-deserved happiness.

Then, Dumbledore thought about how the Dursleys had mistreated Harry, beating him, starving him, working him like a slave and either ignoring him or speaking to him as if he were something nasty. They never told him the truth about who he was or how his parents had fought Voldemort and his minions or how they died to save him. No, just lies about his father being worthless and how they died in a car crash. They were never going to tell him about the magical world, determined to beat it out of him. There was going to be an accounting, inevitable, inescapable and quite just.

Another problem was the raven haired teen lying unconscious in the infirmary for a week now and a number of people that were waiting for him to wake up. First there was Miss Granger who was spending every spare moment in the infirmary with Molly Weasley camping at his bedside very nearly the entire day. Also there was young Ronald who was trying not to show any signs of worry but was getting more and more irritable every day and people were waiting for him to blow up. Then there was Miss Susan Bones who was at the infirmary every day, five times a day hoping to see young Harry wake up and was spending a large amount of time at his bedside.

He had been baffled with her at first. She had been trying since first year to get close to young Harry and at first, Dumbledore had thought of her as just another fan girl of the boy-who-lived but then she came to his defense every time someone said anything against Harry. He could recall Madam Pince's account of the second year when Harry had stumbled upon a group of Hufflepuff's who were talking about Harry being the heir of Slytherin and Susan had fiercely defended him before her peers and was even ready to fight for it. This year, she had fights with many of her house mates when they made fun at Harry's expense and had been told off by her head of House for being violent (though she had given him 20 points for her loyalty later). It was only when Dumbledore happened upon Arthur and Madam Bones talking about it, that he learned of the marriage contract. He regretted that James had not told him. If he did, perhaps young Harry could have grown up with Susan away from the Dursley's and would have been loved as a member of the family.

Then there was the stranger who had barged into his office the other day and claimed to be a mystic. To say that Dumbledore was astonished would be a huge understatement. Dumbledore had been shocked because he had tried to find them for years and had never been able to do so. In fact, it was on one of his expeditions to find them that he had found Fawkes who bonded with him. For one of them to casually walk into his office was something he had never dreamt could happen. He could recall the conversation the mystic had with him clearly.

-FLASHBACK-

"Am I correct in thinking that you are desperate to know my identity, Albus my boy?", he said amusedly.

Dumbledore was irritated. Calling someone my boy made them feel like they were little kids and that was why Dumbledore did it but to be called so by a man younger than himself was worrying.

"I believe that I have a century on you, my friend. You calling me 'my boy' sounds rather odd.", Dumbledore grumbled, his eyes twinkling a little as if this was an amusing conversation.

"Only you, Albus, only you would think someone is of the age they look like.", he chortled, "did you not make the same mistake with Nicholas who then had to straighten you out by jinxing you every moment he could get the chance? Worry not, my boy, I have several centuries on you. I was old when Camelot fell and I was there when Godric and Salazar had laid the foundations to this castle and Rowena and Helga had designed it and planned everything."

Surprised, Albus looked at the other man who had a faraway look in his eyes. He sighed deeply, then continued, "I am one of the Mystics, Albus. We have been keeping an eye on you ever since you went out to find us. We were there in Bavaria when you duelled your old friend, when you took possession of the death stick. Our aim was to take the wand from him but when you won it we decided to leave it with you. However, I must warn you that the wand never gave its allegiance to you. It's true master will soon take its possession one day. This wand belongs to the Peverell's and one of their blood will have it soon. I remember when young Ignotus had given this wand to his heirs and it was taken from them by way of murder. Since then, this wand has been driving the course of history, changing hands and always trying to return to it's master. But we are digressing. I am here to discuss Tom Riddle's horcruxes and the war that is coming."

"How do you know about his Horcruxes? I only found out about them recently", said Albus.

He began telling slowly, "We have known for almost 30 years now. We know it since we had captured him when he was trying to find us and finding about those abominations, we knew that we cannot kill him, so, we left him in the Sahara. We at first had decided to not to interfere since it is not our war nor we ever fight in open wars but a few months ago, our seer, Varahmihir came to me telling me about the events coming to pass and I hastened to come here. He is coming back Albus and young Harry Potter will be the key to it. Someone in his castle is helping him and soon there will be a war. This war will not be fought under your banner but young Harry Potter, as the fates have decreed and you cannot interfere into it. And this brings me to the second reason for coming here, Albus I want to teach Harry Potter the way of the mystics."

Hearing this, Albus was both elated and surprised. When he had learned that the other one was a mystic, he had hoped that the visitor could be persuaded to help train Harry Potter and here he was offering without being asked. If it were Albus's decision, the answer would be an immediate and resounding "yes!", but Sriius was his legal guardian. This choice belonged to Harry Potter and Sirius Black.

"Albus, I have a favour to ask of you. While the tournament is going on, I want to stay here and watch over the people in castle and flush out the person helping Tom Riddle and suddenly I have a desire to learn some healing from your extraordinary medi-witch Poppy Pomfrey. Care to introduce me to the staff as Abhir, a young man from Magical India?"

Later that evening, Albus had introduced him as Abhir to the staff at Hogwarts and told Madam Pomfrey that he would be assisting her in the infirmary for the time being and learn some 'healing'. Dumbledore knew that the mystic perhaps knew more healing than all the healers at St. Mungo's combined.

-FLASHBACK ENDS-

Suddenly, the ward he had set in the hospital wing flared telling him that young Harry was coming out of his coma. Perhaps it was time to come clean and tell Harry everything that he knew.

When Albus entered the infirmary, he was greeted with an interesting scene. The 'healer trainee' was casting a myriad of spells at a now conscious Harry Potter while muttering some words in a language he did not recognise while Madame Pomfrey stood at a distance watching the scene intently as if she was being the student and young Harry was confused seeing Poppy standing aside and not fussing over him as usual. Everyone who had been around Harry Potter for the last few days was there as usual. Hermione Granger was clutching his hand while Ronald Weasley was eating a chocolate frog and watching the scene distractedly. Molly was embracing Arthur and crying on his shoulder. The Weasley twins were there and beaming at Harry while Susan sat in a corner beside Minerva McGonagall looking hopefully towards him. What was not ordinary was Neville Longbottom sitting in one of the chairs and looking around fiercely as if to protect him. Perhaps there was a story there, Dumbledore mused.

Harry opened his mouth and said hoarsely, "Madam Pomfrey, are you alright? It is strange to see you standing aside when your favourite patient is laying here, expecting your usual tender, loving care."

Everyone chuckled at this while Pomfrey's mouth twitched with suppressed mirth, her eyes watering with gratitude and relief at seeing Harry recovering.

Suddenly, the hospital wing door burst open and in bounded a large shaggy black dog followed by dishevelled looking Remus Lupin. The dog immediately placed his forepaws by Harry's head and started licking his face while Remus hugged him tightly as if he feared that Harry would disappear while he kept crying.

Finally Madam Pomfrey pulled herself together and ordered everyone out of the wing except for the Head Master, Remus, Arthur, Molly, Minerva and the dog (Harry insisted that he remained).

"What is the diagnosis, Abhir?", began Dumbledore in a professional manner.

"Headmaster, his magical core had undergone maturity, his eye sight has been cured, his body has fully recovered from the magical shock and his power levels are substantial. Suffice to say, he is the one of the most magically powerful men in Avalon right now", he said nodding curtly, "and head master, he is also free of any foreign contamination."

Dumbledore noted the emphasis on the words and knew that the other man meant that Harry Potter was no longer a Horcrux but his own man. How did Abhir knew that young Harry was a Horcrux? Perhaps he would have to ask him later. He blinked tears from his eyes as one burden was lifted from his shoulders. He had not been able to find any help to take the soul fragment out of Harry and was dreading that Harry would have to die for the prophecy to be fulfilled but maybe, it can be done without that.

"Harry, I am happy that you have survived and I assure you that you will not be alone in this fight. There are many who will be ready to fight beside you when the time comes and I will aid you in anyway possible. However, right now I want you to try something for my understanding. I want to see what powers you have retained now.", saying this, he handed him a new wand, "I had Fawkes give me another feather which I sent to Mr. Ollivanders to make you another wand. Try it for me and use a simple levitating spell."

Harry grasped the wand and waved it in the required motion and incanted the words but nothing happened. Panicked, he looked to Dumbledore who was smiling.

"I suspected that something like this would happen. You are not the same person who went into the maze and now you will need a new wand. But fear not, I have a wand which will be your companion in your life", Dumdledore said smiling.

Headmaster while you can make a gift to him, I will have make him another wand with some special ingredient which I know would fit him beautifully", said Abhir.

"I will be honored." he replied.

"Headmaster it is time to talk about my original purpose for which I had came here. Mr. Black, if you will please come into your real form?", Abhir said to the dog who transformed into Sirius who was still looking gaunt with haunted eyes, wearing rags and was too thin. Seeing him there, Molly tried to go for her wand and was hastily stopped by Arthur while Poppy flicked her wand and tied Sirius to a bed and said to him menacingly, "Did I not have enough of you during your school time, foolish boy, and here you are bringing trouble again? Your godson is just like you and James. Always getting into trouble and coming to the hospital so much that he has his own bed now."

Everyone laughed at this while Harry ducked his head in embarrassment and tried hard not to laugh at his own predicament.

"Mr. Black and Mr. Potter, my name is Harsh Vardhana and I am not a healer but a mystic. Mystics are basically assassins who live in the Himalayas in far off places and we know of such ancient magics that are not known in the modern world anymore. Our seer had foreseen that these events would happen and that we will have to come offer our help to you Mr. Potter. So, will you accept my help?", he asked seriously.

Harry remembered the words of his parents, "Headmaster when I was unconscious, I was in the limbo at Godrics Hollow where I met my parents and grandparents. They told me that someone will come to help me and that I should accept their help."

Turning to Sirius and Remus, he relayed James's words to them and recounted his entire experience and by the time he was done Sirius and Remus were hugging him and crying, Minerva was wiping her eyes with a tartan handkerchief while Dumbledore had tears in his eyes. Only Poppy was trying to look stoic while keeping her emotions in control remembering the young marauder who used to come in injured so often and this one, as dear to her as her own son, Harry.

"Head Master as I have relayed my offer to you, so I foretell my condition. I will be taking Mr. Potter with me to India where I will teach him things he will need to learn to fulfil his destiny. He needs to be trained to be a warrior", finished Abhir.

"No! Absolutely not! Harry is just a boy. He is too young to be fighting any wars! He is not going anywhere!", cried Molly while looking determined until Arthur stepped up and embraced her.

Dumbledore spoke gently, but firmly, "Molly, you need to let go of your motherly instincts. Harry will need to train if you want him to survive. Whether we want it or not, there is a war coming. Harry and all the people around him are going to be a part of it. It is better to train them because if we lose even one of them for want of skill, we will regret it forever."

**Reviews please.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- **This chapter has been edited and little changes have been made which do not affect the story at all.

Thank you, Hypergym. And you can blow your own horn when you do commendable work.

* * *

**THE NEXT DAY, HOGWARTS INFIRMARY**

Harry Potter was getting weary of the Hospital Wing. He had been a patient here so many times in the last 4 years that Madam Pomfrey named a bed after him. Perhaps he was the only person to have such a dubious honor. From the time he woke up, there had been a steady stream of visitors. Some just came to talk, and others to apologize for accusing him of cheating to get into the Triwizard Tournament. When the quidditch team dropped by, the chasers had some fun fussing over him and babying him. Angelina and Alicia were being fiercely protective of him while Katie teased him thus, making him feel better in all the misery.

Fred and George gave him a beautifully wrapped box of sweets, which Harry fortunately noticed was an assortment of the stuff they had been working on: ton tongue toffee, canary creams, braying butterbeer and so on. Most of it just transformed the unsuspecting victim into an animal for a minute or so, then wore off, but; the ton tongue toffee was nasty. He chuckled when he remembered what happened to Dudley when George "accidentally" dropped one and the great lump ate it.

Then there was that time they tried one out on that big fifth year McLaggen and he kept braying like a donkey, creating such a disturbance that Snape put him in detention.

Ron was there, being uncharacteristically silent. He didn't even help himself to the small mountain of sweets that Harry's well-wishers and visitors had left. When Harry tried to make small talk with him, Ron merely grunted in mono-syllables. Harry found this strange but having no clue about the reasons for the other boy's silence, he filed it away for later.

Hermione was anxious but kept herself restrained. He knew she was bursting to reassure him and to ask him questions about the private conversation from yesterday but Harry had not yet given in to her nagging.

Mrs. Weasley had not left his bedside for so much as one minute since yesterday. She kept up the pressure, trying to dissuade Harry from going off with the mystics to train. She went on and on about having his best interests at heart and being older and wiser than Harry. Even though Molly Weasley was the closest thing to a mother Harry had ever known, this attitude and the constant badgering was overwhelming for him. Although Harry knew that she was worried and she just wanted to keep him safe, she did not understand that this time, Harry had to keep her safe and everyone they cared about. Harry's parents told him that only he can defeat Voldemort once and for all. Although he did not wish to cause her any pain, he was determined and he would go.

The most surprising visitor was a girl from Slytherin. She was blonde with blue eyes, a sharp nose and an impassive expression. She turned up when no one else was around, offered her friendship to him and disappeared when she heard someone approaching. Although Harry had long since learned to distrust and even despise members of that house, this one seemed alright.

Then there was Susan Bones. She had been to see him five or six times since he woke up. Madame Pomfrey let Harry know that Susan had been up to see him as often as Hermione while he was unconscious. Harry knew Susan Bones as a friend who was fiercely loyal and hard had heard of how she had defended him when others accused him of being the heir of through this year she had shut her house mates down when they tried to taunt him or trouble was a perfect ally to have and Harry vowed to befriend her and get to know her better.

Neville was there when Harry woke up, looking anxious. He seemed to be carefully observing the people around them. He had been back to the hospital wing several times since then and Harry felt good about that. During the last minutes of his coma, Harry's father had told him that Neville was his god-brother. He was wondering why Neville had not told Harry this. That would be a question for later.

Among the many other students who had dropped by to visit and apologize was Ernie McMillan. He seemed quite solemn and sincere when he told Harry that he believed him and that, moreover, he would follow Harry where ever he would go.

"Harry", the head master's voice brought him out of his reverie.

He looked up toward the voice to find the Headmaster standing with Mr. and Mrs. Diggory. The grief and loss they shared showed in every line of their faces. Mr. Diggory, normally full of bluster and pride looked slumped and shrunken. Mrs. Diggory, gray and forlorn.

"Harry, Mr. Diggory and Mrs. Diggory want to talk to you about what happened to Cedric, if you are able."

It all went through Harry's mind in an instant: landing in the graveyard with Cedric; the precious moments lost while they both tried to figure out what happened; the unbearable pain splitting Harry's head when Voldemort realized that Harry was there; the frustration and terror as Harry fought against the pain and tried to tell Cedric to get the both of them out of there; The last split second of Cedric's life while he failed to understand or act; the rushing sound and green flash; and finally, the inert shell that had been Cedric crumpling to earth. Harry nodded his assent as he re-lived the tragedy and braced himself to tell these two people how their son and hope for the future died.

"Mr. Potter, I know that you have had a rough go of it and that this is hard for you, but; would you please tell us how our son died? ", as the tears filled his eyes, "We can't bring our son back, but perhaps, knowing how it happened will bring us some sense of closure. You were with him. Only you can tell us how it was at the …", he trailed off as his voice failed him.

Harry took a few moments to gather his thoughts and carefully consider what to say. These people had lost everything that mattered to them when Cedric died. Harry's own temporary discomfort lost all meaning and he knew that nothing he said would make much difference, but; he had to try. Summoning his courage, he began as gently as he could, "Mr. and Mrs. Diggory, There is nothing I can say to diminish your loss. Before I tell you how your son died, I want to tell you about how he lived. Everyone here liked him. He was a fierce but fair competitor. I remember that when he won that Quidditch game against my team and found out that I only missed the snitch because the dementors had caused me to fall unconscious, he wanted to call it off. You see, that went against his sense of fair play. Even though we were rivals at quidditch and in the Triwizard Tournament, he was kind and generous and a good friend. We will all miss him.", Harry took a few moments to collect himself again.

Mrs. Diggory spoke into the silence, her voice shaking, "That was our Cedric."

Then Harry began again, determined to get through the worst of it, "Cedric did not feel a thing. I'm sure that he didn't even realize what was happening until it was over." Then Harry, remembering, outraged at the brutality and senseless waste, turned and looked Mr. Diggory in the eye as he said, "Your son was murdered by Peter Pettigrew, using the killing curse, on Voldemort's orders (the Diggorys winced as he said the name) because he was there." Harry paused, gasping, "and… and, his light went out of the world", Harry concluded, turning his gaze to his hands and whispering, "He had no business being in the graveyard."

Mr. Diggory took put his arm around his wife's shaking shoulders and hoarsely began, "Thank-you Mr. Potter. We will leave you to rest now." And he began to guide his wife out of the hospital wing.

"Mr. Diggory", Harry called after them, "There's just a bit more." Harry took a breath looking to the ceiling, then to Mr. Diggory again, "I'm not sure how it happened, but while I was duelling Voldemort, something strange happened with our wands, and the shades of the most recent people he had murdered came out of his wand. I saw Cedric again and his last request was that I take his body back to you. His last act was to keep Voldemort busy so that I could escape. To the very end and even beyond, he was thinking of you and was a true hero."

When he was done, the Diggorys embraced him as they all three abandoned themselves to their shared grief. Some time passed before the trio separated again. Madame Pomfrey, knowing that Harry must be exhausted started making shooing motions at Mr. Diggory behind Harry's back. Mr. and Mrs. Diggory ineffectually employed handkerchiefs attempting to mop at their tear-stained and swollen faces, while Harry used his sheets.

"Well,", began Mr. Diggory, trying to employ the stiff upper lip, "I must thank you for bringing our son's body back to us, for telling us how he met his end, but; even more so for sharing what he meant to you."

Mrs. Diggory gave Harry one more hug saying, "Take care of yourself, young Harry.", then pulling back to hold him by his shoulders, looked him in the eye, saying, "Send that monster to the place where he belongs. I have the utmost confidence in you."

Mr. Diggory extended his hand for a firm handshake with Harry, "I believe that Madame Pomfrey would like to fuss over you further, so we must be going."

Harry returned the handshake and watched as the couple left. It seemed that Mr. and Mrs. Diggory were standing a bit taller now even if they did walk more softly. With an approving nod to Harry, Dumbledore seemed to merge from the shadows of the Hospital wing, then follow the Diggorys out.

**Badger's Hole, Girl'sDormitories**

Susan Bones was not sleeping well since Halloween when Harry's name came out of that infernal cup. She had been fighting with her house mates for giving Harry grief and even her best friend Hannah was not talking to her as they used to. Hannah had always been by her side, even when she was fighting with her housemates for calling Harry "The Heir of Slytherin". However, this year even Hannah was cold towards her and at times, she sided with her house mates leaving Susan alone. Perhaps if she were not the niece of the head of DMLE, she would have been hounded worse. Even her class mates had been avoiding her like the plague and although this bothered Susan, she stopped worrying about it when she learned that the champions had to face dragons in the first task.

From that time on, her only concern was finding any way she could to help Harry. She was unable to help with the first task because she didn't know anything about it beforehand. For the second task, however; it was all over Hufflepuff that it involved being under water for an hour in the middle of winter and she sought out Neville Longbottom who had decided to help her in this quest. They sought out Dobby, the house elf who was loyal to Harry and suggested that his master would need Gillyweed. Some might say that this was cheating, but; strictly according to the rules, "The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the Tournament." There was nothing in there about fellow students lending a helping hand. Cedric was from her house, but he was a seventh year and could take care of himself. She was much more concerned about helping Harry survive this madness.

After the second task, she helped him to learn more hexes and jinxes by regularly placing books on defensive and offensive magic on the Golden Trio's regular table and often watched him when he would have been there with him training alongside him but damn that Ron always got in her way and opened his fat mouth to insult her.

She had often thought that someone as kind and brave as Harry Potter should have a lot more friends and that he probably would have except that Ron kept chasing them away. Weasley seemed to be jealous and possessive of Harry's friendship and had dreadful manners. She often wondered if Harry was aware of the ancient great alliance. She also wondered if Harry knew anything about the history of his family or their position in the wizarding world. Because, if he did know anything about it, he was not doing anything to live up to his heritage or renew those centuries-old commitments.

When she spoke with her auntie about it, Amelia assured her that she would look into it. Susan was quite sure that she must have done so because Ron came and apologized to her and things became more bearable.

Since Harry woke up, she visited him at every possible opportunity and they had talked for hours. Auntie had promised that she would talk to Dumbledore and try to take over his guardianship this year. Susan wished she would be able to do that and hoped for her success.

Suddenly, Susan heard someone approaching and she closed the curtains of her four-poster bed and pretended to be asleep. Asleep or not, someone pulled her curtains aside and whispered in a rather hesitating voice, "Susan, can I talk to you for a minute?"

She tried not to show her surprise at hearing Hannah sounding so nervous. "Hannah, we have been friends since we could walk and if you need to ask permission to talk to me, I would think that things are very bad between us.", she said kindly.

Hannah smiled hesitantly and said, "I wanted to apologise to you.I know now that no one would willingly enter themselves into a tournament where they can be killed. I want to apologise to Harry as well. You think he will forgive me?".

Susan smiled at her. Hannah was a kind girl who sometimes pretended to be hard but Susan knew that there was no way that she could stay angry at her so she stood up and embraced her friend, "It is alright Hannah. I think Harry will forgive you."

Hannah was relieved that her friend had forgiven her but she winced as if she remembered something and freeing herself of the embrace, she pulled something out of her pocket and set it on fire with a simple Incendio.

Susan looked at her quizzically to which she replied, "The 'Potter Stinks' badge.I feel so wretched that I chose to wear that stupid thing."

"What is the time Hannah? I bet I missed dinner' she asked her best friend. 'May be I would have to go to the kitchens to find something to eat' she murmured to herself.

"Susan, I forgot to tell you and you missed the scene in the Great Hall today since you skipped dinner, perhaps mooning over a certain emerald eyed wizard. As we were sitting for dinner, Malfoy was being a git. Chang slapped the ferret in the Great Hall at dinner when he was being obnoxious, bragging about the Dark Lord being back and how he would kill the blood traitors and said something demeaning about Cedric and how Harry caused his death when she went all muggle on him. By the time she was done with him, he was lying on the floor with his nose and jaw broken. Pity that she got a detention and Ravenclaw lost 30 points.", said Hannah pouting.

Susan said nothing but giggled at her friend's antics.

**Black Townhouse, London**

Sirius Black hated the house. It contained all the bad memories of his childhood and he had hoped to never set foot here ever again. This place never felt like home to him but Potter Manor had that place in his heart. His grandfather Arcturus Orion Black had built this house when they felt the need for a house in London and the family moved in here from the Black Castle and many of the members lived there year around. Arcturus Black had left the town house shortly after Sirius was born because he could not stand Wulburga Black who was as obnoxious as she was foul and she had regularly belittled Sirius and treated him horribly. If there was anyone she ever loved, it was Regulus, his brother, the perfect pure blood. She often said that Regulus should have been the heir to the Black family and Regulus had more affinity to the Black family magic and even perfectly towed the line of the pureblood agenda spewed by the blood purists and even got the stupid mark and that was the end of the relation between the two. Sirius had tried to dissuade him from joining Voldemort but he had shunted him aside.

At the end of Harry's third year, Sirius had met Moony who updated him about his family. Arcturus had died 6 years ago, a few months after Wulburga died. His aunts had all either died or left Magical Britain for the continent or for the chateau in France and the others who had married into other families were either dead or had been blasted from the family tree by Lord Orion Phineas Black, the head before Arcturus Orion Black. Charis Crouch nee Black had died even before the war and so was Callidora Longbottom nee Black who had died shortly before the first war. Cedrella Weasley nee Black had been disowned for marrying a blood traitor.

The Blacks, once a large and influential family was reduced to him and his cousins: Andromeda who had been disowned for marrying a muggle born and had a metamorphmagus daughter Nymphadora, Bellatrix who was married to Rudolphus Lastrange and was imprisoned in Azkaban with her husband and brother in law Rabbastan Lestrange for torturing the Longbottoms into insanity and Narcissa who had married to Lucius Malfoy who was the biggest bigot and coward.

Sirius was not sure if he would be able to enter his family home and had no interest in doing anything with the Black family but after escaping from Hogwarts last year, the goblins had sent him a missive courtesy of Dumbledore and he was pleasantly surprised to know that his grandfather had declared him to be his heir in his last will and the same was never changed meaning he was never disowned. He had tried to take up the mantel of Lord Black so he could arrange a trial for himself but the family magic did not settle well with him thus making him a blood heir but incapable of becoming the lord and by rights the lordship would have passed from him to the next heir in line i.e. either Nymphadora or Draco if he had no heir but luckily, he had an heir in place. His Godson, Harry Potter, the son of his brother James. Charlus Potter and great aunt Dorea were more like parents to him than Cygnus or Wulburga ever were.

When Harry Potter had returned to Hogwarts at the end of the third task, Dumbledore had interrogated Wormtail personally and having confirmed that Voldemort was back, had reconvened the vaunted Order of the Phoenix. He sent out the call to all the old members and those who were alive and able had returned to the call but they were so were hardly 20 who answered the call. Good men who should have lived for long and change the world had fallen to that monster and his blood thirsty followers. Peter also told of his treachery in detail telling of all the times he snitched on the lives of Order members. He told of his role in the murder of the Bones, the Prewetts, the McKinnons and many other order members who were fighting on the side of light. Many of these were protected in many ways including wards and Wormtail told the death eaters of their location, the wards and every other little detail that could be helpful.

Sirius was misty eyed remembering all those brothers in arms who had fallen in the last war. The Prewetts were all gone. Lord and Lady Prewett had died before the war had escalated and Molly had been married to Arthur and with a child. The Prewett Twins, Fabian and Gideon, demons with a wand and never bested in an honest duel were killed in an ambush involving 10 death eaters of whom only 4 walked away from the duel but not before getting seriously injured. The twins were killed when Dolohov had cast his signature curse while their backs were turned.

Then there were Edgar and Ellie Bones who were killed by Voldemort himself to deter Amelia Bones, a senior Auror, from taking a hard-line approach against him but not before Edgar dueled with him to a standstill and was bested when Bellatrix had Ellie at wand point forcing Edgar to forfeit and consequently they both were killed. It was luck that Susan was at Amelia's place for the day or she would have died along with them.

The McKinnon's were also gone. The rumour was that the best fighters of Voldemort's inner circle had killed them but Sirius never found what had happened to them. He missed them and especially Marlene, his intended after he had promised her that he would marry her. She had been the calm in his chaos and the one whom he listened to. He never found her body or those of her family. By the time that Sirius arrived there, their manor was burnt to the ground and everyone was thought dead. Even their elves had valiantly died protecting them from the death eaters.

There was Dorcas Meadows, the only order member apart from the Bones and the Potters to have been personally murdered by Voldemort and they never found his body. The Ancient and Most Noble House of Sayre was all but gone with Lady Sayre escaping by the breadth of a hair who then left Avalon to settle in France away from the war and never deigned to return even after Voldemort was gone. Benjy Fenwick was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he happened to come across a death eater raid and they killed him for trying to oppose them. It took 3 of them to take him down.

Lastly there were Frank and Alice Longbottom who were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix, the Lestrange brothers and Bartemius Crouch Junior who were sentenced to Azkaban for their crimes. Frank and Alice never recovered because there was no known cure for their condition, not in all of wizarding Britain.

Many other Ancient and Most Noble houses had lost their heirs or scions in the war from the side of light. Most of them had been his friends in Gryffindor house and companion pranksters especially the Prewett twins. There was a sort of rivalry between the Prewetts and the Marauders and often they pranked the whole school together or while trying to beat each other.

So it was that when Dumbledore asked him if there was a place they could use as the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix that Sirius willingly offered him Number twelve, Grimmauld Place. Now he was approaching it with the purpose of assessing if the house was fit to be used by the order. Reminiscing about the past, Sirius approached Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place and knocked the serpentine door knocker with his wand. After a few seconds the door opened and Sirius was overwhelmed with the stench of rot and neglect. The walls already gloomy had turned downright foreboding and the dust looked like it had not been removed in chandeliers were filled with cobwebs and everywhere he could see, there was an infestation of some kind of creature like doxies, spiders etc.

As he crossed the threshold, there was a loud crack and an elf appeared before him. The elf was very old, stooping, his shoulders hunched and he said in a low hissing voice, "You not welcome here, nasty master. Mudblood lover, blood traitor, broke my poor mistress's will Mistress say?"

Sirius knew of this elf who had never served him happily but always doted over his brother and worshipped the ground that Wulburga walked on. He should have been angry with this thing before him but he felt pity. He shuddered to imagine having an existence where no one talked to you and you lived only with memories. He had lived the same life for 12 years.

Kindly, he said to the elf, "How are you, Kreacher? I did not think I would find you here. If I did, I would have called you much sooner."

Kreacher was surprised at this was not used to kindness from Sirius and thus it thawed him a bit, but; not enough to let go of his rudeness, so, he did not answer.

Sirius started again, "Kreacher, I do not wish to have you against me. I am the only one left now and so are you. I want to restore the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black to its former glory. Will you help me with that?"

The elf was too surprised to say anything and overwhelmed with emotions so could only nod.

Sirius took that as a positive sign and ordered him to cook something for him to eat while he walked through the house. When he walked by a curtained off portrait in the front hall, the drapes flew aside revealing a life-sized portrait of his dear departed mother in her full glory. She screamed obscenities at him calling him blood traitor, shame of her flesh, wretched ingrate among other things. Sirius had no patience for this abuse when she was alive and much less from her portrait. With a red flash from his wand, the curtains slammed shut, cutting her off mid-word. In the blessed silence that followed, he summoned Kreacher who appeared with a crack.

"Kreacher, who put this portrait here?", he asked in the mildest tone he could manage so as not to offend the demented elf.

"That be Kreacher, Master. Mistress telling Kreacher to put it here so no can enter.", said Kreacher wriggling his hands.

"Kreacher, if that portrait is here and yells profanities at everyone who comes through that door, it will give a bad name to the House of Black. Do you want the name of Black to be dragged through the mud?", he asked playing upon his sentiments for the House of Black.

"No master", he said shaking his head firmly.

"Kreacher, I want you to take down this portrait and take her to the attic where you can keep it and look after it. And why is the house so dirty, Kreacher? You have not been doing your duty to the House of have disgraced the House of Black and your ancestors whose heads have been proudly mounted upon that wall", he said further goading the elf into shame.

Kreacher straightened and looking upon Sirius, said firmly, "Kreacher cleans the house Master. Yous be not worry."

Ordering him to clean his old bedroom first, Sirius approached a room he had never set a foot in. The room belonging to his brother, Regulus which was well kept and tidy without a trace of dirt. Perhaps Kreacher kept this room clean due to his attachment to him. There were photos of Regulus on the one of those walls, there was a photo of his Quidditch team where Regulus was laughing at the camera, looking innocent and carefree.

Seeing Regulus and his friend in the photo, he remembered that not only the light but the dark also had lost a number of their men in the war. His own brother was killed and he did not know who had killed him. House of Rosier ended when Evan Rosier was killed by Alastor Moody in a fight after Voldemort fell. The Notts had lost three of their sons including their heir.

The House of Crouch was all but finished with Barty Crouch Junior being in DMLE custody. Amelia Bones had plans to chuck him straight through the veil right after she finished squeezing the last useful drop of information out of him. That woman had an eternal grudge against death eaters.

The Wilkins had lost their son at the hands of Mad-Eye. The patriarch was killed duelling Sirius and James when the death eaters attempted to ambush Sirius and James on their way home from a muggle bar.

There were countless other faces who had died in service of Voldemort, some of them as examples when they failed to complete their missions, others when they attempted to leave his ranks. Such a waste of life and magical blood bringing the already dwindling wizarding population to a new low.

He never found out what had happened to Regulus but he thought may be Kreacher knew something about him, he summoned the elf. Kreacher tried to deny knowing anything, but; when Sirius made it a direct order, Kreacher started bawling. Crying he told Sirius about an underground lake, where The Dark Lord had hidden a locket and used Kreacher to test the defenses. Kreacher told Regulus of this, and asked Kreacher to take him to the lake where Regulus drank the elixir of nightmares and told Kreacher to take the locket which he had changed with a fake one and told him to destroy the original.

Sirius was shocked beyond belief with the courage his brother had shown.

His brother had defied Voldemort to the end. He collected a crying Kreacher into his arms patting the back of the still inconsolable elf, "Kreacher, I want to finish his work. Will you help me?".

Kreacher nodded and popped away and returned a moment later clutching a heavy locket in his hand which reeked of dark magic so much that Sirius was repulsed by it. He took the locket and looked upon elaborately carved S on it crusted with jewels. The locket looked very regal and reminded him of something he remembered seeing in a book once. A picture of the famed necklace of Slytherin.

Instantly conjuring a sack and securing the locket in it, he ran out of the house giving instructions to Kreacher to start cleaning. As he was out of the door, he disappeared into thin air.

**Hogwarts**

He appeared a little way outside of the Hogwarts gates and changing into Padfoot he bounded towards the gates and ran all the way upto the Headmaster's office and changing back, giving the password to the Gargoyle (Mars bar), he ascended the staircase and barged into the room where Dumbledore was in discussion with Harsh Vardhana.

"Sirius, is something the matter?I thought you would be busy for at least a week making the house habitable.", Dumbledore asked him, surprised.

Sirius related the whole tale of Voldemort to him along with how Regulus had died to ensure that Voldemort dies. As Albus asked him, he brought the locket out of his robes and put it on the table, Harsh Vardhana leaped back as if repulsed by it while Albus peered curiously at the locket and cast several detection spells while incanting under his breath and the locket glowed a nasty shade of red. He raised his head, his expression grave and looked towards Harsh Vardhana as if waiting for his opinion.

Harsh Vardhana sighed, "Sorry about my reaction. Such abominations always repulse me. It is such a sacrilege against Mother Magic that one cannot even fathom but only those evil of heart."

"What abomination? I confess that I feel this thing is truly evil, but; please enlighten me, what is it?", asked Sirius confused.

"Tell me mister Black, have you ever heard of 'Horcrux'?", began Harsh Vardhana.

Sirius answered, not realizing that Harsh wasn't finished, "Of course, I know what a horcrux is. I am a Black, the darkest family in Wizarding Britain. These things are described in a lot of books kept in the Black library. How do you know of them?"

Harsh Vardhana smiled softly, "only you British wizards classify magic. It is not evil or light, Mr. Black. It is simply that. What makes it evil or good is the purpose for which it is used. We know of Horcruxes and many other sinister things perhaps not described in your books."

Harsh Vardhana turned his gaze and looked curiously at the locket, staring at it with longing and anger, "What a waste of such precious artifact. Salazar would be rolling in his grave knowing what has become of his precious possession. He was quite proud of this locket and its powers.".

"You speak his name as if you were acquainted with him", said Sirius.

"As a matter of fact, I did but that is tale of another. What will you do with it, Dumbledore?", he asked turning towards Dumbledore.

"I plan to destroy it with Basilisk venom, like young Harry destroyed his diary."

"Basilisk? Did you say Basilisk, Dumbledore?And what diary are we talking about and what Harry had to do with it?", squeaked Sirius.

"The Basilisk young Harry killed when the Chamber of Secrets was opened", said Dumbledore and then proceeded to recount the tale of second year telling them how Harry had discovered he was a parseltongue, how he had found the chamber, killed the basilisk and saved Ginevra Weasley.

By the time he was done, Sirius's face was ashen while Harsh Vardhana looked intrigued by the tale.

"This means it is second of the five horcruxes he had made when we captured him.I wish we could have asked him for the location of the others but we could not find it', Harsh said frowning.

"What do you mean capture?And if you had captured Voldemort, why did you release him?", retorted Sirius angrily.

"Calm down Mr. Black. We do not keep prisoners, so we had no means to keep him subdued with, his fate has been so written that he would never fall to my wand. We had to release him before the future was altered", he explained.

Dumbledore decided to interrupt before Sirius could explode further, "What do you propose we do with this?We can destroy it with fiendfyre or with basilisk venom.".

"We do not resort to such crude methods, Albus my boy. If you had viewed the world in a larger perspective and treated magic as a sentient being, you would not have suggested this way. Do you know there is a way that we can pull the soul fragment out without destroying the locket?", he reprimanded Albus and Sirius snorted seeing the head master being berated.

Albus's interest was piqued. He could think of a lot of possibilities with such knowledge; however, the mystic spoke before he could interrupt as if he read his mind, "No, Albus we are not teaching it to you. It is our own magic not meant to be imparted to everyone and even among ourselves we do not teach it to everyone but those who prove themselves worthy."

Albus pouted at this which Sirius found a little hilarious but he had more work to do.

"Albus, I have seen the house and there is no way that I can clean it by myself. And no one can clean it without magic. The wardstones of the property are inactive and they need blood of the Lord of Black to recharge them.I cannot wield the family magic enough to recharge them. Harry will need to take up the mantel and do it before we decide to make it headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. I need an elf. Kreacher is very old and can use help.".

"There is an elf who can help you with this but I fear you will need to talk to Harry Potter for this elf is fiercely devoted to Harry Potter and claims to be currently free, but; I think he is secretly bonded to Harry. I propose that we all shall go to Harry and ask him if he would summon the elf, then we would know.", said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

"Since I have nothing more to do, let's go find Harry Potter', announced Sirius.

**Great Hall**

Madame Pomfrey ran out of excuses to keep her patient in the hospital wing. With Harry's strength rapidly returning, even she had to admit that it would be good for him to get out and get some exercise. Besides, with all the visitors, it was starting to look more like Kings Cross Station than an infirmary. So it was that after giving Harry the strictest orders not to overdo it, that she released him. 

Harry Potter was sitting in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table eating his lunch and his friends were sitting around him. Ron was sitting on one side while Neville flanked the other. Hermione was sitting across from him while the Weasley twins were sitting flanking her on both sides. Ginny sat a few spaces further away from Harry and did not even try to steal any glances at him like she used to do. While Harry was used to them, her complete detachment was bothering him more. He had not seen her since he woke up in the infirmary and when asked Hermione had solemnly recounted Ginny's realization and her decision to stay away from Harry. There were only two days left in the term before they would all be going home for the summer holidays and Harry was elated that he would not be going to the Dursley's anymore.

Susan was sitting at the Hufflepuff table looking at him when she thought he was not looking. She had been coming to talk to him very often and he found it very strange but pleasant. The girl from Slytherin was sitting at her table with an impervious expression on her face while an auburn-haired girl sitting beside her was talking to her animatedly. Hagrid was sitting at the staff table and there was Professor Moody looking very haggard and tired, smelling a chicken before starting to eat it, however his hip flask was missing. Sirius had filled him in on how Moody had been imprisoned in his own trunk by an impostor who was a death eater in disguise. Professor McGonagall was sitting beside him looking at him unapprovingly while her lips were pursed into a thin line and Snape was sitting in his place with a boorish expression on his face and the trademark sneer in place. Seeing Snape, he remembered the message his mother had given for him and decided to go to him later in the day.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turning back, he found the trainee healer (he could not understand the mystic business) who was smiling at him and Dumbledore who motioned him to follow them out of the Great Hall to a room on the other side of the castle (which he had never seen) which was quite a way apart from the Dungeons. Perhaps this place was not even marked on the Marauder's. Albus went to a door with the Hogwarts crest, which melted at Dumbledore's touch and Harry followed the two men inside. Before the door could close, Snape and McGonagall came in with Padfoot who started jumping up and down trying to lick Harry who had to force himself not to laugh while he kept trying to keep Padfoot down. Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly, Padfoot turned into Sirius.

From Dumbledore's grave expression, Harry guessed that they were going to discuss serious (no pun intended) business. He started saying somberly, "Harry, it is time that I answer a question you had asked me in your first year that why Voldemort came after you. Shortly before you were born, a prophecy was made by Sybill Trelawney while I was interviewing her for the subject of Divination at the Hog's Head inn in Hogsmead. The prophecy was about a boy who will have the power to defeat Lord Voldemort and a spy of his was present in the Hog's head who heard the first half of the prophecy before he was caught spying and was thrown out of the inn. The spy hastened to inform him of the part he had was about a boy being born at the end of July who would possess power to defeat the dark lord. The prophecy also said a few more things which we will discuss …", Dumbledore was interrupted before he could continue.

"You think the brat can defeat him? He is nothing but a mediocre wizard, Dumbledore.", said Snape, sneering.

"It is my godson who has faced the monster 4 times and lived to tell the tale, Snivellus. So, you can shut your festering gob and avoid spitting all over the floor", snapped Sirius.

Before Snape could reply, Harry snapped, "Will you both please keep quiet? I can't stand listening to the two of you bickering like school children. Sirius, you have tormented him as much as he tormented you and Professor, you have never treated me fairly, thinking that I am just like my father."

Dumbledore chuckled at Harry chastising both of the men and continued, "From the information that Voldemort received from his spy, he decided to kill all the children to be born in the seventh month that year or the next year but he made this decision without knowing other important factors. From the information he had, he deduced that either of two children would fit the prophecy. Both had parents in the Order and were born at the end of the seventh month, you and Neville Longbottom. He chose you to be the child from the prophecy."

Harry's mind was reeling. There was was so much he did not understand, but; what he knew for certain was that he was the one who would have to kill Voldemort. This was the reason that his parents had gone into hiding. This was the reason that he was an orphan. He felt like the weight of the world was upon his shoulder. Sirius hugged him tightly and kept whispering encouraging words into his ear.

Harry croaked, "But, how can I defeat him?I have four years of magical education, but; he is more powerful and he has more experience than me.".

Harsh Vardhana who had been quiet all this while began to speak, "While it is true that your experience and knowledge is limited but your courage, valour and power is unfathomable and more than a match to him. You are already as powerful as Voldemort or Dumbledore and with the training that we would give you, you would be able to tilt the balance in your favour."

Harry was not satisfied but felt reassured by his words.

He turned towards Sirius, "But, if I go with him then I will not be able to come with you."

"Harry, you are only going away with him for a month or so. Besides, once we get rid of Voldemort, we will have a long life to be together. I want you to train hard with him and learn everything that you can", Sirius said.

"Do you have a place for us to live?", Harry asked eagerly.

Sirius smiled at him and said, "The Black family has many properties all over the world and we can live anywhere we want once this is all over."

"Professor, how are we going to India?", he asked the Headmaster.

Harsh Vardhana answered the question, "I want this to remain a surprise but you will like it, I promise.".

Dumbledore ushered Severus and Minerva out of the room while Sirius adopted a more solemn demeanour (if that was possible).

Once the others were out of the room, Dumbledore began, "Now Harry, there is something more that we have to tell you. You can tell your friends about it but I would advise you to very carefully consider who you decide to tell this secret. He did not die that night because he had several fail-safes in place which helped him to stay on this astral split his soul into many pieces hiding them in things which he hid away from everyone. Those things are called Horcruxes (Harry felt himself shivering on hearing the word) which keep a wizard alive."

"How do you split your soul?", asked Harry confused with the concept.

"By the act of supreme evil, murder.", he replied with no trace of joviality in his voice.

Harry shuddered at the thought and so did Sirius however Harsh Vardhana was impassive.

Dumbledore looked at him before continuing, "I had suspected that Voldemort had created them but it was finally confirmed when you brought me the proof."

"What proof?", he asked.

"The Diary of Tom Riddle which you brought to me when you had slain the basilisk. You described to me how he had come out of the diary, I was stumped at such a phenomenon and after a lot of research I came to the conclusion that he had created horcruxes. The theory was confirmed by Mr. Harsh Vardhana. He learned this when he captured and interrogated Tom Riddle, the self-styled Voldemort 30 years ago".

Harry looked at the mystic in awe. Anyone who capable of such a feat was a hero to him.

"When he came for you that night", Albus continued, "his soul was already fragile and when the killing curse hit him, a part of his soul tore off from the remaining portion and latched itself to the only living being in the room, you.", Dumbledore announced to the shock and dismay of Harry and Sirius.

"You mean I am keeping him alive?How do we get it out?Can we do it here?When can we get it out?", Harry spewed a lot of questions.

Dumbledore stopped the stream of questions with a silencing spell, then continued, "I discovered that you were a horcrux when you were brought to the hospital wing  
after the dementor attack in your third year. I tried to exorcise it out of you after I fed you draught of living death, but; I found it to be latched too deeply to you and sucking on your magic thus hindering your growth and your magical energy. The exorcising process was too painful and you almost died so I did not try it again and you were enervated before the morning.I have been trying for the past year to find a way to exorcise it out of you without hurting you but could not find anyway. There was always the last resort of killing you."

Sirius interrupted, leaping to his feet, wand in hand, "are you out of your mind!? What makes you think that I would let you hurt Harry?"

"It would not have come to that Mr. Black. We had been keeping an eye on Harry Potter all this while and we were waiting for the right time to approach Dumbledore and offer our services to exorcise the foul thing out of here. However as it turns out we did not need that anymore", said Harsh Vardhana.

"If you know how to exorcise the damn thing, why haven't you already done it?", asked Sirius hotly.

"We did not do that because the process would have caused him extra ordinary pain and despite his pain threshold being very high, he would have been magically exhausted and his magic would have been unstable. Since he was in the tournament and constantly training, doing so would have put him in danger because without his magic being settled, he could not participate in the third task, thus forfeiting his life and magic.", he replied, "but we do not need to that anymore as when he was hit with the killing curse in the graveyard, it killed the soul fragment in his scar and he is free of any contamination. It was due to killing of the horcrux in the scar that he had his magical maturity earlier."

Harry was relieved beyond words but something Dumbledore had said was on his mind, "Professor, if we have killed the fragment in me, does it mean he can be killed now?"

"No, he had several horcruxes made and 7 being the magical number, I think he has made 7 of them however I will have to see someone to confirm my theory. As it goes, the Diary was destroyed by you, the one in you was killed by him, we have the locket of Slytherin and I think it would be prudent to assume that there are four Horcruxes remaining", Dumbledore replied.

"Now Harry, we have another little request for for you. Sirius needs a house elf and I suggested one for him.I was thinking if you could summon him?", said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling again.

"You mean Dobby", said Harry grinning.

"Did Harry Potter call for Dobby? How Dobby be serving the great Harry Potter?", squeaked the elf who appeared with a loud crack and hugged Harry's leg. Sirius snorted at the elf's antics and Dumbledore chuckled while Harsh Vardhana tried not to laugh.

"Uh, Dobby, I will need my leg thank you.I wanted to ask if you would like to serve my Godfather", asked Harry gently extricating his leg from the elf.

Dobby wriggled his hands and said rather hesitantly, "Dobby be honoured the great Harry Potter ask to help, but Dobby is be already bonded."

"That's great Dobby. Who are you bonded to?", asked Harry interested.

"I be bonded to the Great Harry Potter.", said Dobby nervously.

"Uh, Dobby, why did you do that? I thought you like being free. Not that I'm complaining." said Harry.

"Wes be lose our magic if not serve a magics strengthen our bond.", the elf replied.

"It's alright Dobby. I am honoured by your service. Do you know of another elf who can help me?", Harry asked while shocked that unwittingly he had almost caused Dobby to die.

"Winky not having a family is dying, great Harry Potter's dogfather (Sirius snorted) can bind her to his family", the elf replied enthusiastically.

Dumbledore summoned Winky and Sirius bonded her to house of Black then called Kreacher to take her to Grimmauld place and have her help in cleaning the house. Dobby decided to stay with Harry till he left Hogwarts since he had no wand (the wand he won from Wormtail was in the custody of the DMLE) and a house elf could use magic to defend their master as Dobby had once defended him from Lucius Malfoy.

**Please leave your reviews**


	4. Chapter 4

**Lion's Den**

The atmosphere in the Lion's Den was tense. The tension was so thick that you could cut it with a blunt knife. This had been a taxing year for the entire school and Gryffindor in particular. The Lions were ashamed of how they had initially treated Harry. Almost all of them had scorned him except for the Quidditch team and Hermione Granger, but; most of them changed their tune when they saw how flat-out dangerous the first task was and realized that Harry could have died attempting it.

Then there was the dressing down that Neville Longbottom gave one student before the entire house over his attitude towards Harry.

Harry was sitting in the common room in front of the fire talking with Neville, Dean and Seamus when someone interrupted them rudely accusing Harry of giving Gryffindor a bad name. Harry did not deign to answer but left the common room for the library. Neville who was usually passive, content to stay in the shadows blew up at this treatment of Harry. In one motion, Neville was out of his chair and grabbed the offending person, Leonard Taylor a muggleborn 6th year, by his robes and growled, "How dare you accuse him, Taylor? Do you have a death wish?"

Taylor, who thought of Neville as a passive, docile person was stunned at this ferociousness, "What is it to you Longbottom? Potter cheated and..." before he could finish Neville slapped him hard across the face and put his wand to his throat, "Say one more word and I will show you why the Longbottoms are feared. You do not want to pick a fight with a Vikings, do you? Because I swear to the powers that be that if you even think about harming Harry Potter or say one more word against him, I will cut you down where you stand. And unlike you, I have quite a repertoire of family magic. Harry Potter is my god brother and the Potter Longbottom alliance is as old as the time when the magical Longbottom Vikings came to Avalon. I assure you that I will make your life hell and so will others whose families are in long standing alliance with the House of Potter. Not to mention, Harry has the ear of Professor Dumbledore and he is the boy-who-lived. You think you can match him? Only say what you can back up with your power."

Taylor was struck dumb. He just stood there, trembling with fear, weak in the knees and quickly getting drenched with cold sweat.

While Neville was threatening him, his magic was oozing out of him, violent and powerful, surrounding him like a cloak with a fierce red aura. As the other Gryffindors silently took in the scene, paying real attention to Neville for the first time, the sheer power oozing out of him made them wonder how much power was really at his command.

Most of the pure bloods and half bloods knew about his family. The Longbottoms were magical Vikings who had come to Avalon conquering nations along the way when they were confronted by the Potters, who were mages and warriors. The Potters with their other allies, defeated the Vikings and then persuaded them to live in England, thus the house of Longbottom was established which entered into an alliance with the House of Potter and their other allies. Since then they have been inseparable. It was a famous saying about them-, "Wherever a Potter goes, a Longbottom will follow and a Potter will never abandon a Longbottom." There were even betrothals between the two Houses a few generations ago. Supposedly Harry Potter had never known about the said Alliance seeing as how he was raised by Muggles but Neville Longbottom was doing his duty.

Finally, Neville threw Taylor to the ground so forcefully that the boy was crumpled on the floor. Raising himself, he fled as if being chased by Banshees. The entire house was looking at Neville Longbottom in awe. That day, people realised one thing- You do not mess with Harry Potter unless you want Neville Longbottom as your enemy and an angry Longbottom can make a dark lord look like a puny kid. Ronald Weasley who happened to be in the room, opened his mouth to say something and perhaps put his foot in his mouth but Neville glared at him so fiercely that he ran up to the fourth-year dormitories and did not appear till it was time for dinner.

Ronald had been miffed with Harry over the alleged cheating, mostly because Harry didn t invite him in or tell him how he did it. Ron flat refused to accept that his friend was telling him the truth, that he had no idea how his name got into the goblet of fire. But Ron came to his senses after he saw the first task. However, all the Gryffindors could see that things would never be the same between the two again.

No one told Harry Potter about how Neville had threatened Leonard Taylor and how he had displayed such extraordinary magic or that the display of sheer power by Longbottom had forced most of them to reconsider their opinion of Harry Potter, or at least keep quiet about it, and eventually the whole house realigned themselves to Harry Potter.

Since Harry had come back to the tower after the third task, the students were a little wary of him. That was fine with him because he preferred not to be disturbed or as little as possible.

His friends were with him, but; there was a certain distance between them.

Anyone who had known the golden trio for the last four years could tell that things were not the same. Maybe, Harry Potter was too traumatised and still recovering from the harrowing incident of the third task and therefore, kept his distance. Hermione Granger was always nearby but at a distance and Ronald Weasley for once was keeping his mouth shut and not acting as he had in the last four years. This morning Harry Potter had got up and was sitting in his usual chair near the fire when Neville Longbottom took the adjacent seat.

"Ha... Harry, how are you?", he began.

"Neville, I have some questions for you and I would appreciate it if you would answer honestly", Harry said coldly.

"Sure Harry", he mumbled.

"You are my god brother', he said poking him in the chest, "yet you never told me. You know of my family and you knew I do not know anything about it yet you did not tell me anything. Why?"

" I knew you were Harry Potter from the sorting in the first year. Since then, I have tried to tell you. I approached you several times, but; every time I tried, Ron stopped me and claimed that you would not want to be my friend. Whenever I tried to talk to you, he was always there stopping me."

"Harry mate, what are you doing talking to Neville? Let's go flying and maybe I can have a go on your firebolt", Ron said, appearing from nowhere.

"I am talking to Neville Ron and I do not want to go flying", replied Harry sternly and Ron flinched.

Harry got up and signalled Neville to follow him out of the tower. They found an abandoned classroom on the 6thfloor where Neville started from where he was interrupted, "Ron always stopped me from talking to you. He always claimed you were his best friend and that you will not have another friend and that you will have an alliance with the Weasley's and not your family's allies."

"Hang on! What do you mean by Family's allies and alliance with the Weasleys?", he asked, confused and angry that nobody told him anything.

"Quite to the contrary Mr. Potter, your family has an identity independent of you", said a voice from the door of the room which was followed by Harsh Vardhana, who was looking at the two boys intriguingly.

"Mr. Harsh Vardhana, we were just talking", said Harry trying to change the subject.

"Not to worry, Mr. Potter, not to worry. I had been hoping to talk to you and him both before the summer vacations began since there are a few things I wanted you both to know. As it happens, I know a lot about your family as I know about the Longbottoms. Your family is very old having descended from one of the older families which produced fearsome war mages and have had the most impressive family magic which later integrated itself into the Potter line. Your ancestor Linfred of Stinchcombe was one of the 13 wizards who helped Merlin establish Avalon and the magical Britain. When his son married the last descendant of the Peverells, Lolanthe Peverell the grand-daughter of Ignotus Peverell and through her the two family lines were combined. Your family came here from ancient Rome where the Potters were generals in the magical army and were very formidable. There has never been a war where there wasn't a Potter in the middle of it. Your family made its name for courage, bravery and chivalry. Your grandfather Charlus was a fierce warrior who fought in the Grindelwald war and even had crossed wands with Grindelwald once and made him run after he got him with a dark cutter to the abdomen. After that, Grindelwald did not dare to cross the duo of Charlus Harold Potter and Arcturus Orion Black, who fought as comrades in the war and after the war, Arcturus proposed a marriage alliance between the House of Potter and the House of Black.

The Longbottoms were magical Vikings who were going around the modern Europe conquering nations and assimilating new magics into their family magic when they reached the shores of Avalon. Your ancestor Hardwin Potter with his allies the Bones, the Greengrasses, the McMillans and many other families raised a formidable force and clashed with the Vikings. After a long drawn out battle, the Vikings were defeated and their leader Edmund Longbottom was taken captive by the allies. Later Hardwin Potter released him and convinced him and his Vikings to settle here. I still remember the day when the long ships had landed on the shores of Avalon and it burned for months before truce could be reached. When the Longbottom's settled in Avalon, Hardwin Potter proposed an alliance between the House of Potter and Longbottom and since then, there has never been a Potter without a Longbottom. They famously say about you two, "Where a Potter goes, a Longbottom will follow and a Potter will never abandon a Longbottom'. There has always been a Potter with a Longbottom. Like when Neville's father was at Hogwarts, your father James was here and now you both are here.".

Harry's mind was reeling. There was so much that he did not know and who knows because of Ron's jealousy, how many people he offended because he did not know about his family, his allies and the great alliance as it was known. He resolved to have words with a certain red headed Weasley and lemon-drop loving old man. The Head Master had his best interests at heart but he made so many decisions for Harry which were not for him to make. He also decided to expand his circle of friends.

Harsh Vardhana began again, "My apologies, heir of Longbottom but since Heir Potter is lacking his manners, I would introduce myself. My name is Harsh Vardhana and I am a trainee healer (Harry wanted to correct him but held his tongue) and I wanted to talk to you about some of the things I have heard."

Neville was not sure how to answer. No one had ever talked kindly to him in fact no one ever spoke to him unless they wanted something. Though he was not sure but he nodded his assent to the other man.

Harsh continued, "I wanted to know about the condition of your parents. Do you have any idea of their prognosis? What does the healers of St. Mungo's have to say about it? I know that they were subjected to over-exposure of Cruciatus curse and have never recovered. But did the healer not find out anything that would cure them?"

Neville was trembling because he was ashamed that he had never told anyone about his parent's condition and Harry might think badly of him for not telling.

Harry put a hand on his shoulder and said softly, "It s alright Neville. I know about them and I do not think any worse of you for this."

Neville started in a whisper, "the Healers have tried everything in the last 15 years, but; so far, they have found nothing that has help them. There was one healer who had looked at them once around 5 years ago and said that he vaguely recalled something about a cure for this condition. But, since he knew very little about it and he knew of no one who had the power to attempt it, what he knew offered only the thinnest hope. Perhaps, if we could find the cure, maybe someone can cure them.".

"Hmm, I wonder if I can have a look at them.", Harsh mused before turning to Neville, "if you can arrange a meeting with Dowager Lady Longbottom, I know of a treatment which may help them.".

Neville looked at the man so hopefully that Harry's heart was almost torn and he wished that Harsh could indeed be able to cure Neville's parents.

Oblivious to Harry, Harsh continued, "I have heard people make fun of you, Mr. Longbottom but the thing is that you are powerful that most of the students and some of the teachers themselves. You have so much raw power that you would easily be a sorcerer by the time you are magically matured."

Conjuring a dummy, he asked Neville, "Will you use a blasting hex on the Dummy, Mr. Longbottom?

Straightening himself, Neville levelled his wand at the dummy and firmly incanted while doing the required wand motion, "CONFRINGO!" A light blue spell left his wand and impacted the dummy, chipping away a little from the dummy.

"Again, Mr. Longbottom and this time I want you to put more power behind this spell", said Harsh.

Neville again tried and this time, the right arm of the dummy was blasted away leaving Neville ashen faced from the effort.

"With the amount of power you put behind your spells, it should have reduced the dummy to nothing. I wonder..." Harsh mused before he took his wand and handed it to Neville, "Try this wand, Mr. Longbottom and do not put too much power in the spell. Just a normal blasting hex will do the trick."

The wand felt comfortable in his hand, in fact, it felt more comfortable that his own wand did. Levelling it at the dummy, he incanted and this time instead of light blue, a bright purple bolt of energy left his wand and caused the dummy to explode leaving nothing but a bit of rubble and a cloud of settling dust.

"Good show Neville!", exclaimed Harry, impressed, "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

Neville looked in astonishment at his own hand and the wand. When Harsh held out his hand, he reluctantly returned the wand, with yearning in his eyes and wanting to have a little more taste of the power he had just seen.

"Mr. Longbottom, did you buy your wand? As I remember, all English children buy their wand from Ollivander's in Diagon Alley when they turn 11."

"Uh, no, this was my father's wand. My grandmother thought I could honour him by using his wand", Neville replied hesitantly.

"Neville, the wand chooses the wizard", Harry recited, understanding dawning.

Harsh Vardhana asked Neville to hand him his wand and after inspecting it for a few seconds, he returned it to Neville saying, "This wand will never work for you, Mr. Longbottom. Its loyalty is not to you but your father and you have not won it from him nor did the wand choose you. There is another wand waiting for you to claim it. I think a visit to Ollivander's in summer vacations is in order but if you do not mind Mr. Longbottom, will you honor me by using this wand", he said presenting the wand he had given to Neville earlier.

"But, isn't this your wand? Why are you giving it to me?", Neville asked.

"Oh no, this is not my wand, Mr. Longbottom. You see, this wand had came to me through someone and I am merely keeping it. This is a family wand and it belongs to the Longbottom family. I found it in my possessions and decided to gift it to you. Now if I were you, I would be cautious about using that wand. It has different materials in the core than are normally used by wand makers and you using it openly would tempt wandmakers to borrow it to study."

Neville looked at the wand recognizing the Longbottom crest on the hilt of the wand and the Longbottom motif, the Hippogriff drawn on it. But he could not recognise the wood or the core material.

He looked towards Harsh Vardhana who was curiously looking at him and answered his unasked question, "This wand was a gift to your family. A repayment for a deed of valour by Lord Harfang Longbottom who had saved a family of wand makers from a horde of dark creatures and a dark lord. The wand maker had access to woods of the mythical grove of Dodona from where he picked up a piece of wand wood and infused it with the magical powers of the sacred grove. The core for this wand comes from Pravirakarna, a species of immortal owl found in the Himalayas which is famous for their mythical powers such as wisdom, power and strength. They are like the phoenixes though the phoenixes have burning day, they do not and they are very few in numbers. They are not born but made. If you took this wand to Ollivander's Mr. Longbottom, you will never see this wand again. If I were you, I would never tell anyone about it but only the Dowager Lady Longbottom. If anyone asks tell them it is your family wand."

Neville was elated. He had just been given a gift like nothing he had ever known. Maybe, now, he could make his parents proud. Little did he know that destiny had forged a special path for him. Harsh Vardhana took his leave of them and left the younger boys in silence, pondering over the entire conversation.

Harry was sitting in silence looking at everything transpiring between the two an his heart ached for a wand like the one Neville had been given. He was amazed that Neville had managed 4 years of school with a wand that had not chosen him. That alone said a lot about his magical capabilities. He hoped that Neville's parents would recover and that he could have some happiness. Thinking of his parents, he remembered that his parents were Neville's godparents and Alice Longbottom was his godmother. May be, with Alice Longbottom being cured and Sirius being free, he could have some semblance of family and happiness. He and Neville had so much more in common than others students his age. Both had grown up without parents and craved parental love. Both had their lives messed up by others. Both were subject of a wretched prophecy and it could have been either of them. Remembering Dumbledore telling him about the prophecy, suddenly Neville's high power levels made sense. If it could have been either of them then it was logical that either of them would possess power equal to Voldemort, if not greater. Another similarity which made him snort was that they both were tormented by Snape. He still had a message for Snape and it was time to deliver it and set the record straight.

**Snape's Office, the Dungeons**

Severus Snape was sitting in the Potion Master s Office, a bottle of Ogden's best fire whisky open before him and a half filled glass in hand. On the table in front of him was a photo of Lily during her time in Hogwarts. This picture was clicked a month before the O.W.L. exams and Margret McVeigh, a muggleborn ravenclaw in their year had convinced them to pose for a picture together. In this picture, Lily was laughing heartily looking at the camera while Severus was trying to smile which came out more as a grimace but still watching Lily laughing was his best memory and that was what fuelled his patronus. After her marriage, he had thought he was done with her but then he had to hear that wretched prophecy and tell the Dark Lord about it which led to Lily's death. He should have moved away then, but; he had not and now he was paying for it. He had to watch the brat all the time while he went off to one adventure after another, risking his life just like his father before him. When he looked at Harry Potter, he remembered James Potter and his infamous friends, who defined them by their stupid name, "Marauders'. This year was hardest on him since Harry Potter had come to Hogwarts and this would get worse before getting better. Damn the old fool and his manipulative wordplay.

Suddenly there was a knock on his door. He banished the bottle to the side with a flick of his wand, vanished the glass and grunted, "Enter'. The door opened and Harry Potter stood on the threshold. The day just had to get worse.

"Potter, I have no patience for any nonsense from you. This better be important.", he sneered.

"Professor, I would rather not disturb you, but; I have a message for you from my mother", replied Harry soberly.

"Are you trying to prank me Potter? Just like your father and the mutt?", he barked.

Harry's expression turned stern, "I had this message that my mother gave to me when I was in my magical coma. I can assure you it was real, _Sev_."

The emphasis on the word was not missed by Snape who knew that only Lily called him by that name. Was the brat telling the truth? Did he really meet Lily? Eager for any answer, he beckoned Harry, offering him the other chair and waited for Harry to start telling the story.

"When I was in my magical coma, I went to the cottage in Godric's Hollow where I met with my parents and Potter grand-parents. My mother said you were her friend and that she was disappointed that you could not rise above petty grudges and you treat me like my father but you forget that I am not my father but my own person", Harry said, "she also said that she has forgiven you for everything that happened between you two and that she is at peace now, but; the path you have trodden hurts her. She also told me to convey that if you do not mend your ways, she would have words with you when you turn up."

Severus flinched at the tone of the message. Lily was indeed angry with him and she had a right to be so. He had solemnly promised himself that he would look after Harry Potter, but; he never did but only satisfied his grudges against James Potter. He had already fallen too far to get any redemption. But maybe, he could still turn things around. Yes, the boy did remind Snape of his father, James, in so many ways, but; this boy also had her eyes and if he could sum up Lilly in one trait, it was that she had always been unfailingly kind.

"Potter... Harry, your mother was my best friend. In fact, she was my only friend and I knew her from her parent's place. Your grand-father Harrison was a successful businessman and lived in the wealthy part of the town while my muggle father lived in the poorer section. I saw Lily with Petunia doing some magic and helped her to understand everything that was happening to her. We came to Hogwarts together and I hoped that we would be sorted in the same house but I was sorted into Slytherin and she went into Gryffindor. We remained friends even after that and we were friends till our OWLs. In fourth year, I was sought after by scions of the dark families who wanted my talents for the Dark Lord s purposes. The Dark Lord was a force to be reckoned with and we were enamoured with him. I refused initially and kept on refusing, but; they kept trying to seduce me to the dark side with gifts, promises of a better future and what not. They painted a rosy picture of a world where the wizarding world would be living in harmony with each other but alas! I did not realise my folly till it was late. Your father gained some maturity in 6th year and he finally wooed your mother after we had a falling out when I said something distasteful to her. She never forgave me for that. I am sorry that I kept taking my anger out on you when you came to Hogwarts", he said finishing.

Telling so much to Harry Potter was unbearable but after Harry had brought him the news that he wanted to hear all his life, he could not hold a grudge against the boy anymore. In that moment, Severus resolved that he would do everything in his power to make sure that Harry Potter survived his next encounter with the Dark Lord.

Harry had always wanted to know the reason for Snape's hatred towards him and hearing it from him was a surreal experience. He did not know if he liked it or not that Snape was his mother's friend. This explained why he hated Harry with every fibre of his being. He was James Potter's son and James Potter had married the girl he fancied. Did that mean... his mind could not even think that Snape may have been in love with his mother. Maybe that was why he hated Neville with a passion as he hated Harry. Maybe he hated that Neville was not the boy-who-lived.

Deciding to leave before he over-stayed his welcome, he said to Snape, "Professor, my father told me that he was sorry for all the stupid pranks on you and that you are a better person than he ever will be. He also told me to convey that you should try to be the man that you can be. Good Night, Professor."

"Good night, Harry", Snape could barely say.

Harry Potter had turned his world upside down today. The messages from two people who impacted his life the most made him rethink his actions. He had done nothing to merit praise from anyone but only garnered hate and prejudice. Students hated him and called him greasy slimy dungeon bat (yes, he knew that). He had worn black robes all his life to mourn for Lily but his life had become equally dark where he took sadistic pleasure in ill-treating students and harassing them so much that they hated his name even. He had become his father. He treated Longbottom so bad that the boy's boggart was him! He was disgusted of himself and decided to change things as soon as he could.

**Lion's den**

Harry Potter was sitting in his usual place in the common room reading through a book of defensive magic which was gifted to him the previous year when he heard tapping and saw Hedwig on one of the windows. He opened the window letting her in and took the letter from her claws. It was addressed to him and there was the seal of Gringott's present on the envelope. Wondering what the Goblins wanted with him, he opened the letter.

_"Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We have tried to contact you in the past but all our efforts failed till now. We have been sending you letters since you returned to the magical world and your quarterly statements and requested a meeting a couple of times to discuss your finances with you and the state of your vaults but you never responded and thus, lost very lucrative opportunities to invest in some good businesses._

_"Since there has been a major change in your account status, we decided to send this letter through your familiar since she can get through any wards you are behind if she carries your ordinary conversation. We request a meeting at the earliest opportunity at your convenience._

_"We are sending you your heir ring and we wish for you to wear it when you enter the bank and on showing it to the teller, you will be given admittance into my office post haste._

_May your gold ever flow._

_Regards_

_Ragnok,_

_Lord of Goblin Nation_

Harry was flummoxed. What did Ragnok mean by accounts? He did have his trust vault and that was all with a bit of gold in it which he was using frugally to fund his education. Was it possible that he had more than that? He decided to ask Sirius when he met him at the platform in London.

"Harry mate...", Ron's voice interrupted his musings, "can I talk to you?".

Despite not feeling like talking to Ron, Harry nodded and Ron sat opposite him.

Looking at the letter, he asked, "Who wrote you?"

"The Goblins wanted to fix a meeting to discuss my vaults but I am sure I have just my trust vault", he replied.

"Mate your family is an old family, even older than most. All the old families own more than one vault. One would be the main Family vault, one would be the Dowager vault, one would be the Heirloom vault, one would be full of library books and one may be all filled up with furniture, portraits and stuff.", Ron said proud of having been able to answer a question.

"How do you know so much about it?", asked Hermione who had come to sit beside them while Ron was having his say.

Ron's ears turned Weasley red and Harry stifled a snort.

"I am a pureblood Hermione. Just because I choose not to prance around like Malfoy, lording it over everybody, doesn t mean that I don t know anything, he said, "Harry's family is old and one of the most influential families. The House of Weasley was also an Ancient and Noble house once but due to some mistake made by one of my ancestors, the other Ancient and Most Noble Houses took our status away."

"Did the House of Malfoy lead the other families to do so?", asked Harry.

Ron snorted, "Malfoy may act like he owns the place but his family is hardly an ancient family. His ancestors came here from France around 200 years ago. The House of Malfoy isn't even worthy of sitting upon the Wizengamot.".

"Wizenwhat?" asked Harry, confused.

"Honestly Harry, don't you read? The Wizengamot is like the muggle parliament and the houses sit on it and act like the government. The Minister is the head of the ministry but the real power lies with the Houses who use it to have their way", Hermione ranted in her usual know-it-all manner.

Harry chose not to reply to her. Suddenly there was a pop and Winky appeared beside him and curtsied with a bow and said, "Master be sending letter for Harry Potter.".

"Thank you, Winky", said Harry taking the letter from Winky who disappeared with a pop while Hermione was glaring daggers at him.

"Harry, isn't she Barty Crouch's elf? Who is she bonded with? Why would anyone willingly enslave anyone? This is inhumane and barbaric. What about their rights?", she shot off a volley of questions.

"Hermione, did you do all the research on house elves? Like why they bond with wizards or witches?", he calmly asked her.

"It is obvious Harry that they are brain washed into serving the wizards who chose to enslave them thinking they are...", she was starting to go on ranting.

Harry shook her, "Hermione! Before you go on and on and offend every pureblood here and some of the half bloods too, answer my question. Have you done the research into the wizard-elf bond?"

"No", she said embarrassed.

"I would appreciate it if you would go and do your research or go down to the kitchens and ask the elves about it. I know the answer to this question, but; I would rather that you find this answer by yourself", he replied calmly. Lately, he had been noticing changes in his behaviour. No longer was he the rash, abrasive boy who would rush headlong into a situation but now he would look into the situation, figure out a plan and then execute it. He also had started reading anything that he could get his hands on. In the last few days since he was released from the infirmary, he was either in the library or his dorm, reading his books. It was like someone had started a fire under him and he now had to sate it any way he could.

Hermione only huffed in annoyance muttering under her breath that she would find the answers and show Harry she was right.

This was the moment when Ron decided to put his foot in his mouth, "what do the goblins want, mate?"

"They want a meeting as soon as possible. I suppose I can go meet them when the holidays start", he replied offhandedly.

"But you will be coming to the burrow, right?", Ron asked him anxiously.

"I will try. I have a few things to do before though. This reminds me Ron I wanted to ask you some questions", he said sternly.

"Yeah", Ron gulped probably knowing what was coming.

You can start by telling me why you did not tell me about my family? I mean you know I was muggle raised and you did not tell me anything except for general knowledge. Why is that?

"You see mate, I was afraid that after you learned about your family and your wealth, you would leave me and not be my friend anymore", Ron said, haltingly.

Harry knew of Ron's jealousy. The red head could be jealous of anything and everything since he longed to have his own fame and attention. What he failed to see, however; was the price Harry had paid, the pain he had suffered, or that Harry didn't want any of it.

"Ron, you prat, you are my first friend and your family is my favourite family. I love how you all live with each other and I have often thought what it would be like to grow up in a family as big as yours. Why would I leave you?", he chided.

Hermione was watching this with bated breath. She had known that things would never be the same between the three of them and knew this was long coming however it was little anti-climatic. She had expected Harry to explode in anger threatening to hex Ron while demanding answers but it was like something had fundamentally changed in Harry Potter. She still did not know what happened in the grave yard and wished Harry would tell her but knew her nagging would do no good.

"Ron, you know that my family has an alliance with the old families and being the last potter, it falls upon me to honour those commitments. Since we came to Hogwarts, kids from those families have been trying to befriend me and help me learn of my station but you pushed them away. I may have offended so many of them. Why did you do that? You were my best mate and that would not have changed, but; you had no right to interfere in my family business. Why did you chase them all away from me?", he asked Ron sternly.

Ron, seeing that Harry needed answers, could only say what he knew. He tried, "Mate, Harry, I m sorry. My Dad just dressed me down for the very same thing. I have already apologized to Susan Bones. I know it seems lame now, but I really was just trying to keep the groupies and gawkers away from you, you know, so they wouldn't bother you too much. And yes, I have to admit, that I was jealous. All these kids from wealthy families, trying to be your friend and everything I own is second-hand rubbish. But that's still no excuse. I should have just let you make up your own mind about who your friends are. I mean, after all, you showed remarkably good judgement when it came to Malfoy."

Harry said sadly, "I thought that after all we have been through together, that you would know me better. But when it came right down to it, you didn't believe me and joined in with all the rest, believing that I put my name in the goblet of fire. When Hermione was there for me. She believed me, but; where were you? I'll tell you where you were, feeling sorry for yourself, shutting out your best mate. As we later found out, it was a stinking death eater that put my name in the cup with some wonky plan to sacrifice me to Voldemort and I had to compete anyway. I nearly died Again! So far, you have yet to earn my trust back. Maybe, someday, we might be best mates again, but not today."

**Train ride back to London**

The last two days were uneventful and Harry was content with nothing happening. He had met the real Moody in Dumbledore's office where the Auror had impressed him with his fortitude and resilience. Dumbledore had told him of his plans for Harry before he would go with the mystics. Dumbledore's, "Order of the Phoenix." was keeping a watch over him from the train station to his home. Harry wanted to protest that he would not go to the Dursley's but Dumbledore assured him that it would not be for long. Susan Bones had met him a couple of times during lunch or in the library and they were spending time together. While he didn't really fancy her, she was pleasant company. She listened to everything he said and offered her opinions only when asked. She also told him that she would be taking auror training over the summer. Harry was tempted to ask if her auntie would arrange something for him too but decided that the training the mystics would give him would keep him occupied for most of the summer, therefore, he did not need anymore, at least for this year.

When Hermione learned the true nature of the house elf bond, she accepted that her approach to seeking justice for them would have to change. For the house-elves, it wasn't slavery, it was their source of life. Harry was right.

On the last day of term, a teary eyed Cho cornered him in a deserted corridor on the fourth floor and asked the same thing as Mr. Diggory had. He recounted the minimum details that he could without going into depth about everything that had happened. At the start of the year, he had a crush on her but after the graveyard he felt nothing towards her but sympathy for what she had lost.

On the train ride, he had taken the last compartment and was joined by Neville, Hermione, Susan, Ronald, Hannah Abbott who was Susan's best friend and the Weasley Twins. They were all engaged in small talk and at sometime during the ride, Hermione Granger told them about Rita Skeeter and her illegal animagus form. She handed Rita, whom Hermione had captured and kept in her beetle animagus form, held prisoner in a jar with an unbreakable charm on it, to Susan. Susan gleefully took the jar and stored it in her handbag, ready to be delivered to her auntie. Rita Skeeter had printed a lot of lies about everyone and slandered almost everyone in the magical world. She was sure that her Auntie would love a chance for some payback for some of Rita's embellishments.

Mid-way during the train ride, Draco Malfoy came for his customary visit but seeing the people in the compartment, he scarpered before he got into trouble with the niece of the head of the DMLE. As the train was nearing London and students were getting ready to disembark, Harry took the Weasley twins aside and gave them the 1000 G he had won as prize money. When they tried to refuse, he told them that he wanted to be a silent partner in their joke shop and that he would provide more cash if they needed it. When they asked why he was doing this, he replied that it was simply good business and that people would need to laugh more in the immediate future and no one could do it better than Fred and George.

On the platform, he was engulfed in the trademark Weasley hug and then Remus embraced him but he did not see Sirius or Padfoot on the platform. As Remus escorted him past the barrier, he was surprised to see the headmaster, wearing a muggle suit along with the mystic who was looking like an ordinary muggle in his jeans and t-shirt. Together the three men took him to #4 Privet Drive.

**Privet Drive**

As Harry rang the doorbell, the mystic pulled out his wand and was casting different spells. As the door opened, Vernon barked at him, "don't just stand there boy! Get your worthless backside inside before the neighbours see you."

Harry glanced over his shoulder and saw that he was all alone! Perhaps Dumbledore had played him. He dragged his trunk inside the house and was surprised to see his uncle hanging upside down by one ankle near the ceiling, while a menacing looking Remus was pointing his wand at him, the aspect of the wolf plain in his eyes and growling throatily. It was clear that Remus would like nothing better than to rip Vernon limb from limb. Petunia was slack jawed, her eyes wide in horror while Dudley was slumped on the floor looking fearful with his hands on his backside.

"Take a seat, Harry. We won't be here for long.", said a disembodied voice and Harry was surprised to see Dumbledore appear out of thin air. Seeing his mouth hanging open, he chuckled and said, "Disillusionment charm, Harry. Quite a useful trick since none of us has an invisibility cloak as brilliant as yours."

"Indeed", said the voice of Harsh Vardhana as he appeared beside Dumbledore.

"Now onto business", Dumbledore adopted a professional demeanour, "Petunia, we have come here today to take young Harry away with us. The wizard who killed your sister has returned from the dead and will come after your family. Harry will be going with us forever and you will be free of him. As soon as Harry sets foot out of this door, the wards protecting you will fall and you will be in peril. We could have simply taken him away but after the tender care you gave Harry all these years (Harry snorted), we felt that we should at least give you a warning so that you can run."

"He's back? But he's dead, isn't he?." squeaked Petunia while Vernon was still hanging from the ceiling, his face turning purple from all the blood rushing to his head. Dudley was nowhere to be seen.

"I am afraid not. He is back and he will come after you just because you are related to Harry", Dumbledore said gravely, "If I were you I would leave this place as soon as I could."

"Now that we have got the pleasantries out of the way, let's get down to serious (no pun) business", said Harsh Vardhana turning to Petunia, "in the wizarding world, children are considered very sacred and are loved and protected because of our low population. Your nephew is a celebrity for the magical people and anyone would have gladly taken him in and raised him but we gave him to you believing that you would take care of him and love him like family. If I let it slip how Harry Potter has been treated by you all these years, even the dark wizards will line up to avenge for all the harm you caused him. I know for a fact that if something had happened to you, Lily Potter would have taken your son in, raising him like her own. Yet you did not do her memory justice."

"We took him in, gave him a roof and food and clothes to wear", said Petunia defiantly, apparently angry at being called out like that but inwardly she was quaking with fear that their reckoning had come due. Lily had often told her of tales about how wizarding families settled their grudges. She hoped they would not face something like that.

Lupin who had been spinning Vernon all this while, growled throatily, "the way you have treated my cub, my inner wolf is asking me to tear you all to shreds and shed every drop of blood in your body for every harm you inflicted upon him, but; I know if I did that then my brother James and Lily will never forgive me. Be thankful that your sister had such a big heart."

Petunia balked at this. She knew that they could do what they said but chose not to reply as to avoid offending them despite inwardly fuming at the treatment they were being given.

Harry was sitting quietly with some amusement, watching everything. Even if he did not wish such things upon Dursley's, someone doing this for him meant a great deal to him.

"You know, we can curse you with so foul diseases that your healers will not be able to cure you and you will die eventually of such curses in much agony and pain, but; we will not do that. We are not such bad people. However, Petunia Dursley, your reckoning has come due and it is time to pay the bill", Harsh said with a malicious smirk on his face.

"I have an idea", said Remus with a feral glint in his eye which Harry knew too well. Remus was up to no good but, Dumbledore decided to humour him, "Of course Remus, my boy. What do you have in mind?"

"We don't injure them but do some creative hexing. Then, we will let Amelia know about all the kind and loving treatment Harry has received here and I am sure that she will see to it that they are richly rewarded, to the full extent of the law", Remus concluded grinning.

"I know the perfect hexes for them', said Harsh Vardhana, "we hex Vernon Dursley so that he is smelling pungently all the time and no one would approach him and he would lose everything he has worked for, we will hex Petunia in such way that it will cause her personality to turn 180 degree and for the fun of it, we add another hex that will make her speak gibberish or bad mouth anyone who wanted to talk to her. As for the son, he already is on path of destruction. We simply hex him to leave every bad habit he has and so he would lose interest in habits that are not good for him thus, losing his elephantine girth a little. As I told her, we do not punish children or cause them deliberate harm."

Harry had feared that they would torture the Dursley's but this was much better. They would learn their lessons and may be Dudley could be saved. True that his cousin had never been good towards him but he was raised that way by his parents and it was not Dudley's fault. May be there was hope for him yet.

Dumbledore whipped his wand out and started casting a myriad of hexes at Dudley who had hobbled back into the room sometime during the conversation and did not understand a word of what was being said. Watching his eyes closely, Harry suspected one of the three men had confounded him. Harsh Vardhana was hexing Vernon and when he was done, Vernon smelled like rotting meat and his hair was coming out in clumps and his moustache was gone leaving behind only wisps of hairs. Remus hexed Petunia and when she opened her mouth to speak, all she could speak was gibberish and hearing her voice, she clamped her mouth firmly shut.

Finally they went out of the house, leaving Vernon still hanging (Remus said that he would come down eventually, in a few hours).

Outside the door, they steered Harry through the alley-way to the next street. It didn't take Harry long to realize that they were heading towards Mrs. Figg s house. Mrs. Figg opened the door a crack and seeing the three men; she yelped and jumped aside pulling the door open. As soon as they were in, Dumbledore whipped out his wand and locked the door while Remus raised a silencing ward around the room.

"Harry, I am sorry that I could not tell you sooner but I was kept here to keep a watch on you", she said nervously.

"Hang on, you are saying you are a witch and you never told me?", Harry said in indignation, "all the times I came here, you could have told me my story. You could have told me about the magical world and everything, but you never did."

"Not quite, Harry. I am a squib. I am sorry but, I could not blow my cover. I was to keep an eye on your house and to immediately report if I saw anything suspicious. I moved in here in November, 1981 a week after you-know-who was defeated. In the ten years before you went to Hogwarts, I reported at least 7 death eaters who were trying to enter your house. If I had blown my cover and was forced to move, you could have been in danger. Will you forgive me?", she asked hopefully.

Harry knew what she said made sense and he kind of liked her. She always treated him fairly and gave him a lot to eat. She was a good lady and he could do nothing but forgive her.

"What do we do now, Albus?", she asked Dumbledore.

"Your work here is done, Arabella. We have had young Harry's reckoning from the Dursley's and we hexed them in creative ways which you will know soon. You can decide to remain here or move. Amelia Bones will soon start an investigation into Harry's living conditions and she will be looking for witnesses. If you wish, you can have a little reckoning of your own from them", he said, his eyes twinkling.

"That I will, Albus. Oh, the stories I can tell them", she replied, a maniacal grin on her face which was mirrored by Remus.

Harry snorted. He never could have believed that the head master would do something like this but it felt real good.

"Now Harry, let us be off. We have to go to the head quarters of the order and we are already running late. We can't risk the Black Marauder coming after us for unspeakable things we did to his godson", said Dumbledore amused.

Harry grinned at the Head Master while Remus merely smirked. Harry imagined Sirius Black blundering through Privet Drive breaking down the door of #4 demanding to know about him and laughed at the mental image and Remus soon joined in.

"But Professor, if the Dursleys decide to move, wouldn't it be hard for the Auror department to track them?", Harry asked, confused.

"Don t worry about it, Harry. We have added a tracking charm to the hexes so they can run but they can't hide", explained Remus.

Dumbledore hustled them to the Floo network and gave Harry the address, "Number 12, Grimmauld Place."

**PLEASE LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N-** Hey guys, I have been writing this story for you all after consuming a lot of my grey cells and I have had some very positive response from you all but I have not received much in way of reviews telling me if there are any shortcomings or any suggestions from you all. While I like to think that may be, I am writing very well but I like to remain firmly footed on ground and do not attach over importance to me. A little comment here and there would be much appreciated and thank you all for your support.

The story is little slow paced right now but I tend to drift when I start writing and I am not a fan of little details. Here is the next chapter which I hope you will like.  
THANK YOU HYPER GYM FOR THE EDIT

**Disclaimer- Wish I owned him. Literally nobody out there would refuse such a lucky chance but I do not own Harry Potter. He well and truly belongs to JKR. I am just having a little fun**

* * *

**BLACK TOWNHOUSE, LONDON **

Harry Potter arrived in a well lit hall where he fell out of the floo and landed face first and someone barked a laugh. Embarrassed Harry raised himself and saw Sirius standing near him, laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes.  
"Just like James, godson. He too used to make such dramatic entrances from the floo", he said while trying to control his laughter.

Seeing Sirius, he leapt and threw himself into the older man's arms who embraced him tightly and led him to a room, where there was a large table made of pristine black marble that could easily seat 20. There was a chandelier hung from the ceiling with candles burning in the sconces illuminating the room. The room was a dining room where the walls were of lighter color and the lights from the chandelier were dancing on the walls forming patterns of animals like a snake, a hippogriff, a basilisk (Harry shuddered remembering the one he had slain), a unicorn, a dragon and even a mermaid.  
Turning to Remus, Sirius said, "How were the muggles? Did they cause any troubles? I hope you had some fun with them."

Remus smirked, "Oh, I had some fun, Padfoot. Mr. Harsh Vardhana was most helpful in suggesting curses to hex them. If we did not know otherwise, I would have said that he was a marauder."

Then he proceeded in detail to tell all that had happened at the Dursley's. By the time he was finished, Sirius was banging the table with his fist laughing and Dumbledore was trying to look stoic but he was losing his facade and when Sirius turned towards him, he lost his calm and started laughing too.

Finally, after sometime when they were all calmed down, Harry turned to Sirius, "What is this place, Sirius?"

"This Harry is the townhouse of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black and it is your house now."

"My House? But I am a Potter and not a Black", Harry replied, confused.

"You are as much a Potter as you are a Black, Harry. Your grandmother was my great aunt. Also, you are my heir being my godson", he replied.

"But... but you can marry and have a son. Why do I need to be your heir?", he asked.

Sirius started saying, his voice full of pain, "Being the guest of the Dementors for 12 years does that to a person, Harry. They have deprived me of the ability to have an heir. But that point is moot. I had decided on you being my heir when Marlene was killed. She was the only one that I ever thought to marry and I definitely had no plans to have a bastard child."

Harry realised that Sirius had lost much more than his friends in the last war. Sirius had lost a part of himself and his love. He could not imagine a situation in which he met someone who loved him that much and then having to live the rest of his life without her. At least, fate had spared him that pain. He realised in that moment that the wounds of the last war were still raw for most people and perhaps they will never be healed. With time however, may be, people can move on with their lives.

Sirius was still looking morose while Remus was patting his arm and looking grim. He was another broken soul that Harry had never cared about. True the marauder had never tried to find Harry and had kept his distance for a year when he was teaching at Hogwarts but seeing his actions on his behalf at the Dursley's had convinced him that the Marauder truly cared for him. He had read in a book recently how the werewolves could not reproduce amongst themselves and thus, were fiercely protective of children they come to see as their own. Remus considered him his family since he was born and as Dumbledore had told him last year, after that Halloween in 1981 Remus had gone off the deep end. He had some money left to him from Charlus who considered the boy as one of his own and Remus was drunk for the most part for 3 years. Then suddenly one day, he raised himself from his stupor and appeared at the gates of Hogwarts where everyone failed to recognize him until he reached Minerva McGonagall. He had thought that perhaps she had taken little Harry in and was raising him. She did not tell him anything but sent him to the headmaster and Remus had almost lost control over the wolf when he was told that Harry was at the Dursley's. He demanded that Dumbledore let him see Harry but he refused citing Harry's protection. For 3 years, Remus kept coming 3 days a week to Hogwarts and asked Dumbledore to allow him to see Harry. Once he tracked Harry to Privet Drive but could not enter due to the wards around the house and waited for Harry to come. But when he saw Harry finally, his Gryffindor courage failed him. Harry was looking so malnourished, beaten and worn out that he could not go to him due to his shame. He could not face the boy giving him hope of a life away from the Dursley's without any means to do so. That night, he left magical Britain and went to Germany where he did a myriad of jobs to raise money but could not keep a steady job for the fear of his secret being discovered. Germany was more sympathetic to werewolves, but; they still registered, tracked and kept records on werewolves. Remus did not want to give up his freedom in any way so he went from job to job and time flew by. He was in France when he heard of Sirius's breakout from Azkaban and it was there that Dumbledore found him. During the last year, he had been following Peter's tracks when he heard of the fiasco and rushed to his cub.

Harry could not fault the man for his innate goodness of heart nor did he have the heart to chastise him for something that he could not control. Besides, his father had called Remus his friend and he was not about to scorn one of his only links to his parents.

"So, the next point of order is," Dumbledore's voice broke him out of his musings, "what we are to do before Harry leaves for Bharat (Magical India)."  
"I would like to meet my friends", said Harry eagerly, knowing this might be the last time he would see them before the holidays ended.

"It is easily done, my boy", replied Dumbledore cheerfully "who all would you like to meet?"

"I would like to meet Neville, Susan and Hermione", he said eagerly.

"I am afraid you cannot meet Miss Granger quite yet, Harry", said Dumbledore who noticed Ron's omission from the list of friends but chose not to comment, "as I was told, the Grangers have left today to go to Italy on vacation and they are not due to return for two weeks."  
Harry was a little disappointed but he did not show it.

"You can meet Miss Bones tomorrow at the ancient manor of the House of Bones.", said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling, "in fact, I have an invitation to that effect for you and it is quite insistent, I suppose laced with compulsion charms done by Miss Bones pestering me to tell you and not to fall to my old wayward ways."  
Harry's face went red while others around him chuckled at the statement of the headmaster.

"Mr. Potter", said Harsh Vardhana, "we have 3 days before we will go. You can tend to all the business that you need to but I must insist that we have to make haste after 3 days from now. Tomorrow, we have a little business in St. Mungo's where Mr. Longbottom and Dowager Longbottom has kindly acquiesced to allow me to see Frank and Alice Longbottom."

Harry was happy to hear that he would have a chance to meet Neville tomorrow and may be his godmother; no matter that she cannot recognise him.  
"I must take your leave gentlemen", said Harsh Vardhana who simply disappeared from the room surprising everyone, causing their jaws to drop, except for Harry who did not know why this was such a surprise.

Remus looked at Sirius with his eyes wide, "Umm Padfoot, did you by any means forget to raise the anti-apparition ward?"

"No Moony. They were the first that I raised right before the war wards. He should not have been able to apparate in here. Now that I think about it, he did not come in through the floo either. What do you say, Albus?", Sirius asked Dumbledore who was sitting there looking amused, his twinkling eyes working overtime.

"I believe, we have just seen a power of the Mystics. They are very secretive and have forgotten more secrets than we have ever known. If one of them was ever to work in the Department of Mysteries, they would never let him leave", Dumbledore replied.

It was then Harry understood that like Hogwarts, you cannot directly apparate into this House and the fact that the mystic was able to do so deeply impressed him.  
Suddenly the wards chimed, signalling the arrival of someone. Sirius stood, rubbing his hands and looking eager, "I believe the members of the Order of the Phoenix have just arrived."

As if on cue, the door opened and many people entered one after another into the dining room. There were Molly and Arthur followed by Bill, Fred and George, a young woman with a heart shaped face and purple hair who tripped over something unseen, a big black man who was a hulking mass of muscles and a ring in his left ear, a witch with regal looks about her, another stern witch, Dedalus Diggle (he remembered the man he had met when he returned to the wizarding world in the Leaky Cauldron), an old and wheezy looking man, a square jawed wizard who had serious looks about him, Professors McGonagall and Snape, Alastor Moody looking gruff as usual, a little sneaky looking man who was going bald and to his immense surprise, Amelia Bones. The stern witch was casually looking around the table, her monocle in place. There were several others that he did not know.

"Now that we are here, this is the first meeting of the reconvened Order of the Phoenix", Dumbledore started in a professional manner, "firstly introductions are in order. Harry, this is Nymphadora Tonks", he said indicating the young woman who was scowling at Dumbledore.  
"Head Master, my name is Tonks. Wotcher, Cousin", she said, after a moment when she turned to Harry and was grinning at him. Harry was confused but did not say anything.

Dumbledore continued, "This is Kingsley Shacklebolt (the big black Man). He and Tonks are Aurors. This is Emmaline Vance, a hit-witch, this is Hestia Jones, another Auror, sitting next to her is Elphias Doge, then Dedalus Diggle whom I believe you are acquainted with, the one next to him is Sturgis Podmore (the square jawed wizard) and the man next to Professor Snape is Mundungus Fletcher. I believe you are already acquainted with Madam Bones."  
Harry exchanged polite nods with everyone while Dedalus Diggle enthusiastically greeted him.

"Continuing on to business, Madam Bones has assured us of her and DMLE's support in all activities which are related to stopping Voldemort (everyone flinched except Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus and Harry). However, if anyone of you is working for his own gain going against the rules of Magical Britain and the Wizengamot, she will not be lenient.", he said sternly, looking on to Mundungus in particular, "next we are here to induct new members into the order. I propose to induct William Weasley, and Misters Fred and George Weasley. I had initially decided to induct Harry Potter as a junior member but seeing as how this will lead others to protest, I am not letting him join but we shall keep him updated on everything that the Order does or knows."

"No, they are still school children. You can't be serious (Serious wanted to intervene that he was serious). I will not allow this", Molly said crossing her arms across her chest.

Harry wanted to protest that he wanted to join the Order but seeing Sirius's subtle shake of head, he kept his silence. Inside he was fuming. The adults around him were again starting to act like always. They were again treating him like a child, trying to protect him and keeping information away from him. Perhaps, today will be recorded as a miracle day when the adults did something for him without his asking.

Arthur, looking haggard and careworn turned towards her, "Molly, you know very well that you can't stop them from letting Harry know everything and if he chooses, to fight this war. People responsible for him have decided that he is eligible."

"No, Harry is just a child. He needs to play Quidditch, go to school, chase after girls and not worry about the war!", she ranted.

"Molly", Sirius started sadly, "in a perfect world, I would have agreed with you. But this is not a perfect world. Voldemort (she gasped) is out there and has already proven that he can get to Harry no matter what we do. Harry has already faced and defeated him four times and that is more than anyone can say. By keeping him away from war and training, we will only do a disservice to him. Being his godfather and responsible for him, I have agreed to this already."

"But you have never been there to care for him, were you Sirius?", she said nastily, "I was there for him when he came to my home looking underfed and malnourished, not having known love.".

"Enough!", snapped Harry, "Mrs. Weasley, I appreciate everything that you and your family did for me but Sirius is my godfather and he has the right to decide.".

"Listen here, young man, I did not raise you this way. You will not talk to me like this", she said sternly.

Harry wanted to shout at her, but was barely keeping control, however, before he could say anything, he was interrupted by Severus Snape of all people, "Molly, Potter is the only one who can defeat the dark lord. Why can't you understand that? I am not in favour of letting children fight wars but look around you; this is the only real resistance that we are able to offer at the moment. We need a leader and Dumbledore cannot lead us anymore, he is not the same as he used to be and no one here is as powerful as Potter who can stand up to the Dark Lord."

Harry was surprised at Snape's defense of him but did not press the point. He looked at the man who seemed to be gloomier than usual. He had dark spots around his eyes and his tone was sad but there was no vitriol in it. By the looks of it, Sirius and Remus also were surprised by the turn of events.  
Before they could voice their opinions, they were interrupted by Amelia Bones, "I think it is time that I bring my news before you all now. Earlier today, I was able to secure guardianship of Mr. Potter since I knew that you would be leaving the muggle house forever."

Harry did not know what to say. He had never been that close to Madam Bones or Susan, but; she had gone ahead and secured his freedom from the Dursley's. He was so over-whelmed that he could not speak for sometime, but then he regained his voice, "But how? I mean I am glad that you have done so much for me but do they not require something to grant custody?"

Amelia smiled at the confused teen, "Yes, they require authentication and my brother Edgar Bones and his wife and their legal successors were named as prospective parties to take you in, in case of your parent's death in James and Lily's will. I believe the order of preference was Alice Longbottom followed by Sirius Black, then Edgar and Ellie Bones and their successors and lastly there was mention of Minerva McGonagall, not that her being on that list surprises me considering she was James's' godmother." Minerva who was present in the meeting, sniffed loudly and Harry saw the usually stern mannered stoic professor wiping her eyes furiously with her tartan handkerchief. Harry was surprised to see the usually stern professor crying but his mind was occupied with another thought.

"Will? My parent's had a will?", his anger flared, "I didn't know that they had a will. Why wasn't I told about it?"

"Harry, no one knew that they had a will. They had made the will and a copy of it was kept in the office of their solicitors, Tonks and Vaughan, which burned to the ground a week before your parents died and their copies were in your family vault. In fact, if I could have found the will, I would have taken you to the Longbottom's or the Bones's instead of taking you to your muggle relatives.", Dumbledore replied, sombrely, "however, recently Madam Bones and your godfather were able to persuade the goblins to bring the wills from your family vault and it was read and executed. It will be given to you when you go to Gringott's tomorrow."  
Harry was angry but he could not take his anger out on anyone present. These people were not out to harm him but they were protecting him. Things were starting to turn around now and may be soon he could have some semblance of happiness.

Madam Bones continued, "So, as I said, I am the guardian of Harry Potter now. And in the capacity of his guardian, I allow him to be acquainted with all the intelligence the order has and I consent to him being trained for war. So I said so mote it be." Upon saying those words, golden light surrounded her and then vanished in her body.

Molly sighed in defeat. She had loved Harry Potter like her son and wanted to save him like her children but no one backed her up. Sometimes, she had even dreamt of him marrying her daughter and becoming a part of the family seeing how smitten Ginny was with him. But that hope had been dashed with Ginny's disenchantment with the "boy-who-lived" she had known in her childhood books. Still Molly felt protective of him and wanted to save him. She had lost her brothers in the first war and did not want to lose anyone else but they were in the middle of another war and could not escape it anyway.

Dumbledore started, "Now, if the new inductees would repeat after me, "I (state your name) hereby agree to join the Order of the Phoenix and to keep the secrets told onto me from anyone and everyone. I shall be loyal to the order and serve it with all my power. So I say, so mote it be."  
After the inductions were done, they discussed everything that was happening outside and then the meeting was dismissed except for a few members and Amelia Bones (who had not taken up membership).

"The next thing on the agenda is the Department of mysteries. We will have to keep a guard posted at the entrance of the department at all times. We will make a roster and keep a rotation so that every night someone different will have the duty to guard it", said Dumbledore, "and we have to keep watch so that nobody who should not be there sneaks in."

"What is the thing in the Department of Mysteries?", asked Harry, interested.

"If we are able to determine that you mind is your own, I would tell you what is in the department of Mysteries or maybe we would sit on this secret for a little longer", said Dumbledore cryptically and others smirked seeing Harry getting frustrated. It was not that they were getting any overt pleasure in this but they knew that Harry was growing up too fast and there were only moments that they could relish seeing him act his own age.

After that everyone took their leave while Sirius took Harry upstairs to Regulus's old bedroom which had been transformed by the elves working day and night. The room was decorated in cream coloured walls with Gryffindor crimson and red thrown in. At some place, the badger yellow also could be seen. On the wall behind the bed, there was a crest. It was two Griffins in flight with wands crossed on a red background. There was another crest which was a simple triangle with a circle within and a drawn between the triangle dividing it and the circle into two halves.

Sirius kept talking to him until late in the night with Remus chipping in every now and then and they told Harry of many pranks that they had played in Hogwarts and how often the target of the pranks were those who turned out to be death eaters later. What astonished Harry was that not all of them were from Slytherin but the house of Snakes had some decent beings among them. Listening to his father's attempts to keep asking Lily out and her rejecting his advances dubbing him "arrogant little toe-rag" made him smile but he did wonder how did his mother fall for his father.

While talking, Harry drifted into sleep and Sirius tucked him into bed before retiring to his own room.

**ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL **

Next day, Sirius woke Harry early in the morning and hauled him to the bathroom. While Harry was an early riser, the excitement the previous day had left him fatigued and since he had holidays, he had decided to sleep. But, that was not to be because Padfoot bounded into the room and started licking him furiously trying to wake him up. Grumbling Harry got up and retired to the bathroom. When he emerged, Dobby had laid down clothes for him but these were not the hand-me-downs from the Dursley's. He knew that the elf did everything to the best of his ability to keep his master happy but he was astonished by the clothes. These were brand new clothes which he had never seen before. There were black trousers, a shirt and a robe, all made of the finest silk. There was also a gleaming new pair of dragon hide boots.

"Dobby.", he called and the excitable elf popped in with a crack.

"Master calls for Dobby. What Dobby can do's for Master?"

"Dobby, whose clothes are these and who bought them?" he asked.

"Master's Dogfather be giving Dobby money and telling to buys clothes for master", said the elf, excited, "Dogfather said master cannot visit his Missy wearing rags."  
"My missy? What are you talking about?", he asked the elf who did not answer but popped away.

When he finally reached downstairs, Sirius was sitting at the dining table with Remus who was looking equally sleepy eyed as Harry, Dumbledore who looked fresh and Harsh Vardhana who was impassive as usual.

"Good Morning Mr. Potter, are you ready to tempt fates, start knocking down doors and in general cause mayhem?", asked Harsh Vardhana while Dumbledore sat smiling and Sirius snorted and Remus had a smirk.

"Uh...", said Harry.

"Very eloquent Harry, just like James", Sirius chortled, "he was like you when faced with something he could not understand but he always had a comeback ready. I am waiting to hear yours, godson."

Harry stood there dumbly thinking of an equally witty response when finally Remus had mercy upon him and steered him to a chair and served him some proper breakfast. Harry was happy sitting at that table sharing a meal with the men present. Outside of Hogwarts, he never had opportunity to share a meal with anyone except the Weasley's but this was better. He was with his godfather and uncle who loved him more than anything.  
"Professor, where are we going?", he asked Dumbledore.

"You, not we, Harry are going to St. Mungo's to meet your godmother and your god brother Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Harsh Vardhana will accompany you there."  
"How are we going? I mean by floo or portkey or what?" he asked.

"We are going to fly, Mr. Potter.", Harsh Vardhana said, smiling.

"You mean brooms? But that would violate the statute of secrecy, if we are seen", he said.

"No, Mr. Potter, I can literally fly like a bird but today, we are going to ride the bike Sirius gave to Hagrid when he took you away from the cottage at Godric's Hollow", Harsh Vardhana replied.

Harry was excited to know about the bike, knowing from Sirius that the bike was once owned by him and James Potter but what really fascinated him was that Harsh Vardhana could fly. May be, they will teach him to fly.

After breakfast Sirius took all of them to the garden where there was a shed in which the bike was parked. In another shed, the hippogriff Buckbeak was tethered and eating dead ferrets. Harsh Vardhana brought the bike out and started it. It gave such a loud roar that it reminded Harry of the Horntail he had faced last year.  
"Semantics, Mr. Black.", Harsh Vardhana chuckled, "making the bike sound like dragon roar. I wonder if dragon fire erupts from the exhaust?"  
Sirius grinned impishly, "I was adding modifications to it 13 years ago. Dragon Fire was next up, but I never quite got that far. Maybe I can get back to that now."  
Soon, Harry and Harsh Vardhana were cruising the streets, feeling the exhilaration as the wind whipped through their hair. Then, with a jolt of speed, the bike lifted into the air. Suddenly, the bike lurched forward and started lifting in to the air. Harry was astonished at first, then eager to see what the bike could do, then concerned,, he began, "uh, Mr. Harsh Vardhana, won't the muggles be able to see us? I mean we are flying on a motorcycle."

"Don't worry, Mr. Potter. We cannot be seen. One of the modifications on this bike makes it invisible to others. I believe you met one such car a couple of years ago", he laughed as Harry's face turned red, remembering the fiasco of the Weasley's Flying Ford Anglia.

It wasn't long before they landed in a deserted alley where two men seemed to appear out of thin air., Dressed all in black muggle clothing and saluted the pair of them.

"Greetings master and Mr. Potter.", said one in a deep baritone voice, "we have secured the area and there are no threats nearby. We met a few wearing mark of that abomination who were scouting the hospital and they have since been neutralised."  
"Good work, Himvat. Take them to safe house and interrogate them for any information that may be useful for the Order of the Phoenix."  
Harsh took out a piece of wood bearing the Black crest which he put on the seat and muttered Activate while touching it with his wand. The bike disappeared a moment later.

As Harry was ogling at the mystic, he shrugged, "It was a portkey made by Dumbledore and took the bike back to the townhouse. Now come along, Harry."

Taking Harry by his hand, he led him to a store front which had a "renovation in progress" sign up. Speaking to a mannequin in the store window, he disappeared as he passed through the window and Harry was prodded to do the same by one of the men who had come to meet them.  
He passed through the glass, a sensation like taking a cold shower, and found himself, warm and dry, standing in the reception area of the hospital where Harsh was waiting for him.

"Umm Mr. Harsh Vardhana who are these men and what were they talking about captives?", he asked the mystic in a hushed whisper.  
"I will detail you about it later but for now, they are our escort for the day", Harsh Vardhana replied.

Harry passed through the reception area of the magical hospital following the mystic who was keeping some distance from him. People around him were gawking at him openly. Some were talking in hushed whispers seeing him while a few tried to avert their eyes. One old and frail man, who was looking ancient even by Dumbledore's standards came up to him and said in a wheezy voice, "Mr. Potter! It's an honour to have met you. I am Octavius Ryne and I believe that you and Dumbledore are speaking the truth. I believe that the monster has returned. You have lost so much at his hands that it makes no sense that you would lie about such a thing. I know in my heart that you can finish him off. I implore you to send him back where he came from. In the last war, I lost my entire family to him. My son was an auror who was killed by one of his lieutenants, Antonin Dolohov and my daughter-in-law was killed in a raid in Diagon Alley. I have only my grand-son left who is working in France as a technomancer. He has already pled to come back and fight for you, if the chance comes."

Harry was touched by the old man's words. Here he was, a total stranger who walked up to him and told him how he believed Harry and even offered his grandson to him knowing there was a big chance that he can lose him. Not wanting to make a blunder, Harry only pressed his hands warmly and moved towards the reception desk following Harsh Vardhana who was striding forward imperiously, but Harry had a feeling that he knew everything that was being said and done. By the time Harry finished crossing the room to the reception desk several other people walked up to him and offered their support and expressed their faith in Harry.  
By the reception desk, Neville Longbottom was waiting for him with his grandmother, Dowager Lady Longbottom who had stern features and wore a black gown and the "now familiar" stuffed vulture hat.

"Gran, this is Mr. Harsh Vardhana, who has sought the favour of an audience with you", Neville made the introduction, his faced flushed with hope.

"Lady Longbottom.", said Harsh Vardhana, taking her right hand and pretending to kiss her knuckles, "I believe young Mr. Longbottom intimated the purpose for which I sought you audience. If mother magic is merciful, I believe I can cure your son, Lord Longbottom and Lady Longbottom."  
Harry followed suit, bowing to her, taking her right hand and pretending to kiss her knuckles when she suddenly embraced him warmly. Harry flinched for a second before returning her embrace.

She turned towards Harsh and started in a soft voice, "Please call me Augusta. If you can even make them conscious of us, House Longbottom will consider it a debt owed. Over the years, it has caused immense pain to me to think that Frank cannot see his son growing up and Alice cannot fuss over her son like other mothers. I have had my fill of Frank for my life and I have enough memories to live by but poor Neville here has not a single memory. I have tried all my life to provide him with the love and nurture of a parent but I know I have failed my children in this. Blinded by my belief, I even had him use a wand that was not his. I am just relieved that Neville does not think horribly of me for all the ridicule that he has faced for not being as good as others."  
By the time she ended, her face was streaked with tears and Neville had embraced his godmother trying to console her.

"Lady Longbottom, I am not doing any favour to anyone. House Longbottom has done so much good for society that it will be a shame to not do everything in my power to help you. Besides, I owe a very old debt to your house which I can never settle. If I do this, maybe I would be able to repay a part of it", Harsh replied, his eyes staring far off in the distance.

Nodding her head, Augusta took them to the fourth floor where they entered the permanent spell damage ward, where Harry noticed a person in one of the beds, having long blond hair which was looking dull and his face innocent as a baby was Gilderoy Lockhart. Harry has honestly forgotten about him and never expected to see him there. He felt a small wave of pity for the man but next moment remembered what he was about to do and all feelings of pity vanished. Lockhart beamed at him and Neville and dragged them to his bed where he started handing them signed photos making Harry and Neville grin at each other as if to say, "some things will never change."

At the far end of the ward, a portion was separated by walls and in that portion were Frank and Alice. They looked pale and their eyes looked glazed and vacant. Seeing Neville, Alice's eyes lit up for a moment but it happened so fast that no one noticed it except for Harsh who was observing them very closely. Frank reached forward and held Neville for a moment before letting go, making Neville morose. Harry could not even imagine the pain that Neville must have felt all his life. Not having parents was something he could relate with but having parents who would never recognise you was incomprehensible for him. He was lost in his musings when he was startled by a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Alice looking at him closely before giving him a smile and turning away.

"Healer Lynn, I would like to perform some diagnostic spells on them, I believe my credentials have been vouched for by Madam Pomfrey," came Harsh Vardhana's voice and Harry recognised the healer in the room who immediately nodded her assent.

Taking out his wand, he started his chanting and casting some spells at Frank and Alice and after a few moments, an ethereal glow was surrounding them. The healer was in awe of the situation and she could not speak for a whole minute before she eventually found her voice, "How do you know this? I mean I have read about his phenomenon in some really old healer books but I have never seen anyone doing this."

"These spells are complicated and I will explain it to you later, if you so desire, but right now I would like to discuss the results with you.", Harsh Vardhana said smiling at the look of awe on the healer's face.

"Yes, yes. I would like to discuss the results with you", she said snapping to attention.

"There is a cure possible for them but I need to make some special arrangements before that happens. I would require a room fortified to withstand any amount of magical backlash which would be caused when they become conscious. Their magical cores are over saturated and it will be heavy. I need to prepare the room by engraving my own runes in the room so that it would remain standing despite what may happen. If the place is connected to any of the ley-lines, it will be better since then the extra energy can be sent to earth directly preventing any damage.", he said, "and I will need your assistance in the process since when they come out of their unconsciousness, they would be weak, disoriented for a while and of course, they would need proper medical care to make their body as fit as it was before they were attacked. They will need to be cared for 24 hours round the clock."

The healer was downcast hearing his requirements, "we do not have any room like that. In fact, I think what you are describing is a ritual and we do not have any ritual rooms here. I can of course provide for a medi-witch who would take care of them restoring them to full health once they are conscious and I would like to offer my assistance in the healing."

"Pardon my interruption, but I could not help myself", said Augusta Longbottom, "I think you need a room where you can perform this ritual which would help to cure my children. In the hereditary seat of House Longbottom which is built on two ley-lines, there is a room which has been fortified for duelling and training and it can withstand any amount of magical backlash. You can engrave your runes on the walls there and after your treatment, I can keep them there and treat them. Thank you for your offer Healer Lynn but I will hire a house elf to look after them and administer them the treatment as per your schedule."

Both of the other adults nodded their consent. Harry and Neville just looked on while everything transpired. After they were done and leaving, Alice handed a Drobbles gum wrapper to Neville who slid it into his pocket and a chocolate frog card to Harry featuring Albus Dumbledore, making him remember the first card he ever saw was of Dumbledore.

As they were leaving the hospital, Harsh Vardhana asked Augusta if he could take Neville with him to visit the Bones manor. While she was initially reluctant, she acquiesced later when he assured her that by 9 in the evening; he would bring Neville to Green Hues, the manor of the Longbottoms however before they could leave she apologised to Harry for not giving him more time and invited him to visit the seat of House Longbottom the following day with Harsh Vardhana.  
After leaving the hospital, the three of them were again shadowed by the two escorts who escorted them to the deserted alley, where Harsh took hold of their hands and vanished with a pop.

**PLEASE LEAVE YOUR LOVELY REVIEWS**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N-** Hey guys, here is the next part. I know I am very slow in pacing the story but I do not seem to be able to help it. As it turns out, I am rather engrossed in writing it and wish to details things where I can. It's just that everything adds a new layer to the already mounting story. I hope you will like it. Please give me some reviews.

This chapter has been edited.

**Disclaimer- **let's keep it simple. I do not own Harry Potter but JKR does. I am trying to have a little fun.

* * *

**Bones manor**

The trio of Harry, Neville and Harsh Vardhana appeared out of thin air outside a giant circle of trees. Inside the circle, some distance away, was a mansion, quite large and ancient in appearance.

"Mr. Harsh Vardhana, why did we appear here? I mean, couldn't we have apparated directly inside the manner?", Harry Asked.

"Mr. Potter, even if we could appear directly in the manor, I did not do it because it would have been considered bad manners. Besides, think about whose house it is? Madam Bones is the chief of DMLE and she would have been angry if we just appeared uninvited in the house. I do not know about you but I do not fancy facing ire of an irate witch and if I can, I would avoid facing the wand point of a witch like her', he replied, his eyes full of amusement, 'however the point is moot since she has anti-apparition wards around her manor and as such, no one can appear directly in her house."

"But you did apparate in and out of a house which had the wards up at the time", said Harry scowling.

Neville looked surprised at this revelation and opened his mouth to say something, but; Harsh cut in, "Mr. Potter, it is not proper to give out secrets like that. Especially if it is not yours to give."

Harry nodded feeling embarrassed. He quickly realized that speaking out of turn and revealing the mystic's secrets were things he could not do if they were going to teach him anything. This was only Neville, so no harm done, but; he had to learn discretion and remember not to do that again. He also understood, that in this way, the mystics were like the Slytherins, not like Malfoy and his posse, but true Slytherins. He also realised why Dumbledore played his cards close to his chest. But on the other hand, such secretiveness had cost Sirius twelve years in Azkaban. If James Potter and Sirius Black had told someone else about Pettigrew being the secret keeper, perhaps Sirius would have been able to raise him like a son.

Lately, Harry had been growing more thoughtful. It had been his habit to act on impulse, and, he supposed, that there is a time and place for action without thought, but; now, he was beginning to consider carefully and make a plan before acting.

"Umm... Mr. Harsh Vardhana, is it possible to apparate in a place where there are anti-apparition wards?", Neville asked hesitantly.

"It is Mr. Longbottom but I am not sharing the secret with you", replied Harsh gently.

"Please call me Neville. I have a few questions if you could help me?", Neville asked looking hopeful.

"Mr. Longbottom, not to turn you down but my time is not really my own. I have a different life out of this healer routine that I am currently having. However, as I told Augusta, I owe to House Longbottom and I will make some time for you, say tomorrow after the rituals are done. If you wish, we can have young Mr. Potter present there", he asked.

Neville's face lit up with happiness, "That would be great! I don't usually have much company during the vacations."

"Much as I like standing about chatting, don't we have to go inside?", asked Harry, "I seem to remember that Professor Dumbledore told me that we are invited."

"We will go in Mr. Potter but not before someone is sent to take us in", replied Harsh and stepped a foot towards the property line.

An elf appeared with a loud crack. This elf was short, even for a house elf with a petite frame, a small nose, not that it needed to be any bigger, and the large eyes were red. When she spoke, her voice was high and squeaky, "I be Tweaky. Who's you sirs be?"

"Little elf, my name is Harsh Vardhana and I am accompanying Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom on an invitation from Madam Bones and Miss Bones", replied Harsh.

The elf was looking at him curiously. After a moment, the elf bobbed her head and squeaked again, "Old whizzy and sirs be follow me. I's be take you to Mistress and Miss."

"Umm, why did she call you 'old whizzy'?", Harry asked.

Harsh chuckled, "Story for another time Mr. Potter however I would rather that you do not ask questions every now and then. I will answer your questions but may be you can make a list of them?"

Following the elf, they entered into the manor, they were escorted into the parlour and were offered seats and told to wait. While waiting, Harry looked around the room. On a wall, there was a large shelf which contained numerous wands on display, mounted on little plaques detailing the names of each wizard who owned that wand. In the middle of the room, hung an ornate crystal chandelier which sent varying shades of lights around the room and in different colours. On one wall, there was a large crest which had a Common Welsh Green (Harry remembered the one from the tournament) in flight on a green background with a house motto 'beneath all the grandeur, we all are bones'.

Harry was in awe of the room. Seeing Susan at Hogwarts for four years, he had not known that she was this rich. He had initially thought that she was well off since she was from an old family but she was actually very rich, perhaps one of the richest families.

"Harry!" a voice interrupted his musings and he saw Susan standing at the door to the parlor. Seeing her in form fitting jeans and a top, her red hair loose, falling to her waist and her blue eyes shining with excitement, Harry's jaw dropped and he was struck dumb. After a few seconds, Susan interrupted Harry's impression of a cod fish by giggling at him. He came out of his trance and his jaw made an audible click as he closed his mouth. As he looked around, he could see that Harsh Vardhana was smirking and that Neville was making a visible effort to suppress a laugh.

"Welcome Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom", said Amelia Bones coming in through the door, "it has been long since heirs of those two splendid houses and allies of House Bones have graced this house."

"Madam Bones", said Harsh Vardhana stepping up to her, bowing and taking her right hand and pretending to kiss her knuckles, "I see the manor of House Bones has not lost its splendor. You have kept the place well- kept."

Amelia Bones smiled at him, "Thank-you Mr. Harsh though I insist that you call me Amelia. I believe that the preparations for Mr. Potter's voyage are complete?"

"Voyage? Where are you going Harry?", Susan asked Harry, who was still having difficulty connecting his brain to his tongue and chose to say nothing rather than engaging his foot with his mouth.

"Mr. Potter has agreed to go on a journey with me, Ms. Bones. We leave in two days time and this is the last time that you can see him for the summer, I am afraid. I believe he can tell it himself by the moment he will find that he is able to use the ability to speak again", said Harsh Vardhana somberly with mirth dancing in his eyes making others laugh while Susan blushed deep red.

Finally, Harry stepped up to Madam Bones and repeated as Neville did bowing and pretending to kiss her knuckles. Harry had been subjected to what Petunia called manners for a gentleman but this was not a part of them. May be later, Neville could fill him in.

"So Amelia, do you have any other family members currently inhabiting this glorious seat of power of House of Bones?", Harsh asked Amelia.

Her expression turned melancholic, "No, we are all that is left of us. Once a great and proud family, we are reduced to just the two of us. Two wars back to back dwindled our numbers. In the last war, I lost my siblings and their families. There are no others left. In fact, just before this summer I was living in a mansion near London. This is the first time in 3 years that we have come to live at this mansion."

"I realize that. I noticed that you have erected the war wards and anti-apparition wards. It was precisely due to that reason that I chose to come like I did", he said eliciting laughter from Amelia who said, "Since when have anti-apparition wards ever stopped you? If memory serves, Edward Bones wrote in his journal that you never cared for such trifles."

"Old Edward wrote about me?", he asked with mock surprise" 'I believe the man was going senile in his old age. I never thought that a man who looked so fearsome in battle would write in journals."

"Oh, you are such a charmer. He wrote about you", she said, amused, "you never cared for such niceties in the past."

Neville who had been quiet all this while said, "My Gran mentioned to me once how this manor was seeped in ambient magics and that it would need a legion of ward breakers to bring down the wards."

"Your Gran is right, Neville and it is for that reason that I moved in here. I do not intend to die in the coming war and I do not intend to see Susie come to some harm. This manor is fortified and the wards can withstand an assault for days before they can be broken down giving us time to escape', she informed them, 'the floo here is barred and apparition is only possible outside the property lines. Given a contingent of men capable of holding a wand, we can hold our own before help arrives."

"Madam Bones...' started Harry before he was interrupted, "Harry, I am your guardian now. You must call me Amelia or Aunt Amelia.", she said but before she could finish, a loud squeal was heard and Susan was hugging her tightly.

After a moment, Susan released her blushing and Amelia was smiling at her gesture. Susie had been hounding her for years to secure guardianship of Harry since she had known that she was betrothed to Harry Potter. It was natural that she could not control her emotions hearing that Harry was now Amelia's ward and would stay with them.

"Seeing your pleasant response to the situation Miss Bones", said Harsh Vardhana, his eyes glinting mischievously, "I heard of a very interesting tale of an invite apparently from you addressed to Harry Potter given to the Head Master and laced with compulsion charms so that he will not forget to give it to him and fall to his old wayward ways. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

Susan went beet-red while Harry's cheeks burned with the embarrassment of the situation while Neville was grinning like someone had given him a mega-gift but Amelia was mock scowling, "Susan Amelia Bones, did you use compulsion charms on the head master?".

Susan cringed at the tone but did not reply.

Harsh Vardhana turned to Neville then, "Neville, I have heard of another fascinating tale of a blond who looks upon you like you look on an exotic plant and yet you do not give her time of the day? Did your Gran not tell you that it is bad manners to hurt a lady?"

Needless to say, Neville was blushing and staring at the ground as if wishing it would open and swallow him while Amelia snorted at the thought of how easy it was to embarrass the teens who were growing too fast for their age. If she had her way, she would have allowed them to be children, date people they like, fall in love, have fun with magic but that was not to be. A war was coming and the first thing that was usually sacrificed at the altar of war was innocence.

To divert the attention away from them, Harry interrupted, "Amelia, what are the wands for?"

'The wands, Harry, have belonged to various members of the House of Bones who have made this House proud by their valour and bravery or by making substantial contributions to magic. The House of Bones has had a long history of producing notable members", she replied proudly.

Harsh Vardhana who had wandered to the shelf, was looking at a wand fondly, "Is this wand that belonged to Wildred, one of the companions of Merlin? Rowan wood, 10 inches, unicorn hair?"

Amelia was surprised at his description of the wand but nodded, "Yes, that is his wand. He was the founder of the House of Bones. But, how do you know that? It is family history."

He smiled ruefully, "Story for another time, Amelia but you would remember that Edward Bones was my friend? He told me a little about your family history."

While Amelia sensed that the man was not telling her something, she chose to let it go for the moment.

Harsh Vardhana continued, "Do you know of the war that we had fought together? It was somewhere in Russia where a dark lord was heavily recruiting in 1800's  
when we raised an army against them. That was perhaps the last time that all the original members of the great alliance had fought together."

Everyone's expression was melancholic but no one commented on the situation and he started again, "We are digressing here. I wanted to ask you if you would take custody of Mr. Potter for now or he can remain where he is for the moment."

Susan immediately snapped, "Absolutely not! I will not let you leave Harry with those horrible muggles. They are the worst sort. I will fight you all, if I have to!"

Amelia frowned at her behaviour. While Susan was usually fiercely protective of others around her, she had never berated anyone like this. She had heard the rumors of the mistreatment at the hands of the muggles, bits which Susan had overheard; perhaps it was time to see if they were true but before that she need to rein in Susan's anger.

"Susan Amelia, you will behave in a manner befitting a young lady and no, Harry Potter is not living with the muggles. He is living with his god father at the moment", Amelia said sternly to Susan.

Susan flinched before starting again, "if Harry has a godfather...".

Amelia cut her off with a stern glare, then addressing Harsh, "Mr. Harsh Vardhana, I would like to investigate the muggles and Harry's treatment at their hands but I would like to know if they are there still. It was my understanding that they had left the place?", Amelia asked.

"You are right. They have left privet drive today but the house has been bought by goblins using their muggle liaisons and will be sold once you complete your investigations", he answered her.

"If they have left, how will we find them?", she asked him curiously and then suddenly realisation dawned on her, "no, no, don't tell me. I think I understand. Just give me the monitoring device to the tracking charms which have been set upon them and tell me if I have to exercise any caution."

Harsh's eyes were full of mirth as he retold the entire adventure at Privet Drive and he gleefully told them of the hexes they had set upon the muggles. He also recounted that they can have an amazing witness in Arabella Figg, a squib who just lives on the next street.

While he was recounting his tale, Susan was smirking inwardly. Those horrible muggles will get their comeuppance once Auntie finished her investigation. She had seen signs of malnourishment and abuse on Harry when he had come to Hogwarts. Every year at the starting feast, he looked like he was starved for the summer and she had heard of abuse and beatings which baffled her. Even in dark families, they rarely beat or abuse their children anymore then how a muggle could do that to children. She wanted to give Dumbledore an earful for not doing anything about all the abuse that Harry had faced all the years and yet had stood tall. She was pleased when Harsh Vardhana detailed the hexes he had placed upon the Dursleys and thought of all the problems that they would face because of the hexes. While she was not a fan of bullying, she felt it could not happen to nicer people than the Harry's muggle relatives. They had hurt her Harry. If she had her way, she would have cursed them within an inch of their lives.

"Amelia, I have come here to discuss some grave tidings which no third party should be privy to", said Harsh and Madam Bones ordered the children out of the parlor asking Susan to show them around the manor.

"What do you want to discuss, Mr. Harsh?", she asked curiously.

"Madam Bones, do you know of a prophecy concerning Harry Potter and Voldemort (Amelia flinched). The prophecy was made in 1980 to Dumbledore who alerted the parents of the two possible prophecy children and they went into hiding. One was the Potters and others were the Longbottoms. Voldemort decided that Harry was the child of prophecy and went after him and you know the rest of the story. Now that the second war is almost upon us, you know who would be the target of Voldemort and his followers. Right now, since the minister is acting as a buffoon, Voldemort is hiding and gathering strength while the Auror force of the ministry is waning. Even if you get a 100 auror trainees tomorrow, you would not get them ready before the war by the way they are trained. What are you doing for the war?", asked Harsh Vardhana.

Amelia was surprised to say the least. James Potter and Sirius Black were part of her squadron in the war and she was their commanding officer with Frank & Alice Longbottom. The war was at its peak when the four of them had left the aurors suddenly and went into hiding. While she was disappointed with James and Frank, she knew that they had legitimate reasons as they just had sons born to them and wanted to keep their family safe. Neither did she begrudge Sirius Black leaving the Auror corps since he always followed James Potter and they were nigh inseparable. Their leaving had made an impact on the corps considering the four of them and Lily had evaded you-know-who three times so far. In three encounters (she did not know the full story) they had come across you-know-who and lived to tell the tale with only minor injuries while preventing some big catastrophes including an assassination attempt of the former minister Milicent Bagnold, who after that incident had allowed use of lethal force by the Aurors and it was this decision that had stemmed the flow of carnage and destruction at the hands of death eaters. In the last 15 years, she had often wondered about the reasons which forced the Potters and Longbottoms to go into hiding considering the Potters had died and the Longbottoms had become permanent residents of the Permanent Spell Damage Ward at St. Mungo's. Sirius Black had not fared well either becoming a resident of Azkaban for 12 years for a crime he did not commit. When she heard of him being accused of betraying the Potters, she could not believe those accusations but there was nothing she could do. He was sentenced to Azkaban by the war tribunal which had been set up after the war and Amelia at that time had believed that Sirius Black was given a trial. So, when Harsh Vardhana told her about a prophecy, her suspicions were confirmed. There was a prophecy which concerned either of the boys and it was due to this reason that their parents had gone into hiding and it was this reason that the Potters had written a marriage contract with Bones. But this answer brought several questions to her mind.

"How do you know of this prophecy? Do you know what it says?", she asked him.

"The prophecy was made in 1980 but at that time, there was no mention of whom it concerned except that it was about Voldemort. When we heard of his fall, we knew he is not dead so we made some discreet inquiries and conducted some investigations of our own in places which are bound to have some answers. We found our answer in your department of mysteries where the hall of prophecy contains a prophecy regarding Harry Potter and Voldemort (she shuddered again)", he replied.

"The hall of prophecies? But how did you enter the department? It is supposed to contain the best wards available which no-one can breach?", she asked, baffled with  
the revelation.

"When has wards ever stopped me or people like me?", he asked her, smirking.

"People like you? What do you mean? Come to think of it, I do not even know much about you except what Dumbledore told in the infirmary", she said, frowning at him.

He laughed aloud, "A lot of people have tried to find out about us. Albus, when he was a young man, went searching for us, intrigued by our legends but he did not find us instead he found a phoenix which bounded itself to him. Half of his fantastical powers come from him. He tried to find us for months and faced several obstacles we put in his path and he overcame all. We did not meet him deliberately because we knew he was trying to seek our secrets but we do not sell them. We realised that he would be a great wizard in future but our secrets exposed could put the world at great risk. After a long search, he finally gave up on us and returned to Avalon. Years later, Tom Riddle, another wizard from your lands came to find us and he defied mother magic in so many ways that we were appalled. While we do not categorise magic, he did not care for magic either. He did not revere it but used it as a tool. He reeked of foulest magics and we had to confront him because it is part of our job description, you can say. I personally went out against him and after a long and arduous duel of 2 hours; I finally was able to capture him. We could have killed him, if it was possible. Someone transgressing the sacred rules of magic is a criminal for us but he had several fail safes so he would not die. So, we obliviated him and left him in deserts of Sahara. Later that one came out as Lord Voldemort."

"Tom Riddle? That is his original name?", she asked dumbly.

He chuckled, "Of course his name is not Voldemort (She shuddered again). He is son of a squib of an old pureblood family and a muggle and was named for his father, Tom Riddle and maternal grandfather Marvolo Gaunt. His full name is Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"Gaunt!", Amelia exclaimed, "that family was supposed to be extinguished years ago when the son of Marvolo, Morffin was incarcerated in the high security cell at Azkaban for life. I have heard insanity ran in their blood and they inbred so much that their magic waned."

"I am afraid their last descendant is still alive and it is his death which will bring some peace to wizarding world and Harry Potter will be at the front of the opposing forces", he replied gravely.

"Harry? But Dumbledore is more powerful and experienced. I do not think that Voldemort will be able to face him", she said, agitated, "besides Harry will need much more training and experience to defeat him."

"Do not worry", he said assuring her, "he will ready when the time comes. This is where we come in and where you come in. Harry Potter will need to step up and become a force to reckon with. Right now, he is pretty powerful magically, almost as much powerful as Voldemort or Dumbledore but in the political arena, he is a novice. The great alliance still stands but it will need to be jostled into action before the wheel start moving again. As a guardian of Harry Potter you will need to step in and take over the reins of House Potter in the capacity of Regent like you have been doing for House Bones. Also, Harry is heir of House Peverell which is a step above on social ladder than others including any other house of the great alliance. He is also the heir of House Black but that will be looked after by Sirius if he is free. Now that we are on it, how things go with Sirius Black's trial?"

She sighed, "Cornelius is making things difficult, no doubt with Malfoy's help. He is pretty adamant that we sentence Pettigrew to the Dementor's Kiss. But, I have been keeping him away from the ministry. I will need to rein in Cornelius before he goes too far. The number of Aurors is also low and they will need to be bolstered before anything else is said or done. I don't know what to do about this problem."

"When you are ready Amelia, call an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot but before that call a meeting of the allies of the Great Alliance which will be renewed with the new Lord Potter and if mother magic permits, Lord Frank Longbottom", he said.

"Frank? But isn't he at St. Mungo's with no chance of recovery?", she asked surprised.

He smiled at her, "I am delighted to announce that Lord Frank and Lady Alice Longbottom can be healed of their maladies but they would need time to come at their strengths which would take about a month and another month before they are fit to fight a duel. At most, by August Frank Longbottom will be ready to take over the family seat at the Wizengamot. Before you call the meeting of the alliance, brief them of the situation about Sirius Black and secure their support and before the emergency session, you can try to bring in families from the neutral faction by bringing in Lord Greengrass of the neutrals. With Dumbledore on your side with the neutrals, you can get him free of all charges. If Malfoy or Fudge try to create any disturbance in the Wizengamot, simply use the will of the original houses of which there are only Black, Potter, Bones, Longbottom, McMillan, Greengrass, Sayre and Nott are left. With the will of houses on your side, Fudge cannot interfere and if you wish, you can wrestle Malfoy out of his seat since they have a non-permanent seat but I would advise against this. While you are trampling Fudge, have a motion passed to increase the Auror Corps and their funding. This should help you."

She frowned at the simplicity of the suggestions, "But How much use will a bunch of green Aurors be? What I need are warriors."

"Then you can simply use the best resource available to train them in combat. You have master Auror Mad-eye Moody with you, don't you?", he grinned at her which she returned.

"Now that we are done talking, maybe we can go and find the children and hope they are not engaged in some nefarious activities", he said suggestively causing her to flush red but nodded her head.

They found the three children outside the house swimming in the pool where Harry was trying to swim and failing while Susan was helping him. Neville was already swimming like a fish in the water at the deep end.

"Susan, I have never learned to swim", Harry was saying, exasperated.

"But you performed well at the tournament", she replied innocently, "how did you swim so brilliantly if you don't know how to swim?"

"I used Gillyweed. Dobby stole some from Snape's personal stores", Harry replied grinning sheepishly.

"Susan, have you still not told him that you suggested Gillyweed to Dobby, which by the way, you had asked me," said Neville who was swimming near them, making Susan blush while Harry was staring at her open mouthed.

"Close your mouth, Potter or you will catch flies," she replied coyly and glared at Neville, "And it was supposed to be a secret, Longbottom. You will pay for this."

Neville actually flinched at her demeanour which made the adults chuckle and it was then that the teens noticed that the adults were standing near them.

"Susan Amelia.", said Amelia, in mock stern-manner, "we will have words later about your breaking rules. I never would have thought that my own niece has so little regard for rules."

"Auntie, I read those rules and they said that Harry was not permitted to ask nor receive help from his teachers. There's nothing in there about other students, house elves or even adults outside of the faculty. So, I didn't break any rules", then she giggled, "Besides, you would never punish me."

Amelia whipped her wand out and shot a stinging hex at her which made her yelp in indignation then Harry and Neville started laughing until Susan dunked Harry's head below the water who dragged Neville with him.

After some more of their frolicking, the adults herded them inside where dinner was being set by the elf who had escorted them inside. Harry looked upon the spread on the table and his eyes were wide with surprise. The amount of food on the table was enough to feed a small army. It was like one of the feasts at Hogwarts.

During the dinner, there was little small talk during which Amelia asked Susan when Hannah would be visiting and Susan replied that she would come whenever Harry was there and will be permitted to stay if only Harry was comfortable with it. While Harry was little angry with the blond for siding with those maligning him during the tournament, he was not going to offend Susan besides if he was to predict, Neville was already falling for the blond and he did not want any troubles between him and Neville.

He turned to Susan, "Susan, you do not need to break your friendship for my sake. I am fine with her coming and staying here even if...", He was cut-off midway in his diatribe by Susan who replied hotly, "I am not okay with it Harry Potter. And you shall not have such a low opinion of yourself and you certainly should not allow others to walk all over you."

Harry gulped, not ever having thought of Susan as scary but in that moment, he did not know who he feared more, 'An angry Susan or a fully enraged Voldemort'. To pacify her, he raised his hands in surrender and Amelia glared at her niece who was feeling embarrassed with her outburst thinking Harry may have guessed that she had started to love him but to her apparent relief, Harry was clueless as ever.

The rest of the meal passed in silence and at last, Harsh offered to escort Harry and Neville to their residences which Amelia promptly accepted. As they were leaving, Susan gave a little kiss to Harry on his cheek causing him to blush while the adults chuckled.

**Black Townhouse London, the next day**

Harry woke up feeling groggy and grumpy, not having slept enough after the previous day's adventures. Padfoot was licking his face and wagging his tail.

"Gross Padfoot!", he said rolling the dog to the floor.

The dog changed into Sirius who was grinning at him, "Morning Godson. Wake up. Don't be lazy.".

'What has got you so cheerful?", Harry grumbled.

Sirius barked his laughter, "It promises to be a fine morning, Prongslet and it would be a waste to sleep in."

"Prongslet?", he asked, confused to which Sirius replied, "James and I gave you that nick-name, but not for Lilly's ears. She heard us once and hexed us with a stinging hex so hard that it still hurts to think about it. And she was also not an early riser."

"Yeah well, some of us are humans Padfoot and not dogs", he said cheekily and ran to the bathroom shutting the door behind him before Sirius could retort.

Half an hour later, he entered the kitchen to find it full of order members. Kingsley was sitting with Moody talking in low voices with him; Sirius was sitting at the head of the table talking to Mundungus Fletcher while Tonks was sitting by herself and raised her head when he entered. She looked at him delightedly and grinned, "Wotcher cousin."

Harry frowned, "How are we cousins?"

She grinned at him, "You see my mother, Andromeda Tonks nee Black is a daughter of the House Black and Sirius's cousin. Your grandmother was her great aunt and so, we are cousins a few times removed."

Harry's mind was reeling that the wizarding world was so complex. A total stranger could be your relative but he perked up at the thought of having some family members he knew nothing about. May be, Sirius could fill him in later. Lately, Harry had been realising that there were so many things that he did not know about his world since he did not consider the muggle world as his own anymore. Studying at Hogwarts had kept so many things from him and his choice of friends had not done much to fill him in on all the customs, practices and social behaviours of this world. Now that he was living in this world, maybe he could learn them.

"Harry, you are looking so tired. Sirius told me you did not sleep well. I wonder why? Did the thought of a certain pretty red-head cause you to lose sleep?", Tonks teased him, waggling her eye brows suggestively.

"Red-head did you say? Oh my, my! He is so much like his father", said Remus, amused who had just entered the kitchen, 'he also used to follow a red head so much she dubbed him 'arrogant toe rag' but James never stopped chasing her. Good for you, Harry!"

Harry was blushing and mumbled something incoherent while the adults laughed at his predicament. Finally, Moody growled, 'All right, All right. Enough of these antics, you all. Leave the lad be now.'

After the ruckus had died down, the Daily Prophet arrived bearing the news that Cornelius Fudge had recommended to the ICW that Dumbledore be removed but they refused since Dumbledore was given a place among mugwumps of the ICW in recognition of his triumph against Grindelwald and the ministry had no authority in this.

The news created a round of murmuring at the table which was broken when someone knocked on the door of the townhouse at which the house immediately became quiet. A moment later, Harsh Vardhana walked in.

Sirius was looking at him with such incredulity on his face that he had to laugh, "Is there something the matter, Mr. Black?"

Sirius by now had found his voice, "Why are you knocking on the door? You could have just come in like you did yesterday? I mean wards cannot stop you."

"What? You mean I should just appear in a room full of people armed to the teeth taking them by surprise when apparition is not possible there. It may work for you Mr. Black but not when a paranoid auror like Master Auror Moody is present", he said mischievously while Moody eyed him for a moment than glanced away warily.

"I would have thought you would always remain the brash, abrasive, hot headed Auror, Alastor", chided Harsh Vardhana, "but perhaps the humbling you got in Wiltshire got to you."

Alastor's head snapped up suddenly, his wand out but before he could say anything, he was disarmed. Harsh was standing, his wand levelled at Moody, his eyes full of mirth, "Constant Vigilance, Alastor."

Suddenly, Alastor barked out a laugh and standing, raised a salute to Harsh, "Indeed I have lost my touch if you entered here and my eye could not identify you."

They clasped each other's arms at the elbows and shared a one-handed embrace like old friends, leaving others in the room surprised.

"It's been too long, my friend", said Alastor, "I never thought you would live this long."

"You two know each other?", Sirius asked, dumbly.

Harsh grinned at Moody, "Oh yes. You see there was one time when I had the chance to cross wands with Moody here who had it on his mind that I am a dark wizard and..." he was interrupted by Alastor who growled, "Alright, alright, you do not need to recount the tale again and embarrass me, Harsh."

The others in the room laughed uproariously at Moody who was glaring at Harsh who was doubled up with laughter, wiping tears from his eyes. It was in this position that Dumbledore found them when he entered into the kitchen followed by Minerva McGonagall.

Smiling, Dumbledore addressed them, "Good Morning everyone. It is delightful to see people laughing and spreading smiles around despite the grim outlook of the world outside. May I know the source of this amusement?"

Alastor, who had got over his irritation by now barked, "When I was a newly made Auror, I got wind of this dark wizard who was tormenting people. No other Auror was ready to take the case considering the dangerous situation. I volunteered. During that case, I went through 3 partners who could not take it and they were perhaps the finest of Aurors during that time, Robert Jonathan, Carlos O'Pierre and Edward Curtis. It was during that case, I met several individuals who were working for a dark wizard and in those days, I was sorely tempted to use lethal force, but restrained myself. Once while I was on hunt I ran into this one and thought him to be the Dark Lord. He tried to make me see reason by talking sense but I was too excited to care and challenged him to a duel on the name of Merlin and he hilariously replied that he had seen Merlin when he was a baby. Finally, I goaded him into fighting me when I called him vile and that he was committing sacrilege against magic. Turns out it was a grave mistake because I had to fight a long and hard duel. I fought for 45 minutes during which I attacked less and defended more. He used so many curses that I had not even known in my still short career as an Auror. Finally, he got the jump on me when I was expecting a lethal curse and he shot a stinging hex at me. I was so surprised by it that I dropped by shield and the next moment, I was downed by a bone breaker to the wand hand."

Everyone was laughing by now seeing how Moody was bested by a stinging hex and they could understand his constant vigilance. Harry was visibly excited hearing the story. Every time he heard something about the mystic, it fascinated him more and he just could not wait to start his training but perhaps that will have to wait for a proper wand.

When Alastor did not speak for a few more minutes, Harry prodded him asking, "What of the dark wizard, Professor?"

Alastor growled, "Don't know much about Professor. Never got around to teaching you, did I? Turns out, this one had just finished the dark wizard and his band of merry men before he clashed with me. It still remains the only case where I did not finish the task that I was given. After we had reconciled our differences, I took the dark wizard's body and reported to the Auror headquarters. Turns out that scum was from some old pureblood family from Germany which is now lost in obscurity."

While they were contemplating Mad-eye's story, Sirius turned into a dog and started playing fetch with McGonagall. Remus was conversing in a low voice with Shacklebolt. Moody was talking to Harsh Vardhana, and Nymphadora was entertaining young Harry with metamorphing her features while Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling and he was lost in thought. Every time someone told of some experience of Harsh Vardhana, it added another layer to the mystic. He was an enigma, perhaps as much as Harry Potter who had been getting better every day.

For years, Albus had been trying to find the mystics who were mentioned almost in all folklores of the wizarding world, which was steeped in mystery and intrigue and they were not merely present in them but they played an active part. Their ways and their proficiency in magic was what prompted him to find them, hoping to unravel some of the secrets which were lost in time, particularly the secrets of war mages. There were war mages in all the world but most of the powerful ones in Avalon had originated in one family, Peverell and that was one of the reasons that Dumbledore took special notice of young Harry knowing that if he was even half of what the Peverells were, he would be one of the most powerful wizards and by the time his core finished growing, Tom Riddle would look like a puny kid to him. His power levels were what had him worried since there was no teacher who could train him to wield that power with apparent ease. He knew that the elder wand in his robes was singing for Harry Potter and when the right time came, Dumbledore planned to give it to him.

Dumbledore had plans for Harry Potter. He had tried to find a way to extract the soul fragment without causing him to die. There was no way that he would have allowed Harry to die on his watch. Harry Potter was like a grandson to him and he would be damned if he allowed that to happen. He had planned the fourth year to start preparing Harry, training him to wield his power and arcane magics but things had been thrown into chaos when Harry was entered into the tournament and he had to postpone the idea. He had intended to take the summer holidays and find a cure for Harry Potter in ancient lands of magic such as Greece, Rome, Egypt and India but it did not come to that. When the mystic had offered his aid to train Harry Potter, he had no reason to refuse him. They would mould Harry Potter into the warrior he needed to be. In the meanwhile, Dumbledore had plans to follow. First thing was to topple Cornelius off his chair and may be with Madam Bones's help he would be able to do that. Then they would install someone with guts to make hard decisions in the minister's office. While Voldemort remained in hiding, they could use that time to build their forces. Because, according to Snape's report, Tom certainly was recruiting and preparing for his conquest. It had been long since he played in the political arena. With Sirius Black free, they would be able to do so much more in this war in a short time. In the meanwhile, Harry Potter would train to meet his destiny. He had one destiny, Kill Tom Riddle.

Dumbledore's train of thought was interrupted when the kitchen door opened and a very haggard looking Hestia Jones entered. She reported gravely, "Head Master, last night Dorcas Meadow's brother was killed near his family home."

The table went silent. Suddenly, Sirius pounded the table with his fist, "Will we just sit here and let them walk all over us again?" He looked at Albus, his eyes filled with tears and his voice full of rage, "Albus, when will we strike back? Are you still going to insist on your stunning spells only policy?"

He simply looked murderous and Harry was scared of him a little. He had never seen Sirius looking so enraged and those who had, were once again reminded why he was a Black. The Blacks were very hard to enrage but once their fury awakened, they were unstoppable. Cautiously, every one of them scooted their chairs a little further from him making Remus chuckle and Sirius frown.

"Calm down Padfoot", he said gently, "others are getting scared. We don't want them to dub thee 'the Azkaban escaped crazy mass-murderer, do we?"

This made Sirius control his temper while Albus chuckled. Minerva was trying to look stoic, pursing her lips but her facade was crumbling. Harry was trying not to laugh while Nymphadora was looking amused.

Before Dumbledore spoke, all signs of amusement were gone from his face. He waited for silence and then began, "The taking of a life is the most serious matter. Those among us who have been faced with the choice of kill or be killed understand all too well what I mean. But, our numbers are dwindling and Voldemort and his followers have no compunction about taking life. Therefore, it is with deepest regret and great reluctance that I authorize lethal force. You will drill and practice these spells until you can cast them with the same speed and accuracy as anything in your repertoire. In the previous conflict, we lost far too many good people because they were not proficient with these spells when they needed to use them. Never again! This time, The Order of the phoenix will give as good as it gets!"

When Dumbledore finished, everyone in the room, with the exception of Harsh, pumped their right fist in the air and shouted, "HERE! HERE!"

At that point, a babble broke out as the members of the order began to talk among themselves. While Harsh and Moody discussed approaches to training, Tonks, Remus and Sirius carried on.

Nymphadora who had been quiet all this while, turned to Sirius, "Damn, you are scary, cousin. At that moment I felt like my mother's anger had nothing on you. After today, I will be wary of you."

Sirius smiled at her words but said nothing while Remus said, "Since Albus agrees, I think it's time that you delve into that library of yours and find some fun stuff for us, Padfoot."

Harry who could not keep his silence exclaimed, "This place has a library!", which caused Sirius to laugh.

Remus grinned at him, "If you were a certain bushy haired Gryffindor witch Prongslet, I would have shown you the door by now."

Sirius guffawed, "Not that she can enter that place. It has blood wards protecting it and only one of Black Blood can enter the inner chamber where the more fun stuff is."

"But why restrict anyone access to the library?", asked Harry confused.

"Because Prongslet, the books in there contain a lot about the Black family magic and it should not be seen by others. Family magic is the legacy of a family, special spells which were developed by the family and for the family.", replied Sirius.

"What about mine?", asked Harry.

"Your what?", Sirius asked him, confused by the question.

"My family magic. Didn't they have their own family magic?"

Harsh and Moody had broken off their reminiscing session when they understood what the other group was discussing, It was Harsh who answered this question, "Yes they did and it was mostly battle magic. Your family has had a reputation of warriors and the magic they possessed was not easily accessible. A lot of their magic is what you British Wizards call Dark Magic.", he finished, scowling.

"Dark? My family is not dark", Harry protested.

"I am not saying your family is dark. It's just that your family never classified magic as light or dark but they worshipped mother magic as it is.", replied Harsh Vardhana, "and that is why your family is rather gifted in family magics. In addition to the family magic of Potters, you have the family magics of Peverell to call your own."

"Peverell.", Harry repeated the word which caused his magic to surge within him.

"You are also the heir to the House of Black, Prongslet", Sirius chimed in, eagerly, "which means the Black family magic is also yours."

"Alright, I think you have all astounded Mr. Potter enough for today", declared Dumbledore, "it is time that he got on with his business for the day. You know he does not have much time to dilly dally."

At that moment, a tawny owl entered the room. It was a regal looking owl with a silk ribbon tied around its neck, a small copy of the Longbottom crest hanging from it. Harry relieved the owl of its burden and offered a treat which it gracefully accepted before taking flight once more. The letter was from Dowager Lady Longbottom.

**_"Dear Mr. Potter,_**

**_"I enjoyed making your acquaintance yesterday; however, in our haste I forgot to convey the location of Longbottom Castle to you. This letter is a portkey which will activate at noon and take you to the castle at the designated hour i.e. noon._**

**_I also failed to take the name or address of the healer who has proposed the ritual for today which will hopefully bring my children back to me. I would urge you to convey the message to him and to accompany you that I may be assured of your safety._**

**_Augusta Longbottom_**

**_Regent of the House Longbottom"_**

Harry showed the letter to Harsh Vardhana who simply looked amused, "I will accompany you as she wishes through this portkey, Mr. Potter though I really do not need it. I have known the location of the Longbottom castle since the first foundation was laid down. But for this visit, I will play the ignorant healer."

Sirius snorted but looked skeptical, "Semantics, Mr. Harsh Vardhana. You are not a day older than 40."

Whipping out his wand, he leveled it at Sirius and mock frowned, "Are you insulting my age Mr. Black? You can ask Albus here what happens when one's age is mocked".

Sirius looked at Albus who winced as if in pain. He said, "It was the first time that I met master Flamel. He was a brilliant wizard but cranky. I once said he did not look like he could be over 500 years old. He made a point of it to hex me every time he got a chance or sometimes he pranked me. I never made that mistake again. I would advise you to take the risk at your own peril."

Sirius, the marauder that he was, raised his hand in a mock salute to Harsh, "I hereby challenge you upon a marauder's honour to a prank war."

"Did someone say Marauder?", asked Gred Weasley, entering the room.

"Or prank war?", added Forge who had followed his twin.

"Head Master, we have come To report for duty.", they said together.

"And we find,", said Gred.

"A prank war", said Foerge.

"And a marauder.", Said Gred.

"Enough!", barked McGonagall, "you two are going to drive us mad with your twin talk."

"Oh, Professor McGonagall, how pleasant to see you", Said Forge.

"We didn't see you when we came in", Said Gred.

"Were you a kitten?", asked Foerge.

"Or a tabby ca… Ouch!", Gred yelped as a stinger hit him in the backside and Forge dived for cover under the table from where a laughing Harry retrieved him.

"Misters Weasley & Weasley, what brings you here?", asked Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

"Head Master, Percy walked out on us yesterday", said Gred grimly.

"Broke everyone's heart", added Foerge.

"Even put ickle Ronnikins off his food", said Gred.

"Which clearly shows how dire the situation is", Said Forge.

"Considering he never leaves a morsel of food.", Said Gred.

"It is all rather sad", they said together.

Harry was getting weary with this twin talk but they were always a laugh to be around.

Finally the twins started telling about everything that had happened the previous day. How Percy had come home jubilant about getting a promotion in Fudge's office, how he insulted Arthur and how Molly broke down when he put the family down and how the Weasley's were getting ready to come to the head quarters of the Order.

The news of the Weasley's sent the elves into frenzy and they immediately got to work setting up the place and accommodations for everyone. While this was going on, the twins again asked about the words 'Marauder' and 'Prank war' and how the Marauders were their role models.

Sirius, laughed at this, and addressed the boys, "I am a Marauder. One of the quartet which once used to terrorise Hogwarts (Minerva shuddered while Albus looked weary for once). I was Padfoot, my brother James Potter was Prongs, Remus here was Moony and the traitor rat was Wormtail.", Sirius spat the last word with such scorn that everyone understood he was referring to Peter.

The twins turned to Sirius and Remus in awe and in another moment, they were bowing and scraping, "We are not worthy, we are not worthy", making others in the room laugh. Finally when the commotion died down, they turned to Remus, giving him an appraising look, which put him on the alert, "So that's how you used to catch us!", said Fred.

"A prankster catching other pranksters.", added George

"It's sacrilege, my good sir", said Fred somberly

"For honour's sake, we must declare a prank war upon you", added George.

"You are challenging a Marauder?", said Sirius with a mock-frown, "your challenge is accepted."

People in the house were beginning to dread being caught in the crossfire of a prank war while Harry was glad that he would be going away for the summer and would hopefully miss the whole thing. There may even still be a number twelve, Grimmauld Place, to come back to.

Almost as if reading his mind, Harsh whispered, "You are not escaping Mr. Potter. As it happens, I am myself very fond of pranks."

Tonks who was sitting beside Harry snorted while Harsh turned to Sirius, "Mr. Black, I accept your challenge. I assure you that by the time I return with Mr. Potter, you both parties will band together on my young protégée here." Harry cringed at this.

Dumbledore addressed the gathering, "While this is all very good, we have work to do. Harry, Mr. Harsh Vardhana will be taking you to Gringotts to claim your position in your family and the family magics. After that you have an invitation from Lady Longbottom to spend the day with them. Tomorrow you can return here and spend the day with your godfather before leaving for Bharat."

Harsh took his hand and disappeared into the shadows.

**PLEASE LEAVE ME SOME REVIEWS. THAT IS ALL THAT I GET FOR WRITING STORIES FOR YOU ALL.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N- **I am over whelmed with your support, guys. This chapter is perhaps the longest yet but I did not have the heart to shorten its length anyhow.

This chapter has been updated and very little changes which were necessary have been made.

**Disclaimer- I do not own the raven haired wizard or any of his exploits. JKR holds her rights over him. I am trying to have some fun.**

* * *

**Gringotts Bank**

Harry and Harsh Vardhana appeared in Diagon Alley in an empty side-street. From there, they strolled quickly to the bank. This was Harry's third visit to the Bank in 4 years and he was still amazed with the money he had seen in his trust vault and to know that he owned perhaps more than this was unbelievable for him. Though now that he thought about it, he should have inquired about his family more deeply. But then, he was just a malnourished kid who was feeling overwhelmed with everything that had happened to him, knowing that magic was real, knowing that his parents were heroes and that he was a celebrity to thousands of people he did not even know. All of this had a cumulative effect on him making him feel so overwhelmed that he chose not to ask questions. And even though Hagrid was friendly enough, he still felt intimidated by the half-giant at the time.

As they approached Gringotts, he heard alarms blaring in the bank and all the goblins in a frenzy of activity. Harry did not know what was going on. To him it looked like they were preparing to defend against some sort of attack.

Harsh grabbed his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Put on your heir ring, Mr. Potter. If the things go bad with goblins, at least you will not be harmed considering you are one of their most rich clients."

Flummoxed and wanting to ask questions but choosing not to, he fished his ring out of his robes and put it on his ring finger. As soon as they neared the Bank, an entire battalion of Goblins armed to the teeth with swords, hauberk and axes, clad in mail blocked their way. The leader of the battalion was dressed in golden armour, an armoured helmet clamped firmly on his head, approached them while the other goblin soldiers stood guard at the gates of the bank. Harry could see that they were scared. What they were scared of, Harry could not guess.

The leader approached them and in a high pitched but commanding voice said, "you are not allowed in the bank, wizard."

Harry was surprised. The goblins had never stopped him from entering the bank before but then he realised that the leader was addressing Harsh Vardhana. Harsh was frowning at the goblin, "May I ask why am I being restricted access to your halls?"

"By the order of Lord Ragnok, you are barred from these premises. Any attempt to enter contrary to that order will be considered an act of war", he snarled.

"I would never resort to killing anyone, noble goblin", Harsh replied, amused at the bravado of the goblin, "however if it does not assure you then you can go fetch this Rug Nut (Harry snorted) so that I may talk to him."

The goblin was seething in anger at the apparent disrespect shown to their leader which showed in his tone, "You shall not insult our king. You say one more word and I will cut you down where you stand.". To underline his threat, the goblin raised his sword showing that he would be happy to put his words into action but Harsh was not deterred. He simply smiled, "You think you can stop me, Goblin? Do you have an idea of who I am and why your nation is in a tizzy seeing me here?"

The goblin frowned at him as if this was something new to him. He was a soldier who followed orders and did not question them. He sneered at Harsh, "It is not my duty to ask questions but to follow orders and my orders are to stop you by any means necessary."

Harry, who had had enough of this talk, snapped at the goblin, "I am Harry Potter, heir to the Houses of Potter, Peverell and Black. This wizard here is accompanying me and I have urgent business at the bank. If you delay me any further, I will make sure that your head rolls for all the loss that you are causing me with your posturing."

While the goblin looked at him suspiciously, Harsh prodded Harry to show his heir ring which Harry promptly shoved into the goblin's face. When the goblin saw the ring, his eyes went wide and his face went pale for a moment. Then, barking an order at the other soldiers in Gobbledegook, he went inside. He returned a few minutes later accompanied by another regal looking goblin clad in goblin silver armour, a gleaming sword at his side and a shield studded with gems on his arm.

As the goblin approached, Harsh stepped up to the new goblin addressing him, "Rugnut, how good to see you."

Ragnok who was visibly annoyed, barked, "what do you want wizard? Have you not got enough of your fill? I still remember the last of your visits to the bank, though I was a wee lad like this one", (he pointed to Harry).

Harsh smiled genially at him, "it was not my fault. You goblins had chosen to stop from entering the bank. What could I do?"

Harry was getting really intrigued now. The mystic was turning into a mystery for him. He had heard so much of his exploits by now that he could not wait to ask him about it but the man was not telling.

"The problem is that you have been banned from entering the bank in perpetuity for the havoc you caused in the second goblin rebellion. You had turned the tide of the war in favour of wizard-kind", he scowled.

"That is ancient history Rug Nut", he chided him, "besides today I am accompanying Mr. Potter here whose family was one of the original members of the bank. You have so much of his family's money scattered into your investments that if he pulled the rug from beneath your feet, you won't get a knut, Rug Nut."

The goblin then noticed Harry standing there and shuddered, "I believe that Mr. Potter will not choose to bankrupt the bank."

Harry who had at last caught on to some of the conversation, chimed in, "I will take all my money and artefacts out of your bank and...", Harry did not know where he would go with that kind of money and so many artefacts.

But Harsh provided that answer, "and he will go to the Gnomes in Switzerland who would be delighted to have such a prospective client. The Potter account alone will make sure that they treat him like kings and if you count in other houses he is a heir of, they will perhaps open another branch for him solely."

Ragnok shuddered visibly at the thought of one of his clients moving out of his bank. While it would cause a heavy financial burden to the bank and would literally ruin the economy of the wizarding world, what caused him the most worry was the anger of the elders of the Goblin council. The Goblin Nation had a king who was the head of them but the King himself was supervised by the Goblin Council which consisted of 7 elders of the council and these seven were ancient by goblin standards known for their skills, or reputation in battle or their shrewd mind in business. To go to them telling that House Potter and other houses connected with it had withdrawn from Gringotts was a catastrophe which he could not afford. This presented a real challenge to him- whether to allow Harsh Vardhana in the Bank and risk the wrath of the elders or anger him and definitely face the elders.

There were only two things which motivated a goblin- gold and war. This was a situation where they would have war, perhaps the bloodiest but it would end in extinction of the goblins. He knew the real identity of Harsh Vardhana and knew that he was never alone in any situation. Just because he could be seen alone did not mean that there were not a band of followers tailing him. He was a Lord like Dumbledore or Voldemort but he did not show it and that made him even more dangerous. Only a few people knew about the mystics and perhaps the Goblins knew the most but only because their entire existence was threatened by them.

Finally, business prevailed over any other concerns. Turning to Harry, he addressed him in an official manner, "Are you Harold James of House Potter?"

Harry did not notice the change in his demeanour and certainly did not know that name but when Harsh stepped on his foot, he straightened and looking in the goblins eye's, firmly replied, "Yes, I am Harold James of House Potter."

"Do you Harold James take responsibility for the actions of your companion while you are on the territory of Gringotts for the purpose of this visit?", asked Ragnok.

"I do.", Harry replied.

Ragnok turned to Harsh, "You are allowed entrance into the halls of Gringotts on the guarantee of Harold James of House Potter for your behaviour and full liability for any consequences resulting from your actions."

Harsh smirked at him, "After you, Rug nut."

As they entered the bank, Harry noticed that the goblins had erected wards to prevent anyone from coming in or going out and the lobby was empty with armed goblins scattered throughout the bank looking grim and clutching their weapons anxiously. They looked fearfully upon Harsh who smirked in satisfaction. Harry felt uneasy for himself. If the goblins offended him in anyway, who knows what the mystic may do?

Going through many tunnels, they finally reached a cabin which had a door of goblin silver with a big galleon drawn in the middle of the door. Ragnok scratched the door with his elaborately carved nail and the door melted. The inside of the cabin was rather pedestrian in comparison to the grandeur that Harry was expecting. The walls were golden colored with drawings showing goblin battles or other occasions which Harry thought were important in their history.

Ragnok took his seat behind a large ornate table, the top having been done in platinum, and the rest of the table made of gold with gems studded throughout it. As he sat, he pressed a button on the table. A young goblin entered the room and Ragnok gave him orders in their own tongue. Following which they were alone.

Then he turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter, we have been waiting for you to come and claim your inheritance since you turned eleven. At the age of eleven, heirs of houses are given the heir ring. But, you did not come. The manager who looked after the Potter accounts for 80 years died a few years ago. We were unable to contact you, therefore; we waited for you to come to us. You came to the bank with Rubeus Hagrid and you just made a withdrawal and left. Since there was no account manager, there was no one who could ask for you to be brought to us. The first thing to do today is to appoint a manager for your accounts and then we will perform inheritance tests for you which will tell us what families you are heir to."

Harry had no idea of what to do and turned to Harsh who looked at him. After sometime he started, "Rug Nut, you need to call for the best possible candidates for the job. We will make our choice after we have seen what they are capable of."

Harry found the suggestion to be logical and nodded his head in agreement.

Ragnok called another goblin and barked some instructions to him. While they were waiting, the door suddenly opened and a very ancient goblin entered the room. Seeing him, Ragnok jumped down from his chair, bowing to him. Harsh merely snorted at the ancient goblin, "Hello there, Iron Fist. You are still alive? All bones still intact?"

Harry was amused at his audacity but the ancient goblin just sighed, "Who granted you entrance wizard?"

Ragnok hesitantly raised his hand causing Iron Fist to glare at him. Quickly Ragnok recited everything that had happened at the gates of the Bank. Iron Fist glared at harsh, "You have guts coming here, wizard considering you had to face a battalion of goblins last time you tried to gain entrance."

"As I recall, all of them were trapped in your vaults and I had hung you as an egg for the Norwegian Ridgeback. I never hoped to see you alive", said Harsh, grinning at him.

Harry was equally amused and scared. The mystic was an intriguing person. Sometimes he appeared jovial and sometimes, he was equally scary. As far as he knew, the goblins were pretty vicious and great warriors. All the history lessons with Binns where he could managed to stay awake, Binns had harped on and on about the goblin bravery, courage and shrewdness. For someone to trap them in their own vaults and to hang one as an egg was really awe-inspiring and equally stupid. Iron Fist turned to Ragnok, indicating to him to continue his proceedings while he assumed the chair behind the desk, leaving Ragnok standing.

Ragnok, pulled a chair to him and taking a seat, started addressing Harry, "Mr. Potter, after the inheritance tests are done, you need to make decisions with respect to your finances. While you have a large amount of gold just lying around, it would be good to invest it. I have lined up several portfolios for you."

Harry nodded in agreement.

Moments later, the first Goblin returned with several journals which he placed on the table and left quickly. A minute later, three goblins entered the room standing before them.

Ragnok addressed Harry, "The one on your left is Bluntaxe, the middle one is Ripthroat and the last one is Griphook. They are some of the goblins who are available and have sufficient training to handle accounts as vast as yours, Mr. Potter."

Harry turned to each of them, surveying them closely. When he reached the third goblin, he stared for a moment more before addressing him, "I know you. You are the goblin who showed me my trust vault, Griphook."

Griphook nodded his head but said nothing.

Before Harry could say anything, Ragnok picked up a bowl and a knife from his table, handing them to Harry while he picked up a parchment, "Please cut your palm a little and let your blood flow into the bowl. The results of the test will be shown up here."

Bracing himself, Harry slashed the dagger on his palm and dropped some of his blood into the bowl. Ragnok poured it on the parchment which glowed golden and then letters started appearing.

**Name- Harold James Potter**

**Father's Name- James Charlus Potter**

**Parents: Charlus Felamont Potter & Dorea Potter nee Black**

**Mother's name- Lily Amaryllis Potter nee Rosier**

**Parents: Vincent Rosier & Emilia Rosier nee Weber**

**Heir to Houses:**

**Potter**

**Peverell**

**Rosier**

**Prospective heir to: House of Black and House of Weber.**

Harry was staring at the results open mouthed. His mind was reeling from what he had read. With an effort, he opened his mouth and said, "But this is not true. My mother was muggle-born not a pureblood."

Ragnok gave him a feral grin, "no, Mr. Potter. Your mother was not a muggle-born. This test never lies. Your mother was not a muggle-born but a pureblood."

"But what is the House of Weber?", he asked confused, "I have never heard of such a house in Wizarding Britain."

This time Harsh answered him, "the House of Weber, Mr. Potter, was an old and influential house in Germany before Grindelwald's campaign. Like your family, they took sides against Grindelwald and fought against him. Before the war, there were at least 30 members of the house but in the war and succeeding years, they were all killed except a daughter of the house who had escaped to France. We were interested in her whereabouts since at one time, they had been our allies. Vincent Rosier who had just graduated from Hogwarts was on a tour of the world and met Emilia in France where they fell in love and married. They moved to wizarding Britain living away from Vincent's family who were considered Dark and Vincent did not want his children to grow up in a dark family. One of the former knights of Grindelwald, had found her in Wizarding Britain and killed her with Vincent Rosier. Shortly before they were killed, Ellia had given birth to a baby girl who was delivered to an orphanage from where she was adopted by a rich muggle Harrison Evans who had a daughter already and being able to sire no more children adopted Lily so that Petunia would have a sibling. Lily grew up thinking that she was a muggle born. This was just before the rise of Voldemort and Vincent's brother Felix who did not know anything about his sister-in-law or his niece joined the death eaters and was killed in the first wizarding war at the hands of Alastor Moody."

Harry had been listening to him with rapt attention and when Harsh was done, he asked, "So this means that I am not a half-blood?"

Harsh frowned, "Why would you call yourself a half-blood?"

"I thought my mother was a muggle-born and my father was a pure-blood so that would make me a half-blood. In fact, everyone says so.", Harry replied.

"Mr. Potter, a half-blood is one who has one magical parent and one muggle parent", Harsh gently replied, "Your mother, even if she was a muggle-born was magical and that will make you a full blood. I swear Wizarding Britain is going backwards these days", he scoffed further.

"Much as I would like to hear this illuminating conversation further we have work to do and for us goblins, time is money", barked Ragnok.

"Oh right, we digressing. Mr. Potter you really need to put a cap on your questions. We are on a tight schedule and have no time to dally around. I will sate all your curiosity but for the time being, please make a list", Harsh said, smiling at him.

Harry nodded and turned to the three goblins, "So, I have a job for one of you which I am told will require shrewdness, intelligence and will thoroughly test my skills. As Lord Ragnok told me, the previous Account Manager for the Potter family has been dead for some time now and the position is vacant. So, whichever of you can offer me the best choice for my finances will have this position for 1 year after which we will review our position and if satisfied, I will make it permanent. Is that acceptable?"

The three Goblins nodded in agreement and Ragnok was watching this curiously. The young Potter was showing some business acumen like his forefathers. May be it won't be that bad after all.

The first goblin, Bluntaxe started, "I can double your money in a year, four folds in two years and I will make sure that your estate is well cared for."

The second, Ripthroat said, "I can triple your money with heavy investing and find other ways to increase your income. And I can help you expand your estates further making sure your influence grows."

The third Goblin Griphook said, "Mr. Potter, your accounts are not in very fine condition right now considering there was no one to manage your finances for last 6 years. Seeing that you are inheriting other estates and accounts and they will require to be set straight before any decision can be made for them. Your estates are entirely different matter. Some of them have not had their rent increased, some are in need of serious repairs, and many are under stasis charms. They will need to be made functional or can be kept the way they are, as per your preference. However, within a year, your accounts can be settled and they will start earning. I have a list of prospective businesses which would turn to be a real goldmine with cautious investing."

Of all the three, only Griphook had bothered to do any homework prior to the meeting. His was not an empty promise or a boast, but; a neat, brief and realistic report on the state of Harry's holdings. There was only one clear choice. He turned to Griphook and said, "Congratulations Account Manager Griphook. The job is yours. You are now the account manager for my holdings and estates. We will have an annual review of your work and if you prove to be satisfactory after two years, I will make the appointment permanent."

"Now that you have an account manager, we must move on to other business. Your status has recently changed Mr. Potter. This tournament that you were forced into was designed for adult wizards only, therefore, you are now considered adult in the magical world meaning you can take up Lordship of all of your houses and become heir to other houses where you are in line of succession", said Ragnok to Harry. Ragnok then turned to Griphook and barked in their language, who then led the other two account managers out of the chamber.

Griphook returned a few minutes later carrying an ornate wooden box. He gave the box to Ragnok, who opened it and Harry saw it contained rings. Ragnok passed the first ring to Harry, "This is the ring of House Potter, Mr. Potter. Put it on your ring finger."

Harry examined the ornate ring. It was an amethyst mounted on a band of goblin silver. There was a griffin, the Potter house animal engraved into the top of the gem. When he placed it on his finger, he felt immense pressure coursing through his body, his magic flaring, welcoming the pressure and embracing it. The pressure eased after a moment. He looked questioningly at Harsh.

Harsh replied, "That was your family magic testing you before it accepted you as Lord of the House. The Potter family magic has accepted you."

The same happened with the Peverell ring which was a golden band with an obsidian stone atop it bearing a strange creature on it, however, the pressure of the Peverell family magic was so intense that it caused him to almost pass out. After what seemed like a long time, he could breathe again. He felt such power coursing through his veins as he had never felt before. It was like some part of him had been missing all along and had just come back to him. In his short life of 15 years, Harry had never felt so much at peace as he did now.

The Rosier Ring was a Platinum band with a ruby atop it bearing a dragon on it. The Rosier magic felt incredibly powerful but not so much as Peverell magic. It scanned him for a long time, then finding him worthy, it melded with other magics in him.

The last ring was one Harry did not recognize. Ragnok presented it to him saying, "This is the ring of the House of Weber of Germany. If there were any other members available, you would not be the primary heir, but; since there are none and the family is all but gone, it is for you to claim. The family does not carry a hereditary seat like your other lordships, but; carries large vaults which add significant gold to your already considerable accounts. The grimoire is in the family vault and you can claim it when you enter. The estates are under stasis charms like the estates of your other houses. I would like it if you would lift the stasis charms off them but it depends on you solely. The house animal is a unicorn."

Harry took the ring which was a golden band with a Lapis Lazuli atop it bearing a Unicorn, and put it on his ring finger where other rings had melded together. The Weber magic was fierce but gentle and within a matter of seconds had accepted him.

"Accept our congratulations, Harold James, Lord of Houses of Potter, Peverell, Rosier and Weber", chanted Iron Fist nodding his head to Harry who returned the gesture.

As the ceremony was going on, two goblins entered the room carrying in armful of documents which they dumped upon the desk. Harsh shrank them with just a touch and handed them to Harry, leaving him gaping in wonder at this fancy display of magic.

"Is there any more business, Mr. Potter?", asked Ragnok.

"As a matter of fact, there is. I would like to visit my family vaults and collect the Grimoires that you have mentioned.", Harry had heard mention of the word a couple of times and out of curiosity had researched them and was fascinated with it. Since the time he had come to know that his family was Ancient and Most Noble, he wished that he could access his family Grimoire. Now that the chance was here, he wanted to claim all of them before he went off traipsing all over the world.

"Mr. Potter, I know you are excited about Grimoires but it would not be wise to take them with you to where you are going. What you will learn is important for you before you try anything from those Grimoires, besides I am sure I can help you with the magic of Potter and Peverell", Harsh said gently and Harry reluctantly nodded.

"Now that we are done here, perhaps we should take our leave of these charming fellows, who cannot wait to see us off of their property", Said Harsh, smirking at Iron Fist who was scowling. As they were about to leave, Griphook returned with a money bag and a card for Harry telling him that the bag would not run empty till his account was full of money and the card would work anywhere in the Muggle world. Instructing Griphook to put his affairs in order and informing him that he would take up the heirship of Black at his next visit, he followed Harsh out of the Bank. It was about 11:00 in the morning.

"Blimey! We spent two hours in there, Mr. Potter.", he said to Harry, "I do not know of you but I am feeling hungry."

Harry didn't say anything but his stomach growled, making Harsh chuckle. They went to the Leaky Cauldron and through it into Muggle London where they took lunch in an Indian cafe.

When Harry raised his eyes over this, Harsh did not reply but only smiled at him. When they were done with their food, it was almost noon. Harry took out the letter which was sent to him by Augusta and both of them held it. As the clock struck noon, they felt a tug behind their navels and disappeared into thin air.

**LONGBOTTOM CASTLE, SOMEWHERE IN THE WILDERNESS**

They appeared out of thin air in a clearing surrounded by heavy woods. Harry fell to the ground and landed in a heap while Harsh floated gently down to the ground smirking at Harry who rolled his eyes.

"Where are we?", Harry asked him, looking around.

As if in answer to his question, an elf appeared near them. This elf was dressed in a robe with the Longbottom crest, was tall and had a pencil nose with amber eyes. It squeaked at them, "I is Squeaky. Sirs follow me."

They followed the elf who was bobbing up and down all the way to the castle which was just a few hundred yards away. Like Bones Manor, it's circumference was ringed by tall trees which hid the castle from sight and the grounds spread around the property were very vast.

"Is it just whimsey or is there a good reason to plant trees in a circle around the property in Pureblood families?", Harry asked.

Harsh smirked at the question, "Mr. Potter, it would be easy to answer the question if I know what electives have you taken for your OWLs?", he asked Harry curiously.

"Divination and Care of Magical Creatures.", he said sheepishly, knowing no one ever approved of those subjects as electives knowing them to be easy OWLs. It was just that when they were making their choices for OWLs, he had conferred with Ron who had told him that these were easy subjects. Just to have another person in those subjects with him, Harry had opted for both of those subjects.

"Divination, hmmm I wonder what made you do so?", he mused, "Divination is not a bad subject actually. It is rather a science and there have been prophecies which have come true all these ages but what the British Wizards call Divination is a sham. You have had true seers here but their numbers have been dwindling. I believe the last true in Avalon was Cassandra Trelawney, who left Wizarding Britain shortly after Voldemort fell at your hands. In India, there are many branches of Divination and most of them are also used by muggles, however; they do not use those arts like wizards do."

Harry was listening to him with rapt attention. Nobody he had ever met had said a positive word about Divination and perhaps with Sybill Trelawney, the subject had nothing positive to offer. But hadn't she made a prophecy and Peter Pettigrew had escaped that night making the prophecy come true? Why had Harsh Vardhana said that she was not a true seer?

When he raised the question to Harsh, he replied, "Sybill is not a true seer, Mr. Potter. While most of what she says is rather nothing but there are so many things she say off-handedly which turn out to be true. She can see only scattered glimpses of future which means she can see something will happen but nothing that happened before it or will happen after it. A true seer can actually look on the future or the past like I am looking at you. They can control and alter the future by a single decision of theirs and that is why they are most feared. They are always conscious of the future and the past while they live in the present but the sight is not fully present in Sybill nor she can control it. When it overwhelms her, she gives a prophecy. I believe her last true prediction, courtesy of the inner eye, was in your third year. There are a few students in your school who have the gift of the sight, though. One is a Ravenclaw girl whose inner eye is rather very strong and there are only a few secrets which can evade her. Other is a pair of Indian twins in your year but out of them, only one has interest in the subject. Have you ever wondered why Ms. Padma Patil is so smart, Mr. Potter?"

Harry was fascinated by all the answers given to him. Now that he thought about it, he recalled Hermione telling him how Padma could always guess everything beforehand and was scarily smart. Padma was magically more powerful than Hermione and was good in theory and often fought for the top spot with Hermione and the witch from Slytherin. Parvati was smart but she was a gossip girl and perhaps this was the reason that she was often quoted as the source of all the rumours which were on the grapevine of the Hogwarts Rumour mill. Inwardly, Harry resolved to be wary of the twins who were probably scarier than the Weasley twins.

"Here we be, sirs", said the elf pointing to the massive gates of the castle. The castle was a huge, three floored structure with four towers, one at each corner, but not exactly in the directions of the compass. It was spread over a large area and there were stables in the distance where Harry could see some Hippogriffs milling about.

Augusta and Neville Longbottom were standing outside the front doors, looking anxious. As they approached, Neville came forward and embraced Harry in a brotherly hug, "Welcome to the Longbottom castle, Heir Potter."

"Neville, to you, I am always Harry", Harry said, smiling.

"Actually Heir Longbottom, it is Lord Potter-Peverell-Rosier-Weber", said Harsh, mock bowing to Harry who rolled his eyes while Neville was staring at him, wide-eyed.

"Are you really Lord of four Houses?", asked Neville still surprised.

"A story for another time, Mr. Longbottom, which I know Mr. Potter will be happy to tell you in all its glory.", said Harsh smiling at the duo, "but for now, we have some rather urgent matters to tend to."

Harsh stepped up to Augusta who had been fondly looking upon the duo of Neville and Harry and smiling, remembering another Potter and Longbottom, who had walked around this place like brothers. However unlike these, those boys were never just the two of them. James never came alone but with his posse of friends like the heir of Black, Remus Lupin who was always a kind boy and Peter Pettigrew whom she had seen as a hero for nigh on 14 years before Neville returned from Hogwarts at the end of his fourth year.

"Augusta, it's a pleasure to see you again.", Harsh said bowing to her, taking her hand and pretending to kiss her knuckles, "is everything ready?"

Augusta nodded her head, "My elf squeaky will show you the chambers. Frank and Alice will be portkeyed here soon."

Harry stepped up to her and she embraced him, "Harry, you are like Neville to me. You do not need to bow to me and call me Augusta or Gran, if you want."

Harry was touched by the gesture and returned her embrace with equal affection. The muggles may not have been his true relatives but he was making his own family now.

The elf accompanied Harsh to the chamber while Neville took Harry with him to show him around the property until Harsh called for the pair of them. They were supposed to help him in the process. They were not sure how they could help him but they were willing to find out.

Neville showed him the woods where many magical creatures lived and the greenhouses which were maintained by him. Harry was astonished to see that Neville was looking after and maintaining plants that were not taught in the curriculum at Hogwarts. Some were so rare that they were not even available there.

Lastly, he brought him to the stables where a number of Hippogriffs and many flying horses were tethered.

"Do you ride them, Neville?", Harry asked.

Neville shook his head ruefully, "Never when Gran is watching. She's afraid I might fall off and break my leg or something. But, I have been out a couple of times when she wasn't around. The elves showed me how to work the tack and bridle and showed me how to ride. I would like to think that I'm pretty good at it. When Hagrid showed us the Hippogriffs, I was hoping I would get to ride. But, Malfoy had to be a stupid git and it never happened. Damn Malfoy and his ancestry anyway!"

Harry laughed at his indignation. It was hard to imagine Neville as the shy clumsy Gryffindor he had been a week earlier. Ever since he got his wand, he had been improving. Harry had seen his power first-hand and was sure that Neville would be turning heads very soon.

"Harry, what are you doing for the summer?", Neville asked him hesitating, "I was thinking that you could stay here with me if you want. We can use magic without anyone knowing and practice a lot of what we have learned."

"Neville, sorry to have to turn you down mate. I have some travel plans. I am going to Magical India with Harsh Vardhan who has promised to teach me some things which will help me to survive in the coming war", he replied, "he has also promised to teach me a little about my family magics."

"I understand, Harry.", Neville said, patting his arm.

"Hang on. You can do magic here?", Harry asked confused, "But won't that get you into trouble with the ministry? I mean I was served with a notice for a hovering charm Dobby had used at the Muggles."

Neville noticed the venom with which he mentioned the muggles and did not raise the issue but chose to answer his question, "The tracking charm of the ministry only works in houses of muggle born students. The ministry can only detect if magic is cast but not who cast it. The children of pureblood families practice magic all summer long without any problems", Neville replied sheepishly.

"But that's unfair to the muggle born students", protested Harry, "how can they expect to compete with the pure blood students when they do not get the same treatment as them?"

"I know, Harry but we cannot change it right now. Later when we are on our family seats, maybe we can advocate for changes in the system.", said Neville trying to pacify Harry before he exploded.

Harry knew that Neville was speaking the truth so, he dropped the subject. Instead, he switched to small-talk with Neville and started asking him for details about his life up to this point, such as his family and what it was like growing up on the estate. The time passed quickly and before they knew it, the elf appeared to inform them that they were wanted in the ritual chamber.

**Ritual Chamber, Longbottom Castle**

The ritual chamber was a large, underground room with a duelling arena in the middle of it. There was also a practice range off in one corner, where target dummies were set up for them. In another part of the room, Harsh had inscribed some runes on the ground. Having never studied Runes, Harry could not make heads or tails of them but Harsh explained that those runes were to prevent the magical outburst from, from either Frank or Alice, escaping and causing any damage to the chamber or the castle.

"These symbols have been drawn with the runes from the Brahmi script, a language from the vast family of the magical Sanskrit language. These runes together make a containment ward, which will help contain the magical outbursts", he said, explaining gently to them.

He pointed out a large rune in the centre of the circular ward scheme to them, "This is Om. The primordial sound. The symbol of infinity and nothingness beyond which there is nothing. This is the sound of the Universe. It is the start and it is the end of everything and there is no sound greater than this. Now I need you Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom, to put your wands on this and push your magic into this rune. This will power the ward scheme. Keep pouring the magic into it till it is glowing golden."

"I do not have a wand, Mr. Harsh Vardhana.", Harry said to him, frowning.

"My apologies, Mr. Potter, I had promised to give you a wand which would help you", Harsh said, "since I do not have a wand to present to you as your own, why don't you use one of these?"

He pulled two wands out of his pockets and offered them to Harry. The first wand felt like dead wood to Harry's senses. But, the second wand felt warm to his touch.

"Umm... how are we supposed to do this?", asked Neville.

"Just put your wand to the symbols and will you magic to flow and keep pouring till the runes glow gold.", Harsh replied encouragingly, "It will start charging the rune but do not exhaust yourself."

Harry and Neville started following his instructions simultaneously, however, Harry noticed that he had to concentrate more to make the wand work. He understood how Neville would have felt, working with a wand that had never chosen him. After a few minutes but what felt like hours, Harry saw the symbol glowing golden.

"Why are they charging the runes and not you?", asked Healer Lynn, coming in the room with Frank and Alice Longbottom hovering behind her, strapped on two stretchers and being carried into the chambers by two trainee healers.

"Simply because they are more powerful than me or anyone else in this room", Harsh answered amusedly, "these boys are pretty powerful, Healer Lynn and by the time their magical core would stop growing, they would be the most powerful wizards in Magical Britain."

Healer Lynn looked skeptical, "May I?", she asked brandishing her wand at Neville who dumbly nodded. She cast some diagnostic spells at him and her eyes widened. She repeated the same with Harry and her eye brows reached so high into her forehead it looked like they would just vanish.

She gulped, "Indeed they are incredibly powerful. There cores are already bigger than most average wizards in Britain. I believe that by the age of Seventeen, Mr. Potter will easily be a highly accomplished Grand Sorcerer with Mr. Longbottom not far behind. In fact, there have not been such powerful wizards in recent history."

"This ritual will require me to spend a lot of my strength to try and revive them and I cannot risk my strength by using to charge the runes, so I decided to use these power houses here", he said, winking at the duo.

Harsh ushered the trainee healers out of the room and asked Augusta to take Alice to another room since he would be treating only one of them at a time. He laid Frank in the centre of the circle on a very intricately drawn design.

"This will keep him from moving too much during the ritual.", he announced, "while I am doing the ritual, please do not come inside the circle and if Frank starts to stir without me waking up, please stun him to immobilise him. If he is awakened during the ritual, it can be fatal for him or me."

He turned to the duo, "Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom, if the energy in the rune starts to fade, please feel free to pour energy into the rune. It shall always remain golden."

Harry and Neville nodded in grim determination.

Harsh sat in meditating position, his legs folded beneath him, his wand in his right hand and both of the arms on the knees, palms facing upwards. He started chanting some incantations in a strange language and while they could not understand the words, the power in the words could be felt by them giving goosebumps to everyone present in the chamber., Harsh closed his eyes and went still. Then a moment later, Frank stirred for a second before going still.

**Frank's mindscape**

Harsh found himself in Frank's mindscape. He had entered into his mind by going into a trance leaving his body behind. The entrance of the mindscape resembled the real Longbottom castle. There were elves milling about however they looked emaciated as if someone had been keeping them hungry and torturing them. The grass around the castle was withered and the trees were uprooted. The walls had cracks in them and the doors were ajar with no one guarding them. The stables he had noticed were destroyed with bodies of dead beasts littered on the ground. The woods around the castle were utterly destroyed with trees uprooted, burned or blasted into smithereens. He walked up the stairs where he knew the Lord's study was. The entrance to the bedroom was guarded by a legion of armoured suits which were barring all entry to the room.

"Stand aside", Harsh commanded them, "your lord is not in danger anymore. He needs to be set free.". The suits did not respond and when he made one step forward, one of the suits slashed at him with its sword, menacing him. Harsh easily side stepped the blow. He did not want to cause any harm to the suits which were basically protections against mind intrusion, but; they had become a problem for Frank. The suits had kept him here not allowing him to escape and thus, he could not be cured. Unless these were disabled, he could not access the room. He was choosing not to be violent since he knew it would risk Frank stirring and waking leaving Harsh trapped within.

As he stepped again, two of the suits attacked him simultaneously and he rolled to the ground and they missed him by an inch. If the suits continued to be so violent, he would need to disable them since he did not want to destroy them.

He got up again and tried to turn invisible but to his horror, none of his magic worked. This was new. In other cases of a similar nature, he had been able to use magic. Looking for the cause, he spotted a litany of runes drawn along the walls and there were runes for all purposes. Following the trail of runes, he noticed a rune drawn on the ceiling of the corridor he was in. It was a magic suppressing rune. Really ingenious! Unless he deactivated the rune himself, he could not gain entrance to the room even if he destroyed the suits.

The only way he had was to go through the suits and then gain access to the Lord's study. The suits were not able to feel pain, but; he could dismantle them and hope they remain dismantled. The problem with this was that this would cause distress to Frank Longbottom and he hoped the others would quickly stun him before he was trapped here.

One of the suits came at him menacingly, brandishing its sword and Harsh ducked as soon as the suit swung the sword, saving himself by a hair's breadth.

He sprung to his feet in the next instant and trapped the blade between his palms. With a sudden jerk, he tore the blade from the suit's grasp. Spinning the blade in the air, he caught it again with the hilt in his right hand. The blade was a broad-sword, one of the heaviest one-handed weapons, not intended for the swift and subtle type of combat Harsh preferred, but; he would make do.

In the next moment, with a flash of steel and the sound of a tin can ripping apart, the helmet of the first suit parted company with the rest of the armor. Then with the crash of hardened steel on hardened steel, he parried the blow and disarmed the next suit. As the blade spun singing through the air, Harsh caught the pommel in his left hand.

Seeing one of their fellows incapacitated, the remaining suits formed a ring around Harsh and began to circle him and wait for his next move. Harsh had to admire Frank Longbottom in that moment. That man was simply a genius with maneuvers since the suits only mimicked what Frank knew and Frank was apparently a master of tactics.

The suits circled him and kept moving around him, not giving him a chance to escape while Harsh simply kept his swords ready to parry any blow or take advantage of any opening to strike. After sometime, the suits became tired of all the waiting and 4 of them pounced on him at once. Harsh, who had been a warrior for ages, simply jumped in the air and somersaulting, was out of the circle. The suits scrambled to turn around and fight him when he went into action slashing, stabbing or simply swiping his swords through the swathe of the suits. In a matter of seconds, Harsh stood alone with a rather large pile of dismantled armor in front of him. He knew that he had to move quickly because the suits soon started moving, re-assembling themselves.

Seeing no other way out and not able to use magic, he stabbed both swords through the middle of the doors of the Lord's study and the castle shook like there was an earth quake. Working fast, he was able to wrestle the doors open before the suits could finish re-assembling and attack him again. He bolted the door from the inside. He knew that the suits would not break the door open of the Lord's study but was wary of the dangers which may be lurking within. When he turned his attention to the inside of the room, to his surprise, Frank Longbottom was sitting behind the ornate desk made of Cedar wood and polished to shine, the Longbottom crest atop it. He looked like Neville Longbottom but a little older. He was tall, brown hair down to his shoulders, strong broad shoulders, electric blue eyes and an angular face. Overall he looked like one of the chivalric heros from the stories of old. He was engrossed in studying a book and did not even notice when Harsh had entered the room.

"Lord Longbottom.", he addressed him causing him to stir and look towards him, "It is time to return to consciousness."

"Who are you and how did you get in?", Frank asked him, surprised written on his face, "How did you defeat the suits? I have tried to get out many times but they never open the door," Frank said morosely and pouted.

Harsh chuckled briefly, then sobered up, "Locked from outside? You mean to say the door was not locked by you?"

"Yes. They locked the door from outside. I seem to have lost my wand and I can no longer command them nor can I unlock the door by magic", Frank said, frowning.

"But there is a magic suppressing rune on the ceiling of the corridor outside", Harsh said, "Does that not stop you from using magic here?"

"My dear fellow. This is my castle. Why would I engrave a magic suppressing rune on my castle?", he asked scowling.

"We need to go now, Lord Longbottom.", said Harsh gently, "People outside are getting anxious. They have not heard from you for 15 years."

"What do you mean?", asked Frank, confused, Just yesterday, Voldemort was defeated. How can it be 15 years?"

"It has been 15 years. You will be explained everything. This is not the real world but your mind scape where all your protections died with the overexposure of Cruciatus curse and you were ensconced here by your magic.", Harsh said explaining, "once you are full in health, you will need to remake your mindscape or perhaps choose a new one if you cannot bring it into its previous state."

"Do you know what has happened during all these years? If it has been 15 years then Mother would have grown old, her face creased with lines of worry and little Neville would be a fine young man by now. He was just a little toddler then. And my love Alice, I can't imagine that I didn't even ask about her or about my other friends. The Potters had died a day ago and we all were grieving', he said, looking distant and gloomy, 'Sirius had been sitting at dinner with us that evening when he suddenly left saying he was going to check on James and Lily. That night we received the news that James and Lily had died but little Harry survived. Alice wanted to take Harry in with Sirius's consent knowing he was his godfather. We had returned to Green Hues when we were attacked. Mother was not at the mansion, having gone to live at Uncle Algie's place for the duration. I remember attacking the Lestrange brothers, but; someone knocked me out with a curse from behind. I felt the pain of the Cruciatus curse and my mind defences immediately brought my consciousness here to the safety of the Lord's study while activating other defences."

"Lord Longbottom, you will know everything when you wake up but my time here is short. I have reached here with a lot difficulty and I am not sure I can do it again. Only I can bring you back. Let us not tarry.", he said, urging him.

Frank sighed and nodded. When they tried to pull the doors open, they would not budge but Harsh again stabbed the doors in the middle with the swords and wrestled them open. As soon as the doors opened, he saw that the suits had lined up in Phalanx formation, ready to begin their assault again. Before they could, a regal voice cut through the air, "Stand down!" Frank Longbottom came through the doors, standing tall, looking regal and his eyes blazing with power.

The suits immediately went on their knees before him and he addressed them, "You have served me well but your services are not required as of now. I shall call upon you when I need you again."

The suits stood up and started moving throughout the castle, placing themselves in their usual niches. Harsh and Frank exited the castle and immediately Harsh grabbed his hand and disappeared.

**Longbottom castle, Ritual chamber**

Everyone present in the chamber was getting anxious. It had been nearly two hours and yet there was no sign of Frank waking up or any movement from Harsh's body. There had been moments when Frank stirred violently and the healers had to stun him. There was a period where he had some sort of seizure and Neville had been worried but the Healer had stunned Frank calmly and looked upon Neville hopefully telling him that it was a good sign since this was the first time in 15 years that Frank's mind was responding to some of her diagnostic spells. That had been 1 hour ago.

Suddenly, Frank's body jerked before going still but the Healer was calm. Harsh opened his eyes and cast an 'Ennervate' at Frank who woke up, looking all groggy and dazed and grinned stupidly, "It feels good to be back."

Augusta who was present in the chamber was hugging Neville so fiercely that he feared his ribs would break. She was shaking and sobbing while Neville felt his shoulders getting wet. He realised that his Gran was crying and unwillingly, tears started to fall from his eyes but Neville did not care to wipe them. He had his father back.

He noticed Harry looking longingly at the scene and he could imagine his pain. Gently extricating himself from his Gran's embrace, he pulled Harry towards him and hugged him fiercely while Augusta embraced both of them tightly.

After 5 minutes, Harsh approached Augusta, "It is my pleasure to announce Augusta that your son has been returned to you, however, I must caution you against breaking any bad news to him about the wizarding world at least for a month. His mind and body are frail and would need to be strengthened before he is ready to hear anything. I would advise you to keep him isolated from others for the time being."

Neville who had a large smile plastered upon his face said hoarsely, "What about my mother?"

Harsh smiled at him, "Mr. Longbottom, the treatment take a lot out of a wizard and the power you both voluntarily poured in the ward gave me a great boost but this still caused me exhaustion. So, after a rather heavy lunch, which I think you both would prefer to partake, we can remedy her ailments after an hour."

Neville was reluctant but nodded. He himself could feel the drain on his magic the powering of the runes had caused him. He and Harry had to re-energize the runes twice, which only took a few seconds, but; felt like hours and took a lot from them.

"Mr. Harsh, the house of Longbottom is eternally indebted to you.", said Augusta, her voice still hoarse from crying, "Whenever you need the assistance of House Longbottom, the house of Longbottom will answer your call."

"I appreciate the gesture, Augusta. Now Lord Longbottom is sleeping after being given a dose of dreamless sleep potion and by my calculation, he will sleep soundly for 6 hours before he wakes up but then he will be famished of hunger and will require a feast to feast on. The same with Lady Longbottom, but please make sure that they are not taxing their strengths and getting proper sleep. I will be leaving the rest of their recuperation in the able hands of Healer Lynn', he smiled genially at the Healer, 'I remember my promise Healer Lynn. I will eventually detail you about the ritual but I would rather that you never reveal this secret."

"I can take a magical oath, if it is satisfactory", she replied eagerly.

The group then retired to the dining room for lunch and ate like they had been famished for ages. After they were done, Harsh signalled that it was time for them to go and raise Alice Longbottom. Harsh was curious to see what her mindscape would be like.

**Alice's Mindscape**

After Harry and Neville had charged up the runes again and all else was made ready, Harsh entered into a meditative state. When he entered her mindscape he was surprised. Her mindscape was a forest but the forest was dying. The grass was wilted and dead. The trees in the forest were either uprooted or burned as if thunderbolts had struck them. Several of the trees were magical and could be found only in the Forbidden Forest surrounding Hogwarts. There were a lot of creatures in the forest but most of them were dead, the air was full of smoke and decay. He noticed a hippogriff lying on the ground, dying, it's wings ripped off and apparently it had fallen from flight because its tack was still on its back. There was a Unicorn which was dead in a pool of silver blood, a manticore dead as if blasted by a blasting hex from the inside, a demiguise almost dead, bowtruckles running around looking for trees to inhabit, a niffler digging in the ground perhaps looking for gold.

"So this is where young Neville got his love for Herbology", he mused. What worried him now, was trying to determine, in all this forest and with the number and types of creatures unknown, where Alice Longbottom might be.

Suddenly the roar of an enraged dragon echoed through the forest. It sounded like the dragon was engaged in battle. Under normal circumstances, it would be a good idea to run, not walk away from an enraged dragon, but; Harsh thought that this may be a clue as to where Alice could be found, so he followed the sound. Making his way through the remains of the shattered and uprooted trees, it din't take Harsh long before he came upon the scene.

A fully grown Romanian longhorn was fighting with a Wyvern and it looked like it was protecting a little hut in the clearing. Quickly disillusioning himself and using a scent masking charm, he proceeded to the hut and entered it stealthily. Like all other wizarding spaces, the hut was larger inside and was almost the size of a two floor building. In the middle of the entrance hall, stood Alice Longbottom, who had a lithe figure, good height, auburn haired and round faced with brown eyes.

She pointed her wand at him, "Identify yourself or die."

He raised his hands in surrender, "I come in peace, Lady Longbottom. I have come to take you out of here."

She frowned, "There is nothing out of here. I have been searching for too long. Sometimes I feel like I am out of here and I see a young Frank before me but at other times, I feel like I am in the void. I have been fighting against this menace which is destroying the forest, killing the creatures. I had adopted the Romanian Longhorn and it has been protecting me from other beasts for a long time now."

"This, Lady Longbottom," he said, "is your mindscape where you conscious was whisked away when you and Frank were assaulted with the over exposure of torture curse at the hands of..."

She cut in before he could finnish, "The Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr.', she snarled."

"Yes and it is the effects of the over-exposure that has been destroying your mindscape for last 15 years.", he said sombrely.

"It has been 15 years?", she asked, unable to believe him.

"Yes, Lady Longbottom and a lot have changed in the world. Lord Longbottom and you have been dallying for enough. It's time to wake up.", he said gently.

"But how?", she asked.

"First we help the Romanian Longhorn kill the Wyvern and then I will take you out of here.", he said.

Nodding her head, she gripped her wand firmly marching outside. Together, they cast the bombarda jinx at the Wyvern diverting its attention and in that moment, the Dragon swooped down and with a swipe of his claw, the Wyvern's head rolled to the forest floor.

The dragon lowered her head to him and she patted its snout before turning away, tears in her eyes. Harsh grabbed her hand and disappeared.

In the ritual chamber, Alice Longbottom stirred once before going still again. Harsh opened his eyes. Signalling the healer to enervate her and administer the dream less sleep potion, he retired to the parlour he was taken to after waking up Frank and was followed by Augusta, Neville and Harry.

**REVIEWS PLEASE**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N-** Here is the next chapter guys. Enjoy and please give me some reviews. It makes me feel that people are liking the story. May be you can recommend this story to your friends or peers? Please.

THANK YOU HYPERGYM for the editing. A little details have been changed or added which do not make any change to the story.

**Disclaimer- **Wish she could loan me Harry Potter but I do not own Harry Potter. JKR Does.

* * *

**Longbottom Castle**

It had been 6 hours since Frank woke up from his slumber of 15 years. The effects of the potion of dreamless sleep were about due to wear off. From the time that the ritual to wake Alice was complete they were all gathered in the master bedroom of Longbottom castle waiting for Frank to wake up. Augusta kept her vigil praying for Frank's recovery while trying to keep her composure. Neville was looking on in anticipation trying to imagine what he would say to his father when they spoke for the first time. He was deliriously happy and it showed in his behaviour. The chief house elf, Martie, was tending to Frank personally while another female elf, Tippy who was bonded to Alice was waiting on her.

Neville was happy just sitting there, talking to Harry, showing him some photographs from Frank and Alice's Hogwarts days and talking about people he recognised in them. To Harry's interest, he saw a picture with a large number of people standing in it. The picture was so large that there were three frames of it. On the first were people that Harry had only heard of but Neville perhaps knew a little more about them than he did. There were eight people in that frame, out of which only Frank and Alice were still alive. The rest were the Prewett twins, Benjy Fenwick, Dorcas Meadows, the McKinnons, Lord Sayre, Frank and Alice Longbottom. In the second frame were Albus Dumbledore, a man he recognised as the barman from Hogs head in Hogsmeade, Hagrid, Alastor Moody, Edgar and Ellia Bones, Hestia Jones, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Emmaline Vance and Dedalus Diggle. The third frame had the Marauders with Lily and another woman in the middle of them. Harry was angry seeing Wormtail between them but could not do anything about it. He wondered if this was before Wormtail had taken the dark mark or after that. Everyone looked so happy in this picture, some rather cheerfully waving at the camera while others were outright laughing. Even in the middle of war, they could smile. He smiled at the thought of being surrounded by people like them who could smile in such grave times.

Harry startled from his reverie when Neville snapped his fingers in front of his face, "Harry, are you still here?"

Harry nodded, "Neville, when was this photo taken?"

Neville smiled, "Gran once told me that they were all knights. I thought she was joking. When I asked again after a few years, she gave me the same answer then went on to explain that they were part of Dumbledore's order which used to fight You-know-who and his followers. This photograph was taken sometime before we were born."

Harry felt frustrated with Neville refusing to call Voldemort by his name but did not want to ruin his mood. So ignoring Neville's reluctance to use his name, he continued, "I have heard of this Order. I asked Sirius and he told me of this once but very shortly. He said that most of them had died at the death eater's hands because they refused to bow down to them."

"Yes, Harry. And it's happening all over again, only this time, we will be fighting, along with them", Neville said, looking determined, "And, when that time comes, I assure you that I will stand by you. You know what they say... Where a Potter goes, a Longbottom follows."

"As a Longbottom should", said Frank hoarsely and they turned to him delighted.

Frank was very pale and looked like he was about to be sick, but was smiling at the pair of them anyway. His eyes were still closed. Slowly he opened his eyes and focused his gaze on Harry.

"James?", he whispered, "James, what are you doing here? I thought that you were dead."

Harry shook his head lightly, "I am not James, Lord Longbottom. I am Harold 'Harry' James."

"I see you woke up just on time, Lord Longbottom.", said Harsh who had just entered the room, "these fine people were getting anxious." He pointed to Neville, "This young man here, I believe he is yours, was rather very excited and as such his magic has been out of control. I swear your elves were hovering near him just to taste his power and to get drunk on it."

Frank turned to Neville and could not say a word for a moment, but just took in the stranger who wore his wife's face. Then coming to the right conclusion croaked, "Neville? Sorry I have been away for so long."

Neville had waited all of his life for this moment just to hear his father call him by his name could not control himself any longer. He rushed to his father and hugged him, making Frank wince a little but Neville didn't care. He was trying to take in everything that he could. His heart was giddy with delight. He was with his father!

"I believe Mr. Longbottom that I cautioned you against exciting your father", Harsh reminded Neville, "he is not going anywhere. You just need to contain your enthusiasm for a few days."

"Mother! Is that you?", said Frank, seeing Augusta standing at the doorway where she was crying softly, seeing her son smile at her. This was not a dream. Her years of waiting had borne fruit.

Frank turned to Harsh, "You know I did not get your name when you were bringing me back. I distinctly remember asking who you are, but; you evaded the question."

"I have too many names and too many faces, Frankie," he said smiling, "but for this purpose, call me Harsh Vardhana, just another healer."

Healer Lynn, who had been sitting quietly in the corner the whole time, snorted, "Another Healer he says? At last count, 50 different healers have tried to cure you and Lady Longbottom but none ever succeeded."

"Where is Alice?", Frank asked, getting agitated, "Tell me she is safe."

"Calm down, Frankie", Harsh said authoritatively, "Alice is fine. She will be waking up in a couple of hours."

Frank's face lit up, "A couple hours you say? I can wait that long. We will have a lot to catch up on."

He turned to Harry, "So you are Harry Potter, James's little child? Oh, how proud we both were that we had children almost the same day. If you were a few hours earlier or Neville was a few hours later, you both would have been born the same day. I tried to ask your father to let me become your god father but Sirius got there first. Damn that mutt!"

Harry actually chuckled. To hear someone talk about his parents and their friends with so much affection interested him very much. He wanted to tell Frank about the war, about what had become of the Marauders but he remembered Harsh's warning.

Frank continued speaking, "You know Harry, Remus wanted to be your god father but Sirius had baited him saying that whenever he married and became a father, Remus would be the god father while poor Peter never said anything. When I heard about Lily giving birth, I ran to the Hospital but by the time I got there, Sirius Black was already dubbed the god father and when I entered the ward, he ran up to me and said, 'Hey Frankie, I am a dog father.". However, Alice had threatened Lily at wand point that if she named someone else as your god mother, she would take her down and let me tell you, no sane man ever crossed wands with those witches. They were very gentle and humble, mind you, but you enrage them and they would make Bellatrix look sane."

The next couple of hours passed swiftly as Frank grew steadily stronger and the boys listened to him recount stories of the previous war. There were also tales of the marauders and their days at Hogwarts.

Harry was smiling fondly at Frank. Frank was whispering something to Neville, who was listening intently and smiling. Harry was just thinking about how his circle of friends and some that he could call family had been there for him these last four years, but Neville Had only his grandmother. Now, seeing Neville happy with his own father and the confidence he was gaining daily, seemed happier than Harry had ever seen him.

Then, they all heard a voice which had not spoken for 15 years. "What did you just say, Frank Jeremy Longbottom?", said Alice, who had now opened her eyes and was looking around dazedly. Her eyes fell on Neville, "How did you become 16 years old again?", she said, making Frank laugh.

She looked to Augusta, "Mother, you look so old. Is it really been 15 years? I thought I was dreaming."

Her eyes then fell upon Harry, "James!", but then she realised her mistake, "you are not James. You have her eyes. I can recognise those eyes anywhere. My best friend's eyes. You must be little Harry."

She turned to Neville again, "Oh my son, you have grown up. I missed so much of my life."

It was a merry gathering in Longbottom castle after so many years. Harry stayed the night there and stayed up late with Frank and Alice who refused to go back to sleep just yet. After a few hours of small talk and merry making, they were tuckered out and fell asleep without need for any more potions.

Next day, Harsh woke Harry in the morning and saying his good-byes to everyone he was hustled out just beyond the property line and disappeared with Harsh only to appear outside the Order's headquarters.

**Black Townhouse**

Following Harsh he quickly entered the House to be engulfed into a bone cracking hug by Mrs. Weasley while Mr. Weasley simply beamed at him. Ronald gave him an awkward one armed hug and then kept his distance. Sirius literally dragged him to the kitchen and put a plate in front of him heaped with lots of breakfast and he dove in with gusto. After they were done, Sirius dragged him to his room.

"Godson, there are things that we need to do and time is short.", Sirius said, "I am told you made quite the spectacle at Gringotts yesterday.".

"Who told you?", Harry asked curiously.

"Bill Weasley who works as a curse breaker for the goblins informed us yesterday evening. He said that Rug Nut (Harry snorted) had sent a welcome party. An entire battalion of Goblins to face two wizards and all their wards were up. The security trolls were ready to fight as well. The goblins were all shaking in their boots, then Rug Nut came running out, barking something about locking access to the dragon pens. I can't even imagine what that was all about. So, care to fill me in?", Sirius waited with eager anticipation.

Before Harry could start, there was a knock on the door and Remus Entered, his hair blue and feathers all over his body. Seeing Sirius, he bellowed, "Those menaces got the jump on me, Sirius. They turned my hair blue and made me a canary."

"Let me guess, did they give you something to eat?", Harry asked and when Remus nodded, he explained about the canary creams. When Sirius told Remus that Harry was about to start telling about what happened at the Bank, Remus sat down to listen too.

Harry told them of the story in detail. How Harsh Vardhana had infuriated the goblins. How he threatened them that Harry would take his accounts and go to the Gnomes and how he taunted Iron Fist about having left him as an egg for a dragon.

By the time he was finished telling the story about the Bank, Sirius was rolling on the floor laughing, tears rolling down his face. But when Harry told him about Lily not being a muggle born, he was surprised then intrigued.

When he ended narrating, Sirius chortled, "Harry, your life is never boring is it? You can't even visit the bank without the goblins sending you a welcome party and then they just change your world in a second. Lord of Rosier indeed! I am amazed."

Remus smirked, "Think how it will affect Dumbledore? His political machinations and intrigue just got more exciting. I mean two of the darkest families which have not sat on the Wizengamot for 16 years return and sit on the light side, the great alliance is renewed and presto! Cornelius will not be able to sleep peacefully."

"Two?", Harry asked confused.

"Yes godson', Sirius said, 'you have taken up lordship of Black, haven't you?".

"Actually no, I planned to do this after I returned from magical India", Harry replied hesitantly.

"Harry, if you do not take up the Lordship, you cannot charge the ward stones and they need to be charged to strengthen the defences", Sirius said, his eyes gleaming with mischief, "it means that we get to sneak out and visit Diagon Alley. It has been a long time since I met Ripthroat, the Black account manager."

"Sirius, are you sure that would be wise?", asked Harry fidgeting. He did not want Sirius to be caught.

"Where is your sense of adventure, Prongslet?", Sirius asked him, "Where is the boy who used a time turner to save me, chased away 100 dementors?".

Harry smiled sheepishly, "You make a good point, Padfoot. Let's go on this adventure."

"Hang on", said Remus, raising his hands, "you just can't go off and leave me to fend for myself with those twins lurking about."

Sirius grinned, "You were always the brains of the Marauders, Moony. You can handle a couple of kids."

"How are we going out?", asked Harry, "the front door is being watched at all times."

"Tell me Godson, have you ever ridden a Hippogriff?", said Sirius grinning at him causing him to roll his eyes.

Half an hour later, Harry Potter entered the garden in Grimmauld Place with Sirius Black who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. When they reached Buckbeak, he bowed to him and Buckbeak returned the gesture. Sirius cast a disillusionment charm on the hippogriff making him blend in with the surroundings and set about putting tack on the beast. After a few moments, Buckbeak was in the skies, flying towards Diagon Alley.

**Gringotts**

A young boy with golden hair, brown eyes, tall and well muscled entered the Bank and going to the teller announced, "I need to see Griphook."

The teller sneered at him, "Griphook is not an ordinary goblin, wizard. He cannot see everyone who comes through the door unless you are raven haired and green eyed."

Sirius who had been following him under the Cloak cast a wordless finite and his appearance changed at once. The Goblin gulped at seeing him while he grinned, "how about now, Teller Goblin? Do you think he would see me now?"

The teller ran to an inside office and after a few moments, returned with Griphook in tow, who was trying to suppress his laughter. As he reached Harry, he said, "Lord Potter, I must accept. If you keep on coming to the bank like this, there will never be a boring day in Gringotts. Yesterday, you stirred up the Goblin Special Corps and today you just showed up and changed appearance before him. I did not know that you enjoyed such antics."

"As it happens, Griphook, I am quite fond of them", said Harry and continued, "today I have come to cause more waves."

"Talking of waves, Mr. Potter, the Council has not yet calmed down from the waves you caused yesterday. If you can believe it, Iron Fist has been sitting in Lord Ragnok's office, auditing all your accounts so that there is no discrepancy because he fears that you will move out if there is anything wrong. To add to the worry, the Gnomes had come here to inquire after your financial status. I believe you would not know anything about them", said the Goblin, frowning.

"As much as I would like to discuss waves my godson caused, he has only a short time here and we have a lot to do", said Sirius's head materialising before them.

Griphook looked startled, "If that is the case, follow me Lord Potter. Lord Ragnok has ordered that you are to be brought before him when you come next."

In a few moments, they were before Ragnok who smiled at Harry and said to the room in general, "You can take off the cloak now, Mr. Black."

Sirius materialised, "Pleasure to meet you again Rug Nut."

"Mr. Black, my name is Ragnok and please remember it.", Ragnok sneered, "that wizard is a menace."

"You had called for me, Lord Ragnok", said Harry, "my account manager said you wanted to see me instantly."

"Lord Potter, yesterday the manager of Gnomes came into the Bank asking us about your financial status and how much money you had. He further enquired how many days it would take to transfer your assets from Goblins to Gnomes if you choose to shift your banker. Iron Fist has asked me to do anything you want so long as you do not take your account away", said Ragnok looking beseechingly at him.

"Now that you mentioned it Rug Nut, the Goblin Nation can do something for Harry Potter", said Sirius, his eyes full of mirth.

"What would that be, Mr. Black?", sneered Ragnok.

"You see Rug Nut, the wizarding world is going to fight another war soon and we need the Goblins on our side, covertly if not openly. Assure us that you will not shift with Voldemort and his merry band of fools, and Harry Potter will not take his account away", said Sirius gleefully. This was an opportunity which had presented itself to them. In the meeting of the Order conducted last evening, Dumbledore had been picking everyone's brain over ways in which they could make the goblins stay neutral, if not aligned to the light side. Who knew that this would be so easy. It made sense. Goblins are motivated by money and war. They could not fight wizards anymore. If they lost this much money in one go, it would have a huge impact on the bank and cause an economic upheaval that would turn the wizarding world against them. Agreeing to Sirius's demand was good business, plain and simple.

"The Goblin Nation agrees to your proposition, Mr. Black.", said Ragnok, "now what is the other business that we can help you with?"

"The House of Black is ready for its new lord.", said Sirius royally, "Harry Potter who has been my heir since I became his god father is ready to become the Lord of Black."

Griphook's eyes went wide for a brief moment. Harry potter already controlled the fortunes of four ancient houses. Adding the Black holdings would mean that the boy wizard would control even more and Griphook would be his account manager. Perhaps, if he played his cards right, this would change his fortunes for the better. "Mr. Black, while Mr. Potter is your heir and in the first degree of heirs to ascend to the position of Lord Black, there are others whose claim is stronger. Draco Malfoy and Nymphadora Tonks for instance have stronger claims. My advice to you, since we have just aligned ourselves to your side, if you were to blood adopt Mr. Potter here, that would place him first in the line and he would ascend without any problem.", said Ragnok, winking at him.

"Blood adopt? What does that mean?", asked Harry, confused.

"Harry, blood adoption means that your blood and mine are mixed in the ritual bowl with a special potion which would then be partaken of by both of us. This will make you my son by magic and this would make it easy for you to ascend to the position, not to mention, I do not want Lucius to get his hands on the Black wealth", said Sirius seriously (no pun) "But this is not an easy decision. You may think that being my son would change things, but it will not. You have always been the son of James and Lily and that is what you will remain. With this adoption, the only thing that will change is that you will add another name to your already hyphenated name although I would like it if you would keep Black after Potter."

Harry chuckled at his antics, "Padfoot, I have no issue with being blood adopted by you, but; it is just that it was rather sudden. I have not known my father and mother. All I remember about them are memories which I experience when a dementor comes near me. If anyone has been a father to me, it's been you. The last year you did everything in your power to keep me safe. You were willing to risk everything for me. Ever since the third task, you have been around me and ensured that I remain safe. You are already a father to me, Sirius. I know dad won't mind and mother would glare at you but would agree", he said smiling.

Sirius was somber for a minute thinking of all the harshness that the boy had faced and yet stood firm. He never imagined that he would have a son, not since Marlene died but in that moment he realised that Harry was his son as much as he was James's.

"Lord Ragnok," Harry addressed the goblin, "if you would proceed with the ritual."

Ragnok produced the ritual bowl and asked them to pour some blood into it. Mixing their blood was quite anti-climatic. Harry had imagined sparks of fire and quite the spectacle. It remained inert as it was before mixing the blood. However, when Ragnok poured a potion in the bowl and it started hissing and throwing sparks around, smoke rising from the concoction, taking the shape of a griffin and an adder who looked at each other, checking each other before melding into one then disappearing.

"Congratulations, Mr. Black, you are a father now", proclaimed Ragnok, smiling while Sirius grinned sheepishly.

Ragnok barked an order at Griphook and he went out of the room. He returned a few minutes later followed by another Goblin who was very old. Seeing Sirius he grinned ferally, "I wondered why the Bank was so black, today. I heard you became a father, Sirius. A gloomy day for Wizarding world, I am sure."

"Ripthroat, you stinky old goblin, ripped any throats recently?", Sirius asked the goblin, who guffawed. Sirius continued, "Now move your old backside or my son will make sure that we get a new manager for our family before the day is out."

Ripthroat passed a ring to him which was a goblin silver band with an Obsidian stone atop it having an adder on its face. AS Harry donned the ring, the power almost overwhelmed him making him pass out. It was such a force that he could not breath for a few seconds, but; after those seconds, his blood was singing to this magic and it felt as natural in his veins as Potter or Peverell family magic.

Half an hour later, Harry was in Griphook's office and they were discussing investments.

"Mr. Potter, your family has investments in a lot of businesses. Some of them are doing very well while others, not so well. I believe that with a little cash and a change of management, they could earn you a good profit. Lastly there are businesses which cannot be redeemed and it would be prudent to pull out of them before their losses become more substantial, finished Griphook.

He passed Harry a piece of Parchment, "This is a summary statement of businesses which are doing well."

**Silver Arrow broom company (now Firebolt) 45%**

**Quality Quidditch supplies 10%**

**Zonko's joke shop 30%**

**Scrivenshafts 25%**

**Herbs and weeds apothecary 20%**

**Eeylops Owl Emporium 5%**

**The Daily Prophet 20%**

**Madam Malkin's 5%**

"I own shares of the Daily prophet?", asked Harry, bewildered "I owned that piece of trash and it has been besmirching my name?"

"No, Prongslet. You do not own the paper but only a portion of it. The Ministry owns 45% of the voting shares in the paper", Sirius replied, grinning at Harry.

"Not quite so Mr. Black. The ministry does not own the prophet anymore. About 8 years ago, it sold the controlling interests of the paper when it was in the middle of an economic crisis and sensing an opportunity, my predecessor, Bluntaxe the former Potter House manager, bought 10% of those 45% shares thus bringing the tally to 30% for house of Potter. It is just that after yesterday's fiasco, we realised that Lord Potter may not be inclined to have controlling interests for Daily Prophet so we did not tell him about it. If he wishes, we will furnish him with money worth those shares or he can keep those shares", said Griphook knowing full well that the young Potter would keep the shares.

"I will keep those shares, Griphook", said Harry, "and I want you to see about obtaining more. I want controlling interest in that paper if it is possible."

"As it stands, the House of Nott owns 7%, the house of Greengrass owns 5%, the House of Rosier owns 6% and the House of Bones owns 3% of those 45% shares. 14 % of the shares were bought by Ripthroat who was advised that way by Lord Black bringing the interests of House Black equal to House Potter at 30%. Taking together, your House now owns 66% of the total shares of Daily Prophet, Lord Potter", said Griphook smiling.

"Why do you call me Lord?", asked Harry confused.

"Two reasons, Lord Potter. First is that the heads of the Houses were ennobled as such in the past and thus they keep the title going. However, most of them are not worthy of the title anymore. This title was bestowed on them for their contributions to the wizarding world, for bravery shown in war or other similar achievements. However, there is another reason for which I call you a Lord. The same reason that I would call Voldemort as Lord Voldemort or Dumbledore as Lord Dumbledore and I would also call the wizard who accompanied you yesterday Lord", Griphook finished.

Harry tilted his head to one side, "And what are those reasons, Griphook?"

"The wizard who came with you yesterday, ask him this, Mr. Potter, he has all the answers that you are seeking", answered Griphook smirking at Harry.

"Now, are there any instructions for me, Lord Potter?", asked Griphook.

"Yes, I need to register a new business which some of my associates will establish in the near future. I will also require a title deed for premises in Diagon Alley where they can set up their shop. While you are at it, please liquidate my shares in Zonko's. They won't be in business much longer", Harry concluded, with a wink and a smirk toward Griphook.

As they were leaving the Bank, Sirius conjured his partonus murmuring some instructions to it and sent it away. When Harry asked what he did, he did not reply but smirked, 'Message to the family, son.'

**Black Townhouse**

Two hours later, Harry Potter and Sirius Black entered the Black Townhouse and found it in complete chaos. The house was filled with smoke, people were running around, trying to put out fires. Some had their hair colour changed. Some had their entire skin color changed. There was a metal basilisk which was chasing everyone around. There was Dumbledore who was trying to rein in the basilisk and Snape who was fighting a boggart which was changing its shape every second. Many Order members were trying to douse the fires which were burning but Harry could see that they were unsuccessful. There was an alarm wailing throughout the house which rather sounded like a horse whining. There were Fred and George who were looking as if they had been through the mill, their robes torn, hair dishevelled and hanging upside down from the ceiling changing from human to elf to goblin to merpeople, laughing stupidly.

Sirius raised his wand and let out a sound like a canon blast, which got everyone's attention. Dumbledore approached him looking tired and wary of everyone around him, "Sirius, we are in trouble here. The situation is out of control. Nothing we have tried can extinguish the fires. The basilisk is running around terrifying people. That boggart has been tormenting Severus for more than half an hour now. There is a caterwauling charm going on the third floor, which Misters Weasley and Weasley tripped, and they have been changing appearances since then while dangling upside down from the ceiling. I have also noticed that the house elves have made themselves scarce since all this commotion started."

Sirius was rolling on the floor laughing at everything that had happened. What Dumbledore did not know was that this was a prank war. There had been small incidents since Sirius had accepted the challenge, but; Sirius had not imagined that things would escalate so quickly. They must have harassed Remus beyond all patience to have inspired him to use such elaborate pranks as these, he mused. Raising his wand, Sirius inaudibly shot a spell at the Weasley twins who fell to the ground and then he cast some more charms upon them and by the time he was done, their appearance had returned to normal. Then he proceeded to the Boggart which had not yet noticed him. It was a James Potter with Sirius taunting Snivellus. It made Sirius flinch to realise that he had such a visible catastrophic effect on his childhood rival. Quickly he banished the boggart. Then he summoned Kreacher and Winky, to help subdue the metal Basilisk. When he transmuted the basilisk back to its original form, it turned out to be his motorcycle! He summoned the elves ordering them to douse the fires then clean up the mess and repair any damage.

With the fires and most of the chaos under control, he went up to the third floor to deal with the caterwauling charm. When he arrived there, the noise was going at full volume. He terminated the noise with a flick of his wand. When Sirius entered his room, he found Moony there, lounging in a squishy recliner, reading a copy of hexes and Jinxes for Fun and Profit while munching on a box of chocolate from Honeydukes. No sooner had peace been restored than the door opened to Fred and George entering the room. They immediately bowed to Remus and started offering their apologies and praises in their twin speak.

"We are sorry that we angered you", said Gred

"You turned the tables on us", added Forge

"We accept defeat, Prank Lord Moony", said Fred, bowing and scraping to Moony who was now smirking at them.

"We are not worthy, Prank Lord", they chanted together, "please add us to your minions."

Finally Remus nodded his head signalling that he accepted their surrender, "Remember boys there will be a second round. And this time, I will not be alone." He grinned a very toothy grin at them.

After an hour, very happy Fred and George Weasley left Sirius's room with a big bag of Galleons and the title deed for their new shop in their hands. They had happily signed the forms which Harry had brought making him partner with 30% shares in the business with the stipulations that he would bring in the cash when necessary and any ideas that he may have.

When Sirius asked Moony about the prank war, he told them that the twins had fed him a chocolate laced with Draught of Rage getting Dobby to deliver it. When Moony went into rage, Dobby burdened with guilt, brought him an antidote which was fed to him once the elves subdued him. After that, with the help of the elves, he transmuted the motorcycle into the basilisk and powered it enough to go around on its own. He also set a trap on the twin's room which simultaneously set off the caterwauling charm, levicorpus jinx, and a random transmutation to switch them between humanoid forms and change their hair colour. With the trigger in the doorway and a 3 foot radius to the effect, it hit both of them . Dobby brought a boggart from somewhere and set it loose upon Snape when he came with Dumbledore to control the situation. The fires were the work of the elves. It was a specialty of theirs. They had done it to add to the chaos when it was getting monotonous.

Later in the evening, before dinner, with the adults who were present in the townhouse and Harry, Dumbledore called a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order. He started in his professional tone,

"Yesterday, At Gringotts, Mr. Potter took up his lordship and is now Lord Potter."

Many people in the hall clapped at this revelation while most of them congratulated Harry at his ascension. Mr. Weasley shook his hand and offered House Weasley's support to them.

"Now, Lord Potter is there anything else about that meeting which you would like to share with this company?", asked Dumbledore, yielding the floor to Harry.

"Yes Professor, there are a few things that you should know. First, the goblins performed an inheritance test. As it turns out, my mother was not muggle-born, but a pure-blood, adopted by Harrison Evans."

Harry took a moment to watch the reactions on people's faces as the meaning of this news sank in.

Dumbledore's gaze was intense, concentrated on him and he felt like someone was probing his thoughts. Snape looked ashen. Minerva's eye-brows had disappeared into her hair. Alastor was indifferent. Molly sat there, her hand over her mouth. Remus and Sirius were sitting there looking upon Dumbledore with interest. Arthur was looking intrigued.

The moment passed, and Snape was the one to ask the question everyone was already thinking, "If Lily was pureblood then who her parents were?"

"I am glad you asked that question, Professor", said Harry smirking, "Her ancestry is indeed the most curious thing in this whole situation. Her father was Vincent Rosier and her mother was Emilia Weber. What's more is that I am the sole survivor of both houses. The muggles never were my relatives. But that raises another question for the Head Master. If the muggles were not my relatives, how did the wards work?"

Dumbledore whose mind had been engaged in taking in everything that had just been said, and understanding all which that implied, took some time to understand Harry's question. Wen he did, he had no answer for the boy.

When the answer did come, it was Severus, "Harry, the wards are based on blood and magic. The blood which came of you and your mother and the magic in you would have put the wards in place. Any other protections which Head Master thought were present would not have been there. It would seem that the only thing really protecting you was the protection your mother put in place at the cost of her own life. You have to remember that we did not even visit you once in a decade so we did not know anything for certain. When the head master visited your home at the end of your fourth year a couple of days ago, those protections, if there were any, were already gone. We believe they had disappeared sometime before you started 3rd year."

Harry understood what Severus was saying and it made sense to him. He wanted to rage at the head master but chose not to. The old man had already accepted so many times that he had made mistakes in his regard.

Sirius stood up, proudly puffed out his chest, and announced, "I am proud to inform you all that Harry Potter is the new Lord of the House of Black and my adopted son by magic."

Several of the people clapped their hands while a couple of them stood and congratulated Sirius on becoming a father which Sirius accepted jovially. As if on cue, the kitchen door opened and Tonks entered followed by a man and woman. Almost everyone in the room stiffened at the sight of the woman who was tall, olive skinned, with brown eyes that resembled Sirius's and she regarded the room imperiously until her gaze fell on Harry. Sirius stood up laughing and hugged the woman who returned the hug with equal joy before coming to and curtsying before Harry, "My Lord, I have come to seek reinstatement in my house."

Harry was befuddled at her display. He had no idea about who this woman was, what her request meant or what he should do about it. Sirius moved to his side to advise him.

"My lord... This is my cousin, Andromeda Tonks nee Black. This is her husband Theodore 'Ted' Tonks. And this is their daughter Nymphadora Tonks." Tonks glared at him and he stuck his tongue out at her, showing his maturity.

He turned to Harry again, "Andromeda was disowned from the family by her mother for refusing to marry Thaddeus Nott and running off to marry a muggle-born. For doing this, she was deprived of her dowry and inheritance. She has come to petition her new lord for reinstatement into her family."

Harry, who was puzzled till now, felt like someone was whispering words into his ear. Signaling the Tonks family to bow, he turned to Andromeda, "Do you, Andromeda Cassiopeia, daughter of House Black accept your admittance back into the House of Black?"

She raised her head, "I do."

He asked further, "Do you vow to defend your house and its secrets with equal zeal and fervour as is expected of a member of the family?"

She firmly repeated, "I do."

"Then I, Harold James, Lord of House Black welcome you back into the House of Black as a daughter of the house. You will be given your inheritance and the customary dowry. The family will take care of you as one of its own expecting you to do the same when the occasion arises. So I have said, so mote it be", he proclaimed and a golden light engulfed him and Andromeda and disappeared into their bodies.

The same process was repeated with Ted and Nymphadora and after they were welcomed into the family, Harry instructed Sirius to send a missive to Ripthroat asking him to pay the customary dowry of Andromeda into her account.

Sometime later, after everyone had a feast courtesy of the elves, Dumbledore resumed, "So, what is the next course of action, Lord Potter?"

Harry turned to the head master who looked like he had aged a decade in the last few minutes, perhaps still guilt laden about the fact that he had left Harry with the muggles who were not his relatives, but; Harry could not hold the old wizard liable for it.

"I found out that through my families, I own around 66% of the Daily Prophet", he announced to the room, making all conversation go silent, "imagine being slandered by your own news paper."

Everyone was looking at him, trying not to laugh while Harry pulled a pouty face. Only Ron looked a little jealous, but; soon that look was changed to one of thoughtfulness.

"My boy, if you own the Daily Prophet, may be it's time we brought them into line.", said Dumbledore, "This means that we can use our influence to persuade them to publish truthful stories, stop with the smear campaign against our ranks and stop suppressing the stories that really matter."

"How do we achieve it, Headmaster?", asked Harry, interested.

It was Ted who answered, "My lord, I was the solicitor of your parents and if you would like to retain my services then I will send a message to them on your behalf with a goblin statement that the House of Potter owns 66% shares of the Daily Prophet and they shall cease and desist. Knowing that you own their lives, they would not dare to print any lies about you. We can also ask them to print only those stories for which credibility can be confirmed by a memory or some written evidence."

Harry grinned ferally at this making people shudder while Sirius and Remus smirked inwardly knowing that the newest marauder was out for blood.

The night finally ended with Harry Potter charging the ward stones which were located in the cellar beneath the Lord's study, with his blood magic. Dumbledore cast a Fidelius charm and gave the secret to the members of the Order present in the house at that moment.

**Port of London **

Next evening, Harry Potter was standing in the port of London in a distant corner which was protected from other eyes. This was in a large part of the port which was only frequented by large cargo vessels. When he raised the query with Albus, he was told that this part of the port was used by Wizards when their magical ships docked in Britain. He had left Grimmauld Place in the afternoon with a Guard made up of Order members. There was Nymphadora Tonks, who had said her good-bye before changing her appearance and going ahead to scout for them. The rest were Alastor Moody, who seemed to be in charge of the operation, Sturgis Podmore, Remus Lupin, Amelia Bones, Hestia Jones, Emmaline Vance, Albus Dumbledore Minerva Mcgonagall and Arthur Weasley. Harry noticed that they were all dressed in muggle clothing. When they reached the port, only Albus Dumbledore, Harsh Vardhana, Remus, Mr. Weasley, Amelia Bones, Alastor Moody and Minerva McGonagall followed him into the port while the others scattered throughout to form a perimeter and to join the other order Guards who were posted around the port and keeping a look out. Instead of going through with the muggles, they took another route where there was no one else except them. After being cleared through the security, they were joined by some other men Harry did not know but judging by their alert expressions and their eyes taking in everything, he supposed that they were guards perhaps the same ones who had escorted Harsh and Harry when they visited St. Mungo's.

Remus embraced Harry tightly and whispered to him, "Harry, you are going to learn some stuff that not even most grown wizards know about. They will train you by treating you anyway they like but remember Harry they are the best that we could hope for. They will not go easy on you and their methods may seem harsh at times, but; time is short and I believe that they know what they are doing. Sirius will be here, waiting for you when you return, hopefully, he will be a free man by then. In the meantime, don't worry about us. Remember that we all love you."

Harry never had seen the werewolf so emotional. He knew that Remus loved him as much as Sirius did but Remus never showed it preferring to keep it all bottled up. Seeing him opening himself up to the teen was a surreal experience for him. He embraced Remus tightly when he felt something being pushed into his hands. It was a square packet wrapped in paper and Remus whispered, "These are enchanted mirrors which will let you contact us. When you want to talk to any of us, just speak our Marauder name into it and you will be able to contact us. When we call you, just say the marauder map activation code into it and it will connect you with us."

The next one to say good-bye to him was Mr. Weasley, who clasped his hand formally, "Lord Potter...", he began.

Harry interrupted him, "To you Mr. Weasley, and your entire family, I am always Harry. I always have been and my lordships do not change anything."

Mr. Weasley smiled genially at him, "in a private setting, you are Harry Potter to me, but; in public you shall always be designated as Lord Potter. I know you don't like the fame, the fortune or all the formality and trappings that go along with it, but; there is a reason for it. I hope that this will be part of your education in the near future. Harry you can use the fame to do so much good. You should learn to use it."

Harry could understand what Mr. Weasley meant and nodded. He himself had seen the fickleness of the wizarding world in the last four years. They basked in his glory whenever he did something for them but scorned him whenever they felt like it. The way they had all sided against him when they called him the 'heir of Slytherin' still hurt but no one had helped him then. Then in fourth year, the entire school and later the wizarding world teamed up against him, calling him a liar and a cheater for entering the Triwizard tournament, when it had all been part of a plot by Voldemort. Hermione seemed to be the only one who believed him and stayed by his side during that dark time. Later, Rita's articles did not help improve the perception. The only thing that the wizarding world respected was power and fame. It was power that made them all fear Voldemort even when he was considered dead and it was the power of money that Lucius Malfoy and other death eaters had used to worm their way out claiming 'imperious curse defense'. He resolved in that moment to use his power to achieve his means.

Mr. Weasley started saying again, "so, Lord Potter, I wanted to say that the Weasleys stand behind you firmly. You have been one of our own since the day my sons rescued you from Privet Drive. I never knew your parents personally being senior to them at school but I knew of their bravery and courage and I admired them for their heroics. I know that Ron is not your best friend at the moment but I hope things will get better between you two. He caused some troubles unknowingly but his heart has always been in the right place. I trust you will give him another chance with time."

Harry nodded. Ron had been cold to him since he had woken up but that could have been due to the guilt that Harry knew he was feeling. Ron had a real problem with jealousy, but; that should never overcome his affection for his friends. Harry hoped that Ron would get over his guilt soon and things could be better between them. In the meanwhile Harry was content to give him time to deal with his issues.

Professor McGonagall stepped up to him next, "Mr. Potter... Harry, I know I have not been very helpful to you in all these years at Hogwarts and there is no excuse that I can make up for my failures. Your father was my godson and I failed to care for his son. I should have checked on you during all those years. I am sorry for my failures."

Harry smiled at her and said, "Professor, while there were moments that you did not help us, you have done for me what a parent would do, right from buying my first broom to caring for me. You are one of my favourite people."

Minerva hesitantly smiled at him and hurriedly moved away lest her tears were seen by the teen she had come to love as one of her own. Since the time Harry Potter came back to Hogwarts, she had been laden with guilt about not doing anything about his living arrangements. She was heart-broken when Harry Potter had reached the Hospital Wing unconscious and dying at the end of first year. Then the next year he had to face a Basilisk and she was still not able to help him in anyway. Then in his third year, he had to stay at the castle because of those wretched Dementors and then had to face a mass murderer (she did not know then that Sirius was innocent). She could not even think about the fiasco that was fourth year and all the mistakes that she had made. Even after all this, he had stood tall and was forgiving of her.

Alastor Moody hobbled up to him and growled, "Constant Vigilance Potter. Harsh is a tough man but he will teach you things that none of us can. Train hard and remember Potter, do not hesitate to learn anything. When you come back, I expect you to be able to duel me."

Amelia embraced him lightly and smiled at him, "Harry, I know everyone has told you to train hard but I expect you to remember that there is life beyond training for war and there are people who need you to stay human as much as they need you to become the warrior you need to be. Remember after you come back, you have to come and stay at Bones Manor for a week or so. Susie insisted on coming to see you off, but; she had other business to attend to. However, she asked me to tell you that if you renege on your promise, she will curse you so badly that no one will be able to sort you out."

Harry cringed at the tone of the message but smiled at Amelia, 'Please tell her that I will visit as soon as I am back in Britain, no matter how long it may be."

Dumbledore came to him next, "Harry, I need you to take the training seriously as everyone said. Mr. Harsh Vardhana is very powerful and he can help you learn things that I cannot even dream of. With all that out of the way, my boy, please remember that you have a life to live and you are not just a weapon to kill. You will make your choices which will not leave you alone for the rest of your life. For good or bad, these choices will stay with you bringing you fame or infamy. Our choices are what define us in the world, Harry. Tom made his choices and they led him down the path of destruction and your choices have made people love you."

Harry smiled at the old wizard, "I will never let my choices be the wrong ones, Head Master."

Dumbledore smiled at him, eyes twinkling madly, "I know my boy. You are a better wizard than many who have had to face problems like you. You embrace love, kindness and empathy for others while others would have taken the path of cruelty and destruction. Thank you for understanding an old man and his limited choices, Harry. I thought that you were going to hex me yesterday after you told us about your family lineage."

Harry just shrugged at this, not having any experience at dealing with emotions in such conditions.

"Now young Harry, Sirius has told me to inform you that he will be most disappointed if you fail to learn some pranks since you are part owner of a future pranking

business", said Dumbledore smiling at him.

Harry winced just thinking about asking Harsh to teach him pranks. The mystic seemed to have quite a vicious sense of humour.

After Harry had said his good-byes to everyone who was present, Harsh approached him, "Mr. Potter, are you ready?"

Harry nodded and hefted his trunk which he had bought from Diagon Alley yesterday while he was out with Sirius. Sirius had withdrawn some money through Ripfang and insisted on spoiling Harry with buying him stuff that he should have had for years. After looking at it from every angle, Harry had given up trying to understand Sirius's antics. So they left Gringotts and went to Madam Malkin's where Sirius stayed under the Invisibility Cloak and Harry had just sort of ordered something of everything and was assaulted with shears, pins, needles, robes, measuring tapes and an elf who insisted on measuring his foot to choose some dragon hide boots for him. While the clothing was being finished, he and Sirius visited one of the trunk shops where they brought a four compartment trunk for him, built with feather-light charms and emblazoned with the crest of Potter leaving other houses off for the moment knowing that the news would have gone out about his being lord of other houses. The same crest was on the clothes he had ordered. Then they visited Flourish & Blotts where they brought a trunk full of books which were stowed in the trunk with the clothes and which Dobby had offered to arrange in the compartments when they returned to the Townhouse of Black. They rode the hippogriff back into the garden of the house before walking in the pandemonium that was reigning throughout the house.

Harry nodded to Harsh that he was ready, "Are we going to sail in a ship?"

"Mr. Potter, India is very far away and it will take us a good 7 days if we go cruising the muggle way. I said that I would surprise you. We will go flying."

"Flying in carriages? Like the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic?", Harry asked eagerly.

"No, Mr. Potter. Heard of a flying ship?", Harsh smirked at everyone's expressions. Remus was looking at him curiously, Amelia was looking surprised, Dumbledore as his usual cheery self with his eyes twinkling, Mr. Weasley looked like a boy who was just given a wonderful gift for his birthday, Minerva looked stoic as ever but her eyes were full of delight while Alastor was looking around suspiciously and Harry Potter was standing there with his mouth hanging open.

Suddenly, a ship's horn was heard and a ship appeared in the harbour as if it just materialised out of thin air. The ship was modest by appearance except that it had a figurehead of a Fish which none could recognise and as the gangplank landed with a thud, several men debarked and lined along either side of the gangplank, wands facing outwards. These men were dressed in Indian garb with wore armour over their upper bodies and dragon boots. One of the men relieved Harry of his luggage, banishing it towards the ship.

Harsh stepped on the gang plank followed by his entourage and reached the deck of the ship where the captain of the ship, a gruff man stepped forward. The man had a long beard perhaps to rival Dumbledore's, but; his was raven black, his eyes were beetle black and he had a strong voice. He bowed to Harsh, sinking low to the deck, "Welcome to Marichika, master."

"Marichika?", asked Dumbledore curiously, "Do you mean the ship that I have heard so much about? The same ship which was in port when the Vikings invaded Avalon? The same ship which had docked in the port during the second Goblin rebellion? The same ship rumoured to appear at those ports where there is war and strife going on or about to happen. The same ship which has always docked at a country where they were having problems with a dark lord? The same ship which is thought to sail around the world evading all forms of intelligence?"

By the time Dumbledore had done asking his questions, his eyes were twinkling like two miniature suns and others were just looking amused at Dumbledore.

"Albus my boy," chided Harsh, "your enthusiasm is contagious, but; yes, this is the same ship. Though we have had changed parts which needs changing. Even magic cannot make things last forever."

"I just have to see this", pouted Albus, "I cannot know all of your secrets, but; you can at least show me around the ship. I have been intrigued by this as long as I can remember."

"I think his request is from all of us, Mr. Harsh", said Amelia, her curiosity barely contained, "I wish to see this legendary ship. I found references to this in the old archives of the ministry but could not fathom that it was real."

"As you say, Amelia", smiled Harsh.

He started showing them around the ship. The top most level was the deck which was quite vast now that they could see it. They understood that it was a miracle of expansion charms. The level below the deck was a couple of rooms which were the Captain's Room, the Ward Room, a large hall where there were several beds installed and a couple of other rooms which were for the men to sleep in when there was a large number of them.

The captain's room was regal and yet sparsely decorated containing a bed, a wardrobe and a rug on the floor. There was a compass on the wall which the captain used to navigate. There was an ornate chandelier hung on the wall and it looked like it was made of crystals fused with bones which lit the room with ever burning fire. The ward room was extensive. There were stones the size of large boulders in the room. There surfaces were covered with runes. Harry was now lamenting the fact that he had not taken Ancient Runes as one of his electives. These ward stones were more than twice the size of the ward stones at the Black Townhouse and were buzzing with energy.

Then there was a large hall where there was a large table set up which was obviously the mess hall of the ship adjacent to the sleeping hall. Down the corridor from the hall, there were some cabins which had name plates set on the door. One of them had the name 'HARRY POTTER' and the room was bare without even a bed in it but only a small sofa on one side of the room.

Harry was confused, "Umm... Am I supposed to sleep on the floor?"

"Are you a wizard or not?", chided Professor McGonagall, "I believe that I have taught you to transfigure one thing into another. You can transform the sofa into a bed. In fact, set to it right now."

Harry was inwardly cringing at her tone. He indeed had made a mistake and now his favourite professor was taking him to task. Repeating his motto, "Gryffindors charge forward!". He said meekly, "But I don't have a wand, Professor."

McGonagall turned to Albus with her stern expression, "How can you let him go on a magical voyage without a wand, Albus?"

The others laughed at the scared look on Albus's face who looked helpless before the stern witch who looked like she was about to give detention to Albus.

Albus cringed at her tone and said almost pleadingly, "Minerva, Mr. Harsh has offered to make a wand for him, suited to him with special materials."

Before Minerva could turn her fury to Harsh, he deftly took out the wand he had given Harry for helping in the ritual, "Here you go, Mr. Potter. Take this wand and transform this couch into a bed."

Harry concentrated hard and with the precise wand movement, the couch was replaced by a bed.

Minerva drew a rune on the bed and turned to Harry, "this rune will make the transfiguration permanent Mr. Potter thus you will not need to transform the Couch into a bed every time."

As Harry turned to give the wand back to Harsh, he told him to keep it telling him that Harry will need the wand lots of times before their journey was done.

The tour progressed further and they reached the lower deck where there were a number of oars at rest. These oars were used to propel the ship and worked with magic. There was a broom shed wherein there were a lot of brooms. Some were rather old and some were very modern. Harry even spotted a couple of Firebolts in the shed making him think about his own Firebolt which was in his room at the Black Townhouse. The brooms in the shed were from all different countries and each one was superb in its own way.

All too soon, it was time to depart. The others disembarked from the ship. Harry and Harsh were standing on the deck waving at the others when the ship disappeared from view.

**Earlier that day, Bones Manor**

Susan was not having a good day. Scratch that, she was not having a good summer. She had come home from Hogwarts fearing that she would not hear from Harry Potter for the entire summer. She knew that Dumbledore knew about the contract now and she thought he might allow Harry to stay at the Bones Manor. But no, he took Harry to the muggles and later to his god father. Susan thought that she had not done the compulsion charms properly because she did not receive even an owl from Harry but just the day after she returned from Hogwarts, he had visited Bones Manor with the trainee healer. Susan had to exercise all of her restraint to resist dragging Harry away from the gathering.

When Auntie told everyone that she had obtained his guardianship, Susan could not control her enthusiasm and had hugged Auntie so tightly. When auntie asked them to go out, she wished to have some time alone with Harry and may be, she could gather the courage to kiss him on the cheek. She had no overt intentions but hearing of other girls kissing, she wanted to experience it once. Damn Neville Longbottom! He could not get the hint that he needed to leave the both of them alone. Perhaps she will have to ask Hannah to see to it that he never interfered again when he was not needed. Thinking of Hannah made her feel sorry for her friend. She had made up with Susan and had promised to apologise to Harry and never badmouth him. Susan wanted to tell her that Harry would forgive her but Susan herself had not yet forgiven her. May be when Hannah gained redemption from Harry, Susan would forgive her entirely. For the time being, she was content being away from everyone.

This morning, Auntie had informed her that she was going after the muggles who had been constantly on the run. A team of her Aurors was investigating in Harry Potter's former home to determine what his life was like before Hogwarts. They found evidence that the closet under the stairs had been his bedroom. They found several neighbours who were able to give reliable and consistent accounts of Harry being neglected and beaten. Mrs. Figg was most helpful in recounting how Harry was underfed and often had bruises and other signs of injury. What Auntie had gathered from the preliminary investigations was enough to send the muggles away for 7 years minimum.

Auntie had hired some teachers who would be training her for combat. She was also being trained to take over as head of house in the near future. Auntie had said, many times, that she would give up the position of Regent as soon as Susan came of age as an adult witch.

Susan had plans to fetch the family Grimoire from the family vault and start learning it. She was not training to become an Auror but a warrior. She wanted to be Harry's shield when he fights in the war. She had an inkling of the fact that the second war will be fought under Harry's banner and not under anyone else. She knew she could not stay weak if she was to fight beside him. If that meant that she would have to be strong, then so be it.

**Earlier that day, rock in the sea**

Vernon Dursley was hiding in the shack on the rock in the sea. The same one where he had tried to hide from Hagrid on Harry's eleventh birthday. He had been having nightmares. Nightmares of gruesome death, of being killed by a dragon or suffering with some horrible nasty disease that his doctors could not cure. However, what had happened with him and Petunia in the last 4 days was a nightmare from which he could not wake.

After the freaks had left, Vernon had been hanging from the ceiling for 6 hours while Petunia was busy in the house doing who knew what. When he finally fell to the floor, he narrowly escaped breaking his neck in the fall. The strain in his neck was severe. His whole body was aching and he just wanted to lie down, but; he knew the freaks were going to come for him. The first thing he did was to call his realtor and put up his pristine home for sale. He had not wanted to do this but there was no other way. May be if he ran, the freaks would not be able to catch him. He had once asked Petunia of the freak world and she had told such horror stories about how horrible the freaks were that he had never again asked her. He knew the freaks had some system called families and they were the nastiest of the bunch. Petunia had recalled a story Lily had told her where one family had killed another and those were gruesome killings. Some had their intestines expelled, some had their flesh pared to their bones, and some had all the flesh burnt off their body.

Wanting to avoid any such fate for him and his family, he entered his bedroom with a view to discuss and form a plan with Petunia and found his bedroom trashed. The books from the shelf were thrown around the house, the mattresses torn and their clothes from the wardrobes were strewn around the house. Petunia was filthy looking like she had crawled out of the chimney. Her clothes were ragged and mismatched making her look like a street urchin. It was a small mercy that they had not cursed his son. In retrospect, Vernon felt a little ashamed that they showed more sympathy to his child than he had ever shown to Harry. Ever since that freak was found on his door step, he had never said a kind word to him or about him. But that was water under the bridge now. The freaks had said that some long dead freak had come back but how? Vernon could only wonder. They had also said something about prosecuting him and his family for mistreating the child and the one who had cursed him had said something about telling a Dark Family about how his family had treated that freak. Vernon had known that the boy was a celebrity for the freaks, as he remembered how they were celebrating his victory 14 years ago.

Vernon knew he had to secure his family. He had sent Dudley to Marge with a letter that he was going out of England with Petunia on an urgent errand and he could only hope that Dudley did not come to harm. He and Petunia had tried to take a room in a hotel as they left Privet Drive under the cover of night. They had spent the night in a decent hotel but the next morning, the manager had thrown them out for causing a ruckus in his hotel and for making the customers go away. The customers had complained that Vernon's room was smelling like rotting meat and when the manager had asked them politely to leave Petunia had started insulting him, calling him such colourful names that he feared he would have to wash her mouth out with soap.

As they were thrown out of the hotel, Vernon had spotted some freaks keeping an eye on him. They were dressed in their unnatural clothes and not even trying to hide. For the last 3 days, Vernon had been running from the freaks. Whenever he thought he had found a place to hide, he would spot one of them spying on him making him run again. Yesterday, he had gone into his office to apply for leave. That was when he was informed that an audit had discovered his embezzlement of company funds and that by a unanimous vote at an emergency meeting of the board of directors he was dismissed without pay, notice or references. When security escorted him off the lot, he was informed, in no uncertain terms that if he ever showed his face around the company or any of their clients again, he would be arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Vernon had no doubt that all the problems in his life were being caused by the freaks. He thought that he should have shipped the boy off to the orphanage the moment he came into their lives.

As he left the office, he saw several of the freaks spying on him. Taking Petunia he ran to the first place that came to his mind. He remembered how hard it had been for them to go back to Privet Drive 4 years ago after the giant had taken the boat away. When the toothless man had returned to the cottage with the boat, he had taken his family to the mainland but not until Vernon paid for the door broken down by the giant freak. So, this time, Vernon had gone to the toothless man and stocking the boat with a week's provisions, he came to the shack on the rock to hide. He had to survive this and may be somehow, someone could help him. Someone who could control these freaks and return his life to him.

BOOM! With a report like a cannon shot, the door was blasted off its hinges. Vernon charged downstairs with a rifle in his hand. Petunia cowered under the bed, shaking with fright. He saw a man dressed in pure black. His face obscured by some sort of net and a wand in his hand. Vernon began to aim his weapon, but before he could, the man waved his stick and Vernon was holding a snake. Yelping loudly, Vernon threw the snake away and the man stepped up to him and said in a high pitched voice, "Your bill has come due, Vernon Dursley. I have been sent to collect the first installment."

The man waved his stick again and Vernon was lifted into the air before falling back to the earth. He did it a few more times before he again pointed his stick at him and said, "Tortius Corpus", and pitch black light left the stick hitting Vernon in the face making him scream. He could feel the skin being peeled off his body, his bones breaking and his blood clotting in his veins. The torture went on for about 20 minutes before Vernon passed out.

**AWAITING YOUR REVIEWS**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N****-** Hey guys, I am really over whelmed that so many people have favorited and followed this story. I hope it will keep you all interested till the end. I do not intend to this story through the 7th year but the final show down will happen somewhere in the middle of 6th year or at the end of it. I am trying to give distinct identity to every character but if you do not like it, please let me know. I will try to make it more interesting. This chapter is more like filler in the story before we go with Harry aboard the Marichika. I hope we will have lots of fun while he is trying to get him ready to achieve his destiny.

This chapter has been edited by my muse Hypergym.

**Disclaimer- **I wish I owned Harry Potter and if not him then at least Susan and Daphne but I do not. JKR owns Harry Potter.

* * *

**Bones Manor **

Amelia Bones had a tiring day. When she left the Port of London, she was called into the Auror Office by Gawain Robards who was quite insistent. If it had been any other auror, she would have delegated one of her subordinates to look into the matter, but; this was the auror she had assigned to track the Dursleys. Another team was gathering evidence and recording statements from the neighbours near the muggles former home. While they were not able to say much, because they had seen very little of Harry over the years, their stories were remarkably consistent. They stated that Harry was mostly kept at home and indoors. What glimpses they did get of him showed that he never had clothes that fit, he was pale and underfed. There were far too many times that they heard him crying or shouting in pain. A few years ago, he had gone off to some boarding school and they did not see or hear much of him after that. 

Then one of the aurors encountered Mrs. Figg, the cat obsessed neighbour who looked after Harry whenever the muggles went off to do something fun. Her investigators Hammer and Daily knocked on the door gently. When Arabella Figg opened the door, Daily flashed his badge to her, "Hello Ma'am we with Law Enforcement." 

Arabella smiled at them brightly, "No, you are not. You are Aurors from the Ministry of Magic. I can see the wands sheathed in your sleeves and I know that there are at least two more Aurors at #4 Privet Drive."

Daily's mouth dropped open in surprise, "Are you a witch? We Don't have any record of a witch or wizard, other than Harry Potter, living in the area."

She scowled at them, "I am not a witch but a squib. The ministry and the houses aren't so fussed about keeping track of us are they? I mean, once they discover that we are not blessed with the abundant gifts of mother magic, they send us off to live as muggles and take no more trouble about us. So, it's not too surprising that you have no record of me living here is it?" 

Hammer raised her hands in surrender, "I know what you mean, Mrs. Figg. I am a half blood. My mother who was a pureblood was disowned for marrying a muggle-born. My partner, Daily here is a muggle-born. We are not the people who deserve your anger."

Arabella shrugged, "I'm not angry anymore. My own family abandoned me 40 years ago and never troubled to find out what became of me. There are almost none of them left anyway. "

Daily asked her, "If you would not consider it too much of an intrusion, would you tell me which family you come from?"

Before Figg could answer, Hammer interrupted, "You are a daughter of the Montrose family, aren't you? The second born child and only daughter to be born in the Montrose Family in about a century and declared dead around her 12th birthday. I distinctly remember my mother telling how Lady Montrose had wasted away in sorrow for her daughter. Their son had joined You-know-who and was killed by Alastor Moody in the first war. Moody told me that the boy was magically very weak and all he had been able to do was fire a bone breaker which Moody batted aside and peppered the boy with a chain spell of _'Reducto- Confringo- Bombarda'_. He said that the duel hardly lasted for 5 seconds. Now the Lord Montrose is the only one alive and advancing in age. I would give him only a couple more years."

Later Arabella had given them a vast and detailed account of the life of Harry Potter with the muggles. They recorded the entire interview with steadily increasing distaste and horror at the treatment Harry had endured at the hands of the muggles. Daily was thankful that the muggles had left Privet Drive or she would have cursed them beyond all recognition with all the hexes and jinxes that she knew.

Amelia had received their reports and ordered Robards to move in to apprehend the muggles this morning. While the son was easily found with the sister of Vernon Dursley and was taken into custody, Vernon and Petunia were missing.

Robards had failed to track the muggles then she asked Remus for the tracking device. Using the device, they were located on a rock, some distance out to sea. While she was seeing Harry off at the port of London, Roberts went to the shack on the rock to arrest the Dursleys. He was just reporting in now. Very tired, Amelia entered her office and sent a paper plane to Robards. Within a few minutes, he strode through her office door and stood at-ease before her desk.

Sitting alertly and looking determined, she asked, "What is the report Gawain? Did you get the muggles?"

Robards hesitated for a second before starting to speak, "Ma'am we apprehended them all right and brought them in, but; someone else got there first."

"What do you mean?", She asked, annoyed, "I have had a tiring day, Robards and I am not in a mood for riddles."

"Ma'am when we entered the cottage, we found Vernon Dursley slumped on the floor of the cottage, whimpering and babbling in pain saying that his body was burning, his bones were broken and his blood was clotted. A few diagnostic spells revealed that there was not much physically wrong with him, but; he was suffering the after effects of a series of rather nasty dark spells. Whatever they were, he believed that he had suffered all the torture he described and was still feeling the effects. He did have a few broken bones and his ribs were badly bruised, but that was all. We took him to St. Mungo's where he is under observation now. We found Petunia in a worse state than him. She looked like someone had viciously broken her bones and we discovered liberal use of some mind altering spells. She was taken to St. Mungo's where the Healers said that the torturer knew what he was doing because the amount of pain he inflicted on her was enough to keep her in bed for a month or so but will not kill her or permanently incapacitate her. There was a letter recovered from her person which said that she was being paid her comeuppance for her actions towards Harry Potter and that he will return for her again when she is cured."

Amelia shuddered picturing what had been done to the Dursleys. She was sure this was not the work of death eaters. They would have killed them outright. This was someone who wanted vengeance against the Dursleys for what they had done to Harry Potter. May be, someone from the Order but she could not say who. May be Albus can find out later. She was not sure what she would do under the same circumstances. She decided that she was not going to try too hard to find out who had done this. She instructed Gawain to take care of that part of the investigation and to keep the muggles under guard until they were well enough to be tried for child abuse.

She had just returned to her manor, when Susan, very excited, came barrelling up to her and embraced her tightly.

Smiling, Amelia ruffled her hair, "Calm down Susie. What are you excited about? Did the thoughts of a messy raven haired, green eyed Gryffindor excite you that much?"

Susan blushed and squeaked, "'Auntie!".

After some time, Susan asked her, "Is he gone, auntie?"

She smiled at Susan sadly, "Yes Susie. He has gone to learn magics we do not have access to. It is his destiny. But don't be sad. I have it firmly etched into his mind that the moment he returns, he has to visit you or face the consequences."

Susan, who was still blushing, scowled at her, "Auntie, I did not ask you to threaten my betrothed. You should not have given fright to the poor guy. If you threaten him like this, he might be scared of you."

Amelia laughed at her, "He is Harry Potter, Susie. He does not fear anyone. It will do him some good to know that there is a witch who can intimidate him."

Seeing no response but a pink blush on her cheeks, Amelia continued, "Susie, we all will be fighting a war soon and I know how bloody wars can get but remember that is no excuse to stop living. There is no guarantee that we all will escape the war unscathed. People will die and we will not be able to do anything about it. We both know that Harry Potter will lead us in the war but you will need to stand with him, holding him and supporting him."

Susan nodded her head, "I know Auntie."

Amelia whipped out her wand and shot a stinging hex at her, "However that will not stop me from hexing you at every available moment if you forget to live your life. The war will not last forever and I would be angry if you forgot to live."

Susan nodded and then said, "So where did Harry go, Auntie? You never told me."

"Susan, this is being kept a secret for the time being. The man that he went with is virtually unknown to anyone. The only one who perhaps knows him is Albus Dumbledore however I am not even sure if Albus knows him", Amelia said frustrated, "the only thing that I know is that he belongs to some sort of order and comes from India. The Indians have a very rich heritage of magic and they do not have the same restrictions over magic like we do. They use magic without inhibitions of light or dark. Whatever they teach Harry Potter will definitely not be stunning spells or bone breaker curses. He will be learning magic which can kill hundreds in one go. Magic that we have forgotten or we are not able to perform anymore. Today I saw one of their accomplishments, a ship."

"A ship? How can a ship be so special, Auntie?", asked Susan sceptically.

"The ship named Marichika is special. I have found references to that ship in old secret archives of the ministry and those records go back to the times when House of Longbottom was not even established. They have always appeared throughout the course of our history in Britain and have been instrumental in several of our wars", said Amelia, "the ship itself is absolutely amazing. It has wardstones the size of boulders and is propelled magically with no mechanism whatsoever. The most incredible thing is that it can fly."

Susan was amazed. "I still cannot believe that you refused to take me with you.", she pouted, "I would have liked to see the ship."

Amelia smiled at her, "Would you have been looking at the ship, or a certain raven haired wizard that you fancy?"

"Auntie!", she squeaked in protest but did not say anything knowing that anything she said would not make any difference.

"Now Susie, you are to start your training soon.", said Amelia, "Are you ready for the trainers?".

"Who will be the trainers?", she asked interested.

"This is an idea which has been bouncing around since the third task. You see, I do not often agree with the head master, but; he proposed that people close to Harry Potter need to be ready.", she explained, "He has a knack for attracting trouble like honey attracts flies and he thought that it would be wiser if we trained the younger children to hold their own. Nothing fancy, mind you, but enough to get them through any tight spots they might find themselves in. To that end, Susie, I have fetched the family Grimoire for you and you will start learning what you can from it. I will make time for you to oversee your training when I am able. Needless to say, this part of your training must remain secret."

Susan nodded, "Who will I be training with and who will be our teacher?"

"Professors McGonagall, Filius Flitwick and Remus Lupin have agreed to train you all", she said, "And Alastor Moody has assured me that he will make sure that you all are in top form by the time you are done with training."

"Who are the others and where will we train?", asked Susan curiously.

"The Weasley children, you, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger have been proposed initially but with time, they may bring others into the fold. The training will take place four hours a day and thrice a week. The training place is kept under the Fidelius Charm and Dumbledore is the secret keeper", she said, "The training will commence the day after tomorrow and will continue for four weeks. In that time, you will learn how to apply what you have been learning these last four years in combat. After all, you can't expect that knowing how to turn a match into a needle will help you much in a fight."

Susan nodded knowing that this was going to be an opportunity for her to know others who were a part of Harry's life and will be a part of her life when they eventually married.

"Mistress Susie.", her attention was taken by her elf Tweaky, "this being in your trunk. The buggy is restless."

"Buggy?' Susan tried to think what the elf was talking about until she saw the jar that Hermione had given her. There was a bug in the jar, "Oh, she is not a bug, Tweaky."

Taking the jar from the elf, she pompously presented the jar to Amelia, "Auntie, allow me to present you my new pet, Rita Skeeter."

Amelia who was drinking a butter beer, choked on it, "Rita Skeeter! Susie, your sense of humor is simply awful."

Susan grinned maniacally at her, "Auntie, this bug is an unregistered animagus. A nefarious witch who goes by the name of Rita Skeeter.".

Amelia almost snatched the jar from her. Casting a stunning spell she opened the jar and forced the beetle into her original form. Seeing the infamous witch stunned in her manor, she smirked maliciously. This was a perfect opportunity for her to exact vengence for the many things that she had done to all of them.

"How did you capture her, Susie?", asked Amelia, curiously.

Susie related in detail how Hermione Granger had figured out what was going on and had captured her on the window sill of the hospital wing when Harry was brought there after the third task.

Susan knew that Rita will not be having a good time in Azkaban where she will be staying for a minimum sentence of 12 years, the official punishment for being an unregistered animagus. Add the punishment for leaking secret information she had accessed through the years by using her illegal form, Amelia could not see Skeeter getting out anytime soon.

The wretch would get her day in court soon enough, but; for now, Amelia had other uses for her. Calling her elf, she ordered Skeeter to be imprisoned in one of the dungeons which had anti-animagus, anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards.

**Black Townhouse**

Molly Weasley was worried. The war had not even started and everyone was gearing up for it. If she had her way, she would have kept the children away from the war. It was not their duty to fight the war but as Dumbledore pointed out, Harry Potter was the lynchpin to this war. Everybody would either ally themselves against Harry Potter or they will fight under his banner. When Dumbledore had proposed training for the children and included her children into it, she had put her foot down and sternly refused. While she was not Hermione's mother, she felt that she could speak for her knowing what was best for her, but; then Dumbledore pulled out a letter which gave her parents' permission for her participation in the training program. In fact, Hermione Granger had quit her vacations for this and was arriving this evening to Grimmauld Place.

The twins had fought against her decision and nothing she said had convinced them. Arthur had not helped matters either by saying that they were of age and free to make their choices. Nobody understood that she was worried for their innocence. War took people's innocence away.

Last evening, Harry Potter had left for goodness knows where. Till recently she had thought that he would always listen to her but he had outright refused her every time she tried to dissuade him. He had gently but firmly told her he loved her like he would love his favourite aunt but she was not his mother. She remembered when he had recounted his experience of limbo while he was in the hospital wing. He had told everyone what his family had advised him to do.

At last, she was left with only Ronald and Ginevra whom she could stop from joining the training but Arthur had pointed out to her that they were not going to make killers of them but only teach them to defend themselves. As they had no decent teachers in their years of education other than Remus, it was only right that they learn at least some of the basic things like stunning, shielding etc. Molly herself had attended Duelling classes during her time at Hogwarts and knew a fair bit about it but those classes had been abolished after the Duelling instructor had turned out to be a 'death eater' and there had not been any decent teachers for DADA for years. It was a miracle that the students managed to get their OWLs and NEWTs. She still remembered Percy telling her and Arthur how grateful he was that Remus was teaching at Hogwarts in his NEWTs year and he was the reason that he got an E in his DADA NEWT. The argument that the training was only for self defense and this would help them in their studies had convinced her to agree reluctantly.

Sirius Black was feeling morose since Harry Potter left for India but he felt some comfort knowing that his godson will come back armed with knowledge to defeat that monster. This was important for them to start preparing for the war which was almost at the door. The spies of the order had not found anything substantial but they were keeping vigil over everything that was happening in the magical world. Voldemort and his followers were not yet in the open but they were approaching people, trying to recruit them and it was starting to be the same as the last war. If Voldemort did not come out in the open soon then it would be too late for the magical world to know of the danger it was in. It was a great blessing that they had Amelia Bones on their side in the war and she was preparing the Aurors. Any problems that she was facing due to Fudge being a fool would vanish by the time Harry Potter returned and took his rightful place on the Wizengamot. Amelia had taken it upon her to revive the Grand Alliance and together, they would be able to make a difference.

Harry Potter had left last evening and since then Sirius had been staying in his room partly out of the longing and pain he felt for his son and partly because the Weasley miscreants had taken it upon themselves to make him the victim of their next prank. Molly Weasley had taken them to task for causing so much trouble, but; they were undeterred. So far, they did not target Remus thinking that Sirius was an easy target. What they had failed to take into account was that Sirius was always the one who executed the pranks with James during their time at Hogwarts. Till the time Harry returned, Sirius could enjoy pranking the hell out of everyone. He had a reputation to live up to.

For the time being, his recuperation had been going very well. His health had been reaching its former state but his skills were rusty. It had been years since he had fought a proper duel. To be at the side of his godson, he would need to be at the peak of his health and skills. While he had heard about the training program, he had not given it much thought considering it was for children but on introspection, he thought that he could do with some training to help him to get into shape before anything else. So, he had hounded Dumbledore and pestered McGonagall until they caved in and allowed him to be a part of the training. He knew that he would not need to train with them all the time but since he owned the training facility, he decided to do something he had never thought he would. Sneaking to Diagon Alley, he had went to his family vault and brought the family Grimoire. While the family magic did not accept him as Lord of Black, he had no problem using it. He had decided that when others were not using the training facility, he would learn his family magic and to that end, he had asked Winky to be ready whenever he needed her to take him there.

Moony had agreed that he would help bring him to the top of his form. He also proposed to make Nymphadora a part of the family training but Sirius was a little reluctant knowing that she was firmly entrenched in light and would not use Black family magic unless situations were pretty dire. Also, he would have to ask Andromeda if she agreed with the proposition. Knowing Andromeda, she would protest the decision with all fervor. So he decided to tackle that issue when the Lord of Black returns.

He had wanted to go and escort Harry to the Port of London but Dumbledore had cautioned against it and therefore, when Moony had returned he immediately had hounded him to describe everything. He was fascinated with the description of the ship and everything that Dumbledore had told them while ranting about the ship like a child.

Sirius desperately hoped that Amelia would be able to secure him a trial sooner than later because he wanted to go out and do things for the order. Moony had been going on scouting missions for the order and was taking stock of the loyalty of werewolves. They were an important factor in the war and the larger their number, the more they would augment the monster's forces. Not all of them infected with lycanthropy were evil but the way wizarding society scorned them and the way they were ostracized by the ministry with the draconian laws did not give them any options really. Those laws were written during the first war by an obscure witch who was now Undersecretary to Fudge. If they had to keep the werewolves on their side or at least neutral, they would need to offer them a better deal than Voldemort would.

Amelia had swung by the headquarters a couple of times and she had told how hard it was to weed the ministry of Voldemort's loyalists but she had been achieving some headway in that direction. She had asked for assistance from several department heads she knew would oppose Voldemort if they knew he was back and told them to just push Voldemort sympathisers to menial positions in their department and keep stern watch over them. She had shared with them that she does not know if Harry Potter and Dumbledore were speaking the truth but they needed to keep the fanatics in check because some reports she had been receiving pointed towards another rising of a dark lord and the ministry was ill equipped to deal with any such conditions. If things turned for the worse, they needed the ministry to be in a position to have a swift response ready for those conditions.

**Green Hues**

Neville Longbottom was simply having the best time of his life. He was happy with knowing his parents and talking to them. Augusta had forbidden them to talk about the wizarding world or things that had happened since they had been admitted to St. Mungo's and Neville was happy talking to them about their time at Hogwarts. He noticed that his father had too many stories about his time at Hogwarts and they often featured Marauders in them with a lot of people who had died in the first war. Frank would often get quiet while he was speaking and look in the distance perhaps thinking of all the time that had gone by and all the people that he had lost.

The day after he woke up from his long slumber, he asked for his wand.

Neville was surprised that he wanted to hold a wand and feel its warmth and comfort. He wanted to feel the exhilaration of his magic coursing through his veins again. He missed using his wand and seeing his magic work wonders. Frank described magic to him so fondly as if it was a sentient being.

-FLASH BACK STARTS-

As Healer Lynn had come to Longbottom Castle that day, Frank had repeated his demands while Alice merely shrugged. She knew that Frank could be stubborn as a mule and that was one of his most endearing traits for her. She had once tried to dissuade Frank from asking for a wand the previous evening but he had been adamant about it. When she asked why he was insistent about it, he told her that he did not want to feel helpless again. He told her that he had a feeling that things were not good in the wizarding world right now and he wanted to be ready for whatever may come.

So when Healer Lynn had tried to dissuade him from using his wand, he had ordered her to leave. She was a healer and she did not like her patients to order her around and so, she had put her foot down. But when he continued being obstinate, she had no option but to floo call Augusta to bring Frank and Alice's wand with her. While Neville and Augusta flooed to Longbottom Castle, Healer Lynn had transfigured two squishy and comfortable chairs in the master bedroom where they were sitting, looking every bit the lord and lady that they were.

Neville had his father's wand held across the palms of both hands and he adopted the old way and presented it to Frank on one knee with his palms extended in front of him, "Your wand, my lord."

Frank scowled at him, "Neville, you are my son. I will not have you prostrating yourself in front of me."

Neville simply smiled at his father, "I will remember that, father. Now, here is your wand, polished and shining, as you prefer it. Gran mentioned that you never could tolerate a speck of dirt on your wand. It is a pity that I failed to take care of it as you do."

"Take care of it as I do?", asked Frank, "Were you using my wand? How can you use my wand?"

It was Augusta who answered, "It was my fault, son. When Neville got his Hogwarts letter, I gave him your wand. I had no hope that you would ever be cured so I thought maybe he could connect with you through using your wand. I did not realise my folly till recently and it was thought that he was an inept wizard. It was only at the end of Neville's fourth year that Mr. Harsh Vardhana pointed out to Neville that he was not weak but he was using a wand which had not chosen him. He also gifted a family wand to your son, though I do not recall any such wand missing from the family lore."

Frank wanted to rage at his mother but her tear streaked face and the guilt in her voice convinced him that there was nothing worse that he could do not that he had the heart to do anything as such.

Alice, in an attempt to dispel the frostiness of the situation, said to Neville with amusement in her voice, "What became of my wand, son? Did you not want to feel connected to me? I am sure it would have suited you well enough."

Augusta turned to her with sorrow in her voice, "Your wand did not survive that ordeal Alice. When we reached Green Hues, you and Frank were on the verge of insanity, the Aurors were there subduing the death eaters and Bellatrix was cackling like a mad woman, holding up the snapped pieces of your wand."

Alice was sad hearing the news of her wand being destroyed but there was nothing she could do about it. "I guess I will have to buy a new one from Ollivanders. Is he still around?"

Neville smiled at her, "Yes, he is still in Diagon Alley, mother. I went to see him recently and he asked me if I needed a wand. I told him that I am using a family wand."

Frank was intrigued by the tale of this wand, "What wand is this, Neville? Do you have it on you?"

Neville presented his wand to Frank who handled it carefully, his fingers touching the Longbottom motif and caressing it lovingly, "This is not an ordinary wand. This almost seems like a mythical wand. Did he tell you whom this wand belonged to or anything about the wood and the core?"

Neville who was watching his father intently nodded, "It was Harsh Vardhana who gave me this wand with a strict instruction to not to let many people know that I have it and especially not to show it to the wand maker. He implied that I may not get it back if I did. Harsh also said that this wand belonged to Lord Harfang Longbottom who was given this wand as a gift from a wand maker. He said that the wood came from some 'grove of Dodona' and the core was feather of a magical owl species, Pravirkarna."

Frank's eyes widened in surprise at Neville's words, "The wand of Harfang Longbottom! This is the wand that won him such renown."

Now, Neville was intrigued, "what is his tale, father?"

Frank smiled at his son and then for some reason gave a victorious smirk to Alice, 'Harfang Longbottom was our ancestor, my great grandfather as I remember. After graduating from Hogwarts, he went on a world tour, as was the custom. At that time, there were some Dark Lords running around in Rome terrorising that city and the region about it. The resistance that was being offered to them was minimal. One day while Harfang was touring the country side, he ran into some of them while they were out to kill a wand maker's family. Harfang was well versed in our family magic and he annihilated all of them. In gratitude, the wand maker made this wand for him. This is one of the most powerful wands ever made. Later Harfang gained his reputation as a warrior. In the later part of his life, he was engaged in another war with a dark lord, aiding several allies when he was killed in war. His body was sent back but this wand went missing. I wonder how Harsh Vardhana got this. If this suits you my son, bear it with pride".

-FLASH BACK END-

Today, Neville was supposed to go on training with the Weasley's and Granger. His grandmother had agreed to it when Dumbledore had paid a visit to them two nights ago. He was supposed to wait for an elf who would come and take him to the training site. He wondered what he would be learning and who he will meet. His Gran had strictly warned him not to say anything about his parents. She said that she wanted to shock the wizarding world and he found that he liked her sense of humour.

He was brought out of his reverie with a 'crack' as the house elf Dobby appeared before him, "Dobby be taking yous to Master's dogfather."

Neville knew the elf of course. At the start of 4th year, Susan had approached him after the infernal goblet had spewed Harry's name. He waited for Harry to return to the dorms so that he could tell him that he believed him. But damn that icon of jealousy, Ron Weasley who had caused such a ruckus in the dorms that night that Harry could not talk to him. The next day, Susan had cornered him after herbology and asked for some of his time. In an unused classroom, after raising some privacy wards, she had told him that Harry was her betrothed and she needed his help. When Neville asked her why she did not tell Harry, she merely shrugged and said that she approached him a lot of times but Ronald Weasley had stopped her every time. Since that day, Neville met Susan in secret and they did everything they could to help Harry Potter. They had heard about the house elf Dobby and with the help of Tweaky, they found him and used him to help Harry Potter.

As Harry was looking for a date before the Yule Ball, Susan had wanted to approach him but every time she tried to do so, Harry was never alone and her opportunity was missed. When Neville told her that Harry had asked Parvati Patil, Susan had felt her heart break and she did not go to the Yule ball with anyone.

Before the second task, Neville heard the trio in the library going over the clue of the egg and knew that they were looking for a way to stay underwater. Neville knew the answer was Gillyweed and he waited for Harry to ask him but when he didn't they sought Dobby before the second task and told him to borrow some Gillyweed from Snape's personal stores. Since then Dobby held him in high regard.

"Master Neville," the elf's voice brought him out of his musings, "Yous be ready to go?"

Neville nodded and the elf passed him a piece of parchment, "yous be reading this."

Neville read the parchment, _"The training facility for the members of Harrys' circle can be found at the cottage on the hill, Hogsmead."_

Neville understood that he was just told a fidelius secret. The elf grabbed his hand and disappeared.

**Cottage on the hill, Hogsmead**

Neville appeared at the foot of a low hill which he knew was in Hogsmead. What was missing was a cottage which was present on it. Thinking of the fidelius secret, the cottage appeared. Then Remus Lupin appeared beside him out of thin air, "Mr. Longbottom, this is your first test, sort of an initiation ceremony. You have ten minutes to reach the cottage. You may use any spells you have learned in school in the last four years."

With that the werewolf disappeared and Neville took out his wand clasping it firmly and trekked up towards the hill. As soon as he set his first foot forward, he felt like something had grabbed his leg. Looking down, he saw a coil of rope was wrapped around his legs and was proceeding towards his torso. He cast a finite at the ropes and they fell to the ground inert. He resumed his trek and immediately noticed that it was getting cold fast. Checking around for dementors, he found none. He realised the ground around him was freezing perhaps the result of a glacius charm. Putting his wand arm out, he chanted 'incendio' and the snow around him started melting away. Knowing that he would not make any headway if he continued to tackle little obstacles like this, he started running uphill. Suddenly a big boulder fell in his way and while running he transfigured it into a wooden branch which he knocked aside with his shoulders. As he was nearing mid way, the ground beneath his feet opened up and he fell in, locked in a closet. He tried to yank the doors open but they did not budge. Taking a deep breath, he used an 'Alohomora' on the door but it did not open. He racked his brains and remembered one of the advanced unlocking charms he had learnt from a charms book in the library. Waving his wand in the required motion he cast the charm and the door opened outwards. Climbing outwards, he resumed his trek to the cottage when a dog came running towards him, fangs bared. Neville recognised the dog; hell he had even played with it only to be told that the dog was famous mass murderer Sirius Black. Grinning he stooped to pet the dog, only for it to growl at him ferociously. Scrambling to his feet, he pointed his wand at the dog and stunned it without another thought and continued. Lastly, he found a boggart standing in his way which morphed into Snape a second later. Sneering the boggart strode towards Neville with a menacing expression when Neville pointed his wand towards it calmly, "Riddikulus" and Snape was replaced by a Snape in his grandmother's clothes complete with the vulture stuffed hat. As he moved past the boggart, there stood Remus Lupin, his wand pointed at him. Before Neville could do anything, Remus had shot a spell at him and instinctively Neville whipped his wand and formed a shield before the spell hit him. In the matter of a few seconds, he was inside the cottage where Susan was beaming at him and Professors McGonagall and Flitwick looked at him proudly.

"Hi Neville", Susan greeted him jovially. "You cleared the gauntlet in half the time that I took,." she pouted, "I thought the ropes were Devil's Snare and tried to use sunlight on them and it cost me sometime before I realised someone had conjured those ropes. Then I was assaulted with Glacius and I set about using incendio maxima to melt all the snow not realising that it was being replenished. I really freaked out when the boulder fell and it took me minutes to realise that I had to transfigure it after I tried to side step it and it kept moving to block my way. When I fell in the closet, I could not open the door and I was so panicked that I forgot all unlocking charms. Since I could not recall the unlocking charms, I used a reducto and blasted the doors open. When the dog attacked me, I used incarcerous on it and then the boggart became the dark mark. I was so scared but then I remembered what Professor Lupin had taught us and banished the boggart when Professor Lupin used a disarming jinx on me. I lost my wand but before he could use another hex I was inside the cottage."

By the time Susan finished her account, Neville was laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes. A few moments later Remus joined them.

He did not say anything but he had mirth in his eyes, "Ms. Bones, your performance was sub-par but you did what we intended you to do. You entered the cottage as we had set the task to be. If any of you fails to enter however, we will not hold it against you. It will only mean that we are going to make you work harder. Now let us see, how the others do."

After 15 minutes, a haggard looking Hermione entered her eyes puffy, her hair even more tangled than usual. Seeing both she gave a small half smile, "How did you both do? I bet I failed at some of the tasks. As soon as I started, there were ropes which were grabbing my feet and I untied the knots with my hands, then in the snow, I used a warming charm on me but I did not walk fast enough and about froze. My warming charms were not good enough. When I saw the boulder I tried to go around it but it kept moving in my way so I used a reductor on it and that barely scratched it. Finally I tried transfiguring it and changed it into a small pebble. When I fell into the closet I used the unlocking charm twice before realising that I needed to use a different charm. With that, I was able to leave. The boggart faced me and I lost it there. The boggart took Professor McGonagal's shape and started telling me that I had failed everything and I freaked out there before realising that we had our exams and results were out already and then I realised it was a boggart I was facing. So passing the boggart, I faced the dog and I was sure I can pet the dog and move ahead but I had to reluctantly stun him and then Remus disarmed me before I could do anything. Then I had to wrestle him to get my wand back before I moved inside." She huffed in annoyance crossing her arms across her chest making Neville and Susan laugh and when she scowled at them, they started laughing uproariously.

Raising his hands, Neville pacified her, "Don't get angry Hermione, we are not laughing at you. We had to reach the insideof the cottage too. Only we did not have to do as much as you. Now let's wait for others."

Ronald Weasley came after 30 minutes. He looked like he had been through the mill quite viciously. When Hermione asked what he did, he grumbled, "I had to hop someway in the ropes before I remembered to cast a 'finite' and then there was snow. I ran all the way until I ran into the boulder and managed to save my face. When I found that I could not climb over the boulder, I reduced it to dust with an over powered hex and before it could grow again, I ran away. I fell into the closet, I stopped it from closing by putting a foot into the door and then as I stepped out from it, I was hit with debris. Then the boggart turned into an acromantula but I had practice with that one. Then I saw Sirius who was going to attack me and I ran from him and ran into Remus's wand who banished me towards the door and I got up and ran inside."

As he finished, everyone was howling with laughter and Ron's face was flushed red with embarrassment but now that he thought about it, he too started laughing.

About 20 minutes later, the twins entered into the room laughing. One of them was sporting an antler on his head, the other had hair all over his body and they were dressed like clowns.

Neville hesitantly asked, "Umm mate, how did it go with you both?"

"Neville mate, how are you?", said Gred or was it Forge.

"We had our fun on the trek", added the other.

Hermione put her hands on her hip and huffed, "Exactly how did you do?"

"One of us used finite on the ropes", said Gred

"Then we stunned hiding Professor Flitwick who was using the Glacius", added Forge, "but not before he gave us antlers."

They started taking turns to narrate, "Then we met the boulder and Professor McGonagall who transfigured Gred into a Weasel before I diverted her attention and  
taking the Weasel I ran and when we were out of her range, I dispelled the transfiguration, returning him to his form. Then one of us fell into the closet and the other had to face the debris that came our way. After it had stopped raining debris, the one outside rescued the one inside and then we had to face the boggart who changed into us but before it could do anything we banished it with Riddikulus. Then the Marauders banded together against us and after a brief prank war during which they changed our hair, altered our appearances, gave us hoofs, we finally got some sense knocked into our heads and we ran inside."

The others were amused by the twins experiences and the twins had been better than most of them if not the best. Ron asked finally, "where are the teachers?"

Hermione pointed at the door and replied, "Ron, Ginny is still to come through that door."

They waited for about 40 minutes but there was no sign of Ginny yet. Then they heard spell fire being exchanged outside the cottage. As they rushed outside, they saw Ginny furiously firing hexes at the marauders however most of her hexes were being parried by them, while the rest were being deflected. Sirius laughed at her and anger her even more. After 5 minutes, Remus finally had enough and as Ginny was turned to Sirius, he stunned her quickly and bound her with an incarcerous hex.

After 10 minutes, they were sitting at a table with McGonagall sitting at the head. She scrutinised each of them critically before beginning, "This initiation was done to assess your quick thinking, your capabilities, your ability to perceive and your reaction to any event which you may face. Ms. Bones did not recognize the rope immediately and mistook it for Devil's Snare and then wasted time in melting the snow and then forgot the unlocking charms which we knew she had studied however she escaped from the closet with a reducto which would not be prudent in conditions where stealth is required. She faltered on her boggart but then she bound the dog with a incarcerous hex which was effective, but stunning it would have been faster. Finally, when she was disarmed, she ran inside leaving her weapon in the hands of the enemy. She made it inside but she failed at many points."

She glared intensely at Susan before turning to Neville, "Mr. Longbottom, you were the most impressive of this lot. You used finite on the ropes as soon as they appeared and then you made the same mistake of using incendio against the snow without trying to find the source from which it was happening. Then you faced the boulder and you transfigured it into a stick while running and when you fell into the closet, you opened it with one of the charms that we thought you would use. When you faced your boggart, you made short work of it as you have been taught. When the dog tried to attack you, you stunned it and produced a shield against Remus almost as a reflex. Then you crossed the boundary without any trouble whatsoever. You made one mistake but you were the one most prepared to encounter anything and to back up if you had arrived here on a distress call."

Then she turned to Hermione, "You disappointed me with mistakes on your part. You forgot for a moment that you are a witch and not a muggle. You untied the rope by hand when you had a wand with you. Then you showed some good thinking by applying a warming charm but you did not pick up your pace rather you continued walking casually. When you reached the boulder, you wasted time trying to get around it before you realised that you had to transfigure it. In the same way you wasted time in the closet thinking of appropriate spells. If you had been captured, you would have been stunned in the time you wasted coming up with the right spell. Then you faced the boggart which made you break down into tears before you realized what it was. Then you wanted to pet the dog not even thinking that it may be an enemy ruse to draw your attention. When you faced Remus, you did not even attempt to use any hex or curse on him. However when he disarmed you, you wrestled your wand out of his grasp and that is commendable."

She turned to Ron with her mouth the thinnest of thin lines, "Mr. Weasley, I am disappointed in you. It would appear that you have forgotten everything that you have been taught in school. You could not remember a simple 'finite' but you tried to get away by hopping. Then you showed some brain activity when unlike others you did not try to best the snow but ran when your legs were free. You reduced the boulder to rubble with a massive 'REDUCTO'. While this did reduce the boulder to tiny fragments, effectively removing the obstacle from your path, it used an excessive amount of magical energy, producing a large cloud of debris and a lot of noise. Not a good idea if you are attempting to arrive fresh and unnoticed. Out of the entire group, you were the only one who showed the presence of mind to put your foot in the door and prevent the closet from locking when you fell into it. But, you failed to check for hazards when you exited the closet and were hit by falling debris. You handled the boggart easily, so full marks there. When it came to the dog, you just ran from it, forgetting that the same dog had mutilated you once. You did not even see Remus who used a banishing charm on you. By luck you landed near the door and hobbled inside."

Then she turned to the twins, "you both disappointed me and made me feel elated at the same time. You are both legally adults and you did not even check to see if you could apparate inside directly. Then you both showed us the advantage of numbers when one of you finit'ed' the ropes and then you decided to find the source of Glacius and stunned Professor Flitwick who was confident that none of you would see him and got antlers in return (Flitwick chuckled) and then you both saw the boulder and went after me when I transfigured one of you into a weasel (the twins guffawed) and the other took the weasel and ran. When you were out of range, you transfigured him back and when one of you fell in the closet, the other did not try to save himself from the debris. When you faced the boggart it probably did not know that it was facing laughter embodied (the others were trying to suppress their laughter). Then you found the two adults and you engaged in a prank battle with them rather than escaping. In a real fight, it would have been fatal."

Professor Flitwick who had been quiet so far, turned to Ginny, "You proved to be the most unaccomplished of the lot, Ms. Weasley. You easily escaped from the ropes, a promising start. You slipped on the snow. Then you started levitating the boulder but then you just stood there. You fell into the closet and kept pounding the doors with your fist forgetting that you could use an unlocking charm. When you finally came to your senses you used an unlocking charm. Then you did not try to fight your boggart but were rather run down by it. When Remus dispelled the boggart and you faced Sirius, you did not stun him or bind him but used stinging hexes on him which just enraged him. When Remus met you finally, instead of trying to make your way in, you engaged in a fight with him. You will need to work really hard."

Remus spoke then, "Now the first thing I want you all to do today is to follow me to the training room."

In the room, there were a number of dummies and they were asked to use color spells selecting one color each for themselves and hit the dummies in the mid section. After two hours, the Weasley twins were the winners. Then Minerva took them to task and made them revise everything that they had learnt in the last few years. Lastly Flitwick had them on the ropes and by the evening when they were done with everything, they were bone tired.

Remus instructed them to brush up on their reading and to report two days later at 9:00 A.M. since the training was on alternate days and dismissed them. Neville took the floo to Green Hues and from there he went to Longbottom castle. It was the longest time he had stayed away from his parents since they came out of their comas and he wanted to get back to them soon. The others returned to the head quarters of the Order.

**PLEASE SEND ME YOUR REVIEWS**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N-** So a little owl hopped in my inbox hooting something that I had not thought would see. The weaver of magic, the enchanter of fanfictions, the wizard with marvellous words our very own James Spookie started following this fanfic. While I had been carefully weaving this fanfic before, this message let me take a pause and relook upon everything and proceed with the story ever more cautiously to make it worth time for everyone who is reading this fic.

I am thankful to ObsessedwithHPFanFic for his valuable comments on each chapter. I accept I made some little mistakes which in hindsight look like some grave errors and I assure you that I will ensure that any such error is not repeated. As to your questions, Susan tried to approach Harry Potter again and again but Ronald every time was in the way, telling her off. I am not going to bash anyone but I m not going to make anyone flawless either. Ronald made mistakes and he will atone for them. As to his not taking up the mantel of Lord Black earlier, I purposely did not do that because as Rug Nut said, there were 3 potential heirs for the lordship and each had their claim as good an any. I wanted Sirius there because being a father figure to Harry Potter I thought he should be there to see his ascension to at least one of the houses. Not to mention, Sirius needs to blood adopt him so that his claim is indisputable to the lordship. So, Sirius needed to step out and get him to Diagon Alley.

I am also thankful to MarilynT who has been reading the story with diligence and giving me some positive reviews.

Dault 3883, I know my formatting is terrible. My other job is of lawyer where we do briefs and just make checks for spellings and grammar while we do not concern ourselves with formatting as such however, I understand your concern and I will remedy this malady that is present.

This chapter will get a little violent and some of you may not like it but please remember that the mystics are assassins with a reputation of not taking prisoners. They simply cannot keep prisoners or they could have imprisoned Old Tom.

Now, I know some of you may be wondering about that blond Slytherin and wondering when she would enter the story but have a little patience. She will come in her time.

This chapter has been edited to make it more interesting and a little details here and there have been added however they do not change the story in any way.

THANK YOU HYPERGYM for the editing that you did.

**From this chapter, we will go aboard the Marichika and traipse with Harry Potter to India. Let's get on this adventure, now.**

**DISCLAIMER- **This pains me to say but I do not own anything except the OC. Harry Potter is in the firm possession of JKR. I am only playing in the ground.

* * *

**The Pirates**

Harry Potter was excited. They had started sailing from London the previous evening. Two hours after the ship left the port, they ran into the first obstacle. A ship that appeared to be a muggle cruise liner approached their ship. At the sight of it, all the men aboard went to their battle stations. The Captain rushed into the ward chamber to get the ship airborne. The men took positions all over the ship, wands out and alert. A group of them had climbed atop the mast and placed themselves in the crow's nest, in battle positions ready to fight.

Harsh was barking orders to his men, telling them to take positions before he himself touched a rune on one of the stones. Immediately the ship started making whirring and scraping sounds. In a few moments, there were cannons raised on the star board side of the ship. Harsh ordered the captain to steer the ship to port so that the starboard side was facing the approaching cruise ship.

Harry was perplexed with all these preparations. He hesitatingly asked Harsh, "Mr. Harsh, why are we readying for battle? Isn't that an ordinary muggle cruise liner which is passing through this area?"

Harsh merely grunted, "That is not muggle ship, Mr. Potter. They are pirates and they have magic to assist them."

Harry asked again, "But it looks like any other muggle cruiser. Are you sure they are pirates? Did they not go extinct like years ago as we charted all the waters?"

Harsh looked at him with incredulity and asked him, "Mr. Potter, this ship is enchanted to stay off the radar and there are no means by which a muggle can see this ship much less approach it. Besides, we had sunk that ship 5 years ago in another naval battle with these pirates, Mr. Potter. Charting waters do not work for them who have the talent to go around unobserved."

"Who are these pirates?", asked Harry intrigued, "I would have thought that nothing can escape the mystics."

Harsh smiled warily, "Remind me of this question later, Mr. Potter. For your curiosity, these pirates are scum of the sea who were blessed with the generous gifts of mother magic and they chose to use those gifts for their nefarious purposes." Suddenly, the captain walked up to him, "Master, we are ready to be air borne. In 5 minutes, we can escape this menace by being air borne."

"No Dishant, we are not escaping just like that. Let's give them a taste of our wrath. They have been punished so many times and they keep coming for more. Sinking that wretched vessel does no good but for the fun of it, let's send it to the bottom of the sea again", he said winking at Harry who wanted to laugh at his humour but could not bring himself to do so, in this setting. In the last hour that he had been aboard the ship, he had seen such a level of reverence for the man from his sub-ordinates that he had understood that the mystic was not an ordinary man. It was this observation which made him decide to tread cautiously around the older man, lest he offend him.

As the cruise ship came into range, the first volley of spells left the Marichika and several of the pirates went down. The next second, the cannons began their thunder as they came to bear. Although there was a terrific noise and flash as each cannon fired, there was no smoke. They were firing spells, the likes of which Harry had never seen before. With unerring accuracy, each spell hit the pirate ship alternating between the water-line and the gun-deck, tearing huge holes in the hall. The final shot of the volley blew the rudder off.

With the pirate ship unable to navigate and already showing a visible list to its starboard, it seemed that the battle was already over. As Harry searched the water, he saw that there were pirates in small boats, which he could have sworn were not there a second ago. One of the men threw a grappling hook and hooked it on the rail of the ship. As soon as the hook took hold, the men began scrambling up the rope.

Harsh was barking out orders and the crew made haste to obey him. He turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter, make sure that not a single man can climb those ropes and on the deck. Kill them if you have to."

Harry rushed to the point where the first rope was. He cast a diffindo at the ropes but they did not budge. He racked his brains for any other spells that he could remember. He remembered a spell which he had heard some seventh years mention that was used to loose the hold on an object but he could not remember the wand movements.

He levelled his wand at the ropes and cast 'Relashio' firmly but nothing happened. Then a hand grasp the rail followed by the torso of the man which galvanized Harry into action. Harry stunned the man who fell back into the water knocking the man behind him off the rope as well. The two of them made one splash as they fell into the sea. Desperate, he thrust the wand forward and put his will into the spell and cast "Relashio!" again. To his joy, the rope untied itself from the ship and fell into the water. Relieved, he turned to the deck and found that two men had boarded the ship and were advancing on him. He immediately fired a reductor hex at the first man followed by a disarming hex at the second man who had just climbed the rails. The first man easily side stepped the reductor but he did not see a pink spell approaching which nicked his wand hand. In pain, the man fell on the deck and one of the mystics banished him back into the sea. The second man had lost his wand to the disarming hex and was in the process of pulling another wand from inside his robes when Harry petrified him but did not have the heart to banish him. Rather he turned to the other ropes and started dislodging them. A few who had just climbed engaged him in a duel and for 5 minutes Harry cast as many spells as he could, disarming one, stunning another, petrifying the next, banishing another to the mystics who were standing on the side with their wands out and looking at him with a scrutinising gaze. He shielded when he could, dodged when he could not and avoided being hit for about 5 minutes when a bone breaker grazed him in the ribs making him wince however he did not sustain any injury. Soon there were no more ropes and all that he had duelled were subdued by the other mystics.

A few of the pirates who had climbed already and did not engage Harry Potter were converging on the deck and readying themselves to attack in formation, when it happened. The sky thundered for a moment and the final flash of lightning revealed a single man who was facing the pirates onboard the ship. The man was dressed in the usual mystic garb but in place of his orbs, Harry thought he could see fire in those eyes. The man's face was obscured by a leather mask which was terrible to look upon. It was hard to describe for Harry but he was in awe. The man's magical aura was pitch black and shrouded around him like a cloak obscuring his features from everything. His body was glowing like he was on fire and his hair was falling in front of his face. He had his wand in his right hand which he moved like a baton and the next few seconds were a blur. As the intruders started to attack, the man rushed into them, using his wand as an extension of his arm. His motions were fluid and quick. In those moments, Harry could see pink, red, blue, orange and many coloured spells and when he was done, none of the foes were standing and most of them were not moving either. Some had their intestines hanging out of their stomach while some looked like they had been burnt. A few were bent at such crude angles that Harry did not have to guess that they had broken bones. The figure turned to Harry and he shivered, however, the figure did not approach him but rather waved a hand in front of his face. With the mask gone, Harry could see the face of Harsh Vardhana but without the usual jovial expression.

Harry had trouble connecting this ruthless man with the cheerful and helpful trainee healer who had helped him so much in the last few days. They seemed to be so different like opposite sides of a coin. One was kind, jovial and friendly like the favourite uncle while the other was a ruthless, merciless killer. One spoke of life and things which intrigued him like war, family, glory while the other had just shown him the ugly side of war. This scary side was what Harry had imagined but wished never to meet and yet here it was. This explained why the mystics revered the man. Harsh was extremely powerful and capable with a wand. This was a person that even Voldemort would not engage. After all he had never sought to engage Dumbledore in a direct confrontation in the first war.

Harsh turned to the captain, "Dishant, gather a few of our men and transfigure these pirates into fish and leave them in the sea. Their worthless lives will be useful to feed the hungry animals, at least."

Harry was shocked, "but you cannot do this. You cannot transfigure them into fish and leave them to die. That is not right."

He turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter, I thought I had told you that basically we are assassins. We kill those who offend mother Magic or whose atrocities are so much out of  
hand that there is no other way than to kill them. These men before you have been declared dead for years now and no magical government even knows if they are alive. We cannot take them to any country and hand over to magical law enforcement there because the mystics always work from the shadows. Ordinary wizards do not know us and those who have heard of us do not believe about our existence. There is nothing that we can do. Besides, how will we explain this heavily armed ship not to mention the people onboard who have not been heard of for years now?"

Harry could understand what Harsh was telling him. The first time he had met the mystic, he was told that they were basically assassins and even Moody had told him that the mystic had no hesitation about killing anyone but Harry could not simply kill anyone. He had not even had the heart to banish a petrified pirate into the sea when he knew that the pirate would be rescued by others. Coming up with no reply to the mystics questions, he only nodded.

Within 10 minutes, the pirates were fish in the sea and the Marichika was in the air, coursing through the sky at incredible speed. Harry Potter was standing on the bow, enjoying the cool air on his face and yearning to be on a broom again. Flying on the ship was an incredible experience but nothing could beat flying on a broom until he learned to fly. He was determined to pester the mystics to teach him to fly.

"Mr. Potter.", someone called him and he turned to see one of the mystics, "master has asked us to take you to the broom shed. He has instructed us that you are free to take up any broom from the shed if you wish to fly."

"This was strange", Harry thought. It was like the mystic could always tell what Harry was thinking. There had been instances when the mystic had done things he wanted but could not ask. Shelving that thought for later, he accompanied the mystic who was of average height for a wizard, stocky build, brown eyes and black hair. All the mystics that he had met, so far, seemed like ordinary wizards and had nothing obvious to set them apart.

He started taking brooms out of the shed and inspecting them, admiring their craftsmanship. He observed that each broom was different from the others. His first instinct had been to go for the firebolt but he already owned a firebolt and knew what it was like. This opportunity may be a once in a lifetime for him. He decided to test the other brooms. He found one which was rather large and a bit heavy. It had an oak handle which was much thicker, the twigs in the tail were far more than in any other broom and it bore the name, "Wind Lord".

"Interesting name for a broom", he mused.

When he asked the mystic about this broom, the mystic told him a very interesting tale. "This broom was a prototype version and was developed in the U.S.A. by a wizard who had no interest in selling it. This broom had more features on it than other brooms. The wizard was a contract killer who had killed a number of wizards when he ran afoul of the mystics. The mystics were in the U.S.A. dealing with a dark wizard who had escaped from Europe and was in hiding. The dark wizard had hired the contract killer as his security detail. The mystics had taken it upon themselves to kill the dark wizard who had killed numerous muggles with the darker spells. While the mystics had no problem with the spells, they could not stand by and do nothing when someone used them to kill. So, while they were hunting, they ran into the contract killer who was riding that broom at the time and engaged them in combat. After a long battle of 30 minutes, the contract killer was downed when the mystics used a flock of hawks to distract him then hit him in the skull with a bone breaker. The broom was retrieved and studied at length. It had a built-in disillusionment spell activated by tapping a rune. A rune was etched into the handle to control the twigs and consequently control the movement of the broom. A wand holder and the tip of the broom sharpened to act as a javelin though Harry could not understand why anyone would use a broom to impale someone. It was also apparently enchanted to fly as you wished and the charms were done so that the rider could not fall off the broom in any case.

Hearing about the qualities of the broom, some of which did not impress him much, he decided to test it. As soon as they reached the deck, he mounted the broom and kicked into the air. Within seconds he was airborne and looking down he realised that he was flying at a height he had never flown before. This was exhilarating. Looking back, he found that the mystic was tailing him on a firebolt. Deciding to test the speed, he willed it to go faster to its maximum speed. Soon the broom was whistling through the air at such a speed that he found it hard to breathe with the wind in his face. He slowed down and found that he had left the ship far behind, but; the mystic joined him again after a few moments. While flying he somersaulted in the air, did the famous barrel roll, sloth grip roll and just for fun, he did the Wronski feint while the mystic just kept flying beside him smiling but saying nothing. When the time came to return to the ship, the mystic shot his broom up and within moments, he was invisible to the eye. A few seconds later, Harry saw him rushing to the deck at such a speed that Harry was sure he was going to plow himself. Suddenly the mystic jumped from the broom while grabbing the handle in his hand and disapparated. With a pop, he appeared on his broom, flying beside Harry. Harry's heart leapt to his throat at the sight of the dive. The mystic was shouting in joy at the top of his lungs and as they were about 200 meters above the deck, he disappeared again. Harry was surprised to see him disappear like that but in a moment he realised that the mystic had appeared on the deck, grinning like a lunatic and beckoning Harry to come down.

Harry was impressed with the mystic's flying. He had not done any of the moves like Harry had been showing off with, but he did something which Harry had not thought possible. Harry had seen professional quidditch players in action and none of them could do what the mystic had done. But then Harry remembered that Quidditch stadiums had anti-apparition wards around them so to jump from a broom like that would be suicide.

As he landed, he was accompanied to the dinner hall where food was served. While it was no Hogwarts feast, the food was delicious. What he did notice was that many of the men did not even touch any of the meat but other things on the table. And there was no juice or any drink other than water. After he had his fill, he picked up the glass of water which seemed to vibrate in his hand. Blaming the sensation on his tiredness and thinking that he was imagining it, he took a large sip and felt like someone had just fed him an elixir. With each gulp of water, he could feel his magic singing and he was relaxed within minutes, all his tiredness gone.

But, the effect of the wonderful water did not last long. After dinner, he was about to drop from exhaustion. The mystic who had accompanied him on his flight earlier carried him to his cabin where he crashed on the bed and immediately went to sleep.

**Black Town House, London**

The children who had been to training returned in the evening looking a little worse for wear. They were tired and fell asleep as soon as they reached their rooms except Hermione Granger. She had sought the Marauders out and asked them for books that they may have for her to study.

She had cut her holidays short when Fawkes found her in her hotel room in Italy. She had been reading a book in her room which she had picked up from a store in the magical section of the city. While Hermione had gone there with her family to visit and enjoy her vacation, she had met a man at the airport who was dressed like a wizard does when he goes out in the muggle world. She asked him where the magical part of the city was and, after letting her parents know, took a magical taxi there. The bookstore there was huge and the number of books had her salivating. She bought a few books which she found interesting and had returned to her room when Fawkes appeared in a flash of flame, a letter in his talons. Opening the letter, she was surprised by the invitation that Dumbledore had sent to her. She immediately replied in a lengthy letter that she was ready to end her vacation and come back to train. The next day, she received a portkey which brought her to the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. She was baffled at this. No one could appear in Hogwarts by a portkey or apparate in the grounds. When she raised her question to the head master, he merely chuckled and told her it was part of head master privileges. While she wanted to know more, she could not exactly goad the head master into telling her.

As she sat in the head master's office, she could not contain her query. Finally she asked the headmaster, "Professor, what is this training program? Who else is going to participate? Where will we train? How can we use magic during summer?"

Dumbledore smiled at her inquisitiveness, "Miss Granger, this training program is for Harry's friends who are always around him. Mr. Potter has a knack for attracting trouble, a fact which you can attest to. So, a few of us in the order decided that you all need to be trained sufficiently so that you are able to hold your own in a duel. While you have a commendable repertoire of spells, merely knowledge of spells cannot win you a fight. In this training you will be trained to use those spells among other things. This training is being imparted so that young Harry does not have to worry about the safety of his comrades if he finds himself in a sticky situation. You, the Weasley children, Miss Bones and Mr. Longbottom have been scheduled to take part in this training. You will all be training in a location which is situated in a magical settlement so you will not have to worry about being reprimanded for underage magic. The ministry will not be able to track any magic you do while in training."

While she pondered over what she had been told with her brow furrowed, she noticed something Dumbledore did not mention, "Professor, you did not say if Harry was going to train with us."

Dumbledore smiled at her, "Mr. Potter has made other arrangements for training. He has agreed to take training under some very accomplished masters who will be teaching him things which are not available to ordinary wizards."

"But that is bias. Why is he being trained under different teachers than us. He does not even have the best grades,' she protested, 'I think this is discrimination. Is it because he is the boy-who-lived?"

Dumbledore frowned at her. He knew that Miss Granger was a very competitive individual but he had not thought that she would complain about something which she did not understand. It looked like she had the perception that everyone should have the same access to everything. A rather mundane muggle concept but it did not apply to magicals. He decided to curb her competitiveness a little before it got worse, "Miss Granger, the things that Harry will be learning are rather arcane arts which cannot be performed by everyone. While you have the best grades courtesy of your eidetic memory, you simply are not as powerful as him. The wizard power index which gauges a wizard or witches power has gauged you at 50 which means, you will be around 85 by the time your magical core is fully mature. while Harry Potter stood at 110 before the third task and as of now, he is pegged at 200 and by the time his core has completed its growth, he will easily clear 380 which is more than me or Voldemort. The Arcane arts he will be learning cannot be performed by any wizard or witch below 100 points. The only one in your class who is nearly as powerful as him is Neville Longbottom who will be around 250 by the time his core fully matures."

Hermione was astounded. She knew about the index but she had not known her power levels. Wizarding Britain was averaging around 75 for the last few generations and while 85 sounded pretty respectable, it looked like a trifle when compared to 380. And to think that Neville was that powerful was simply mind boggling. He had never shown any such power in the last 4 years. May be there was something that she had missed. She was miffed that she could not access the arts that Harry was being taught but she still had the gift of knowledge and Harry Potter depended on her to find a solution when there was a problem.

Dumbledore gave her the Fidelius Secret and had sent her to her home via the Phoenix Express. After packing her trunk, she was whisked away to the headquarters of the order where she was bunked with Ginny. Ginny was still feeling disenchanted with everything and was keeping herself to herself, so she wasn't much of a roommate. This morning Hermione Granger had realised how much she relied on Harry Potter in situations such as these where she required him to act. He was quick with a wand and swift in immediate responses.

As of now, she was sitting in front of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, "Sirius, do you have any books in this place?"

Sirius smirked mischievously, "The house of Black has quite an extensive library, Hermione. At last count, there were some 1,000 or more books in there."

Hermione immediately went into her customary rapid fire, "Where is it? Can I see it? What kinds of books are in there?"

Remus kindly said to her, "The library is situated on the 2nd floor but no one here save for Sirius, Tonks or her mother can enter."

She frowned, 'Why can't anyone enter the library?"

Sirius off-handedly said, "Because the entrance is warded by blood wards and only those possessing the blood of the House of Black may enter."

She immediately started ranting, "But blood magic is illegal. No one can use blood wards. And why is it that only members of the House of Black can enter the library?"

Now Sirius gave her his full attention, "Hermione, you are very bright and you learn things quickly, but; there is still so much of the wizarding world that you do not yet understand. Some wizarding families are very old. We have our own magic and many other special achievements which are considered our proprietary magic. These things are considered our private property and are not shared. The wards which protect them are older than the ministry, its laws and even Great Britain as a nation. Besides, there is a lot of stuff in there that is downright dangerous. I don't want anyone getting hurt or worse."

"But what about the muggle born and half bloods? I think it is barbaric and archaic to keep magic contained in families. It should be made illegal. It is all part of the pureblood tripe that you-know-who and his followers spew", she continued her rant.

Sirius just shook his head, "You know, when Moony told me that you are smart like Lily, I had thought you would think like her. While she always thought she was muggle born and was pretty vocal about their rights and better treatment, she understood the family magic and proprietary magic. She did not just slap a label on everything she didn't agree with as archaic or barbaric, but; she studied things before forming her opinion. While I do not take offense at your words, some well meaning pure bloods who do not support the pureblood ideology of Voldemort (she shuddered) like the Weasleys would be offended by your words."

Hermione had never been chastised by Sirius of all people but she could see his point. She had been spouting her opinion without even listening to other people. She never even thought that there might be another facet to something that she did not know about. In the last few weeks, twice she had been humbled and perhaps it was time to stand back and do some introspection.

"I can remove the blood wards," Sirius's voice cut in on her thoughts, "but the library is full of books on dark magic and magic that has not been seen for ages. There are books on the black family magic which cannot be read by anyone other than a Black and if anyone else even touched them, they would be cursed horribly. For your own safety, I must insist that you are supervised at all times while you are in that library and in fact you are not allowed in the inner parts where the most dangerous books are. However, there are several books which were recently bought by your former Professor which would be useful to all of you."

She instantly perked up knowing that Remus would not select books for them which were dark or dangerous.

Sirius called Winky, who appeared with a loud crack. Sirius told her that the students were to be permitted to use the library under the three conditions that they were not to touch any of the dangerous books, no book was to be taken from the library and that they were limited to no more than five hours per day. All three conditions were to be strictly enforced. He waved his wand and muttered something under his breath. Then, his instructions delivered, he asked Winky to take Hermione to the library.

She immediately followed Winky into the room, occupied a table and started working on her Summer homework.

**The Marichika**

Harry Potter woke up early in the morning to a loud noise and for a few moments he could not get his bearings and it took a minute before he realised that he was on the flying ship. Wiping sleep away from his eyes, he emerged on the deck, where he found the mystics engaged in exercise. What astonished him was that they all were engaged in muggle exercises. Some of them were running laps of the deck, a few were doing push-ups and some were lifting heavy weights which they evidently had conjured. A couple of them were flying on brooms and some of them were sitting in meditation as Harry had seen them do. What was different was that they were no longer flying. The ship was rising and falling with the gentle, slow rhythm of the ocean swells. Sometime during the night, they had landed the ship.

Harsh was in the crow's nest. When he saw Harry, he climbed down with a speed and grace almost supernatural and leaped the last twenty feet and landed softly on his feet. Grinning at Harry, he said, "Good Morning Mr. Potter. I hope you had a restful night."

"I had a restful night, thank you", he replied, "But I have a lot of questions."

Harsh laughed, "I know. I have been procrastinating answers from you like your head master however it was not my intent. We were in haste these last few days. Now I can start answering these questions but I beg you to be discrete and do not ask questions which are rather personal."

After a hearty breakfast, they were sitting in Harsh's suite.

Harry began, "Who are the mystics? I have heard hints and whispers of you and things you have done. Other people seem to hold you in awe. But, who are you really? My curiosity is piqued."

Harsh pondered the answer for a moment before he began, "when Great Britain was still Avalon and the world knew of magic, there was a time when some wizards started using magic for nefarious purposes. These wizards were very powerful and adept in ways of magic. They by their deeds dishonoured Mother Magic and kept doing so. Anyone who wanted to stand up to them was killed. In those times, the ancient lands of magic India, Greece and Egypt were prominent and to deal with this menace, some Indian warlords who were very powerful due to being descended from very ancient families formed an order which had access to all ancient magics. The chief work of this order was to eliminate those who defile magic; they also worked in keeping a balance in the society. Evil has always been in the society, sometime at the fringes, sometimes in its full glory. Therefore, to combat evil and to serve mother magic, a group of Wizards of Aryavarta formed an order. Since then we have been fighting evil. Sometimes we are able to nip it in the bud, sometimes we fight full-fledged wars."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. He could understand how old the order was and the noble purpose for which it was formed. "My second question is how old are you? That is, if it is not too personal a question", he asked the mystic.

Harsh was silent for a few moments before he replied, "it has been so long that I answered this question that I cannot even remember however I was old when your house was formed. Avalon was populated by wizards and powerful families which precede all the houses. There were three houses which are considered Reverent houses meaning any descendant of those Houses is more important than others and they get 5 votes on the Wizengamot instead of the traditional 2. Those were the house of Pendragon from which came King Arthur sometime later, the house of Le Fay which produced the nefarious witch Morgana and the House of Peverell which produced the three brothers- Cadmus, Antioch and Ignotus. The House of Pendragon went extinct some generations before Arthur was born. It was due to his ancestry that the wizarding world bowed to him as its King. The house of Le Fay was broken in three houses of which only house Greengrass remains."

"The three brothers?", harry asked, "Which three brothers? I have not heard about them."

Harsh smiled at him, "Three brothers in the story written by Beedle the Bard. The three brothers named Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus who became the last lords of the House of Peverell before it was merged with Potters. Antioch was lord of the House of Peverell's before he was killed by an enemy of his and he was succeeded by his brother Cadmus who killed himself in grief over his lost love and lastly there was Ignotus who coincidentally happens to be the last war mage of Avalon. Their glorious tale has been reduced to a children's story We, the mystics have been visiting Avalon since the time that the council of Lords which was founded by Merlin ruled upon magical Britain as representative of the crown. I personally met Myyrdin when he was assisting Arthur in reclaiming his throne."

Harry was shocked. The mystic did not look like he was older than Sirius and to hear him tell of Merlin as if he knew him personally was astounding. He could not close his mouth before words tumbled out, "But you do not look like you could be more than 40."

Harsh did not say anything but shot a stinging hex at him and Harry yelped in surprise. What Harry didn't notice right away, was that the mystic had not used a wand to cast the spell. While Harry was gathering his wits about him, the mystic shot a barrage of stinging hexes at him, making him whip out his wand and hastily produce a shield. Harry was always proud of his power and the shield he had produced could take a good pounding before it gave way. He had practiced his shield with Hermione and Ronald where they had shot everything that they knew at him and his shield had always lasted at least 15 minutes. He was confident that his shield would hold up longer against the lone efforts of Harsh's attack. He quickly realised he was in for a surprise when after about a dozen stinging hexes, his shield shattered. He erected another and it gave away after another few shots.

A good half an hour and around 60 welts later, Harry Potter was tired from all the magic he had spent erecting shields when he finally gave up and slumped down on the deck panting.

Harsh immediately levitated him upside down and barked, "Constant Vigilance, Mr. Potter. I cannot believe that you can give up defending yourself so easily. Has the recent events did not teach you yet to remain alert to your surroundings? You thought I was playing with you? This was your first lesson, Mr. Potter. Never ever turn your back on an enemy who is still standing or he will hex you in the back."

Harry was sufficiently chastised. He had started to enjoy the trip and was thinking that he would be able to relax and enjoy his time aboard the ship. He had relaxed his vigilance and now he was paying the price.

Harsh released the Levicorpus and Harry crumpled to the deck. Before he could collect his wits, Harsh zapped him with another stinging hex and, sufficiently motivated, he quickly conjured a new shield and climbed back to his feet. Harry's reserves were gone and he felt his strength waning, but; he was going to pass-out cold before he let Harsh zap him again.

Now that Harsh could see that Harry was taking this seriously and knowing that Harry was on the point of exhaustion, he lowered his wand and gently told him, "At ease, Mr. Potter. This lesson is over."

Harry lowered his wand, wavering where he stood as he relaxed and looking down, he murmured, "I am sorry Mr. Harsh Vardhana. I will try to keep sharp from now on."

Harsh looked into his eyes and Harry shivered. Harsh's black eyes were intense and there was a strange kind of power in them. Harry had looked at Voldemort eye to eye and he had never felt that kind of power but this was different. He sensed that those eyes were looking into his soul.

"Mr. Potter," Harsh was saying, "I have known you for a month now and yet we are the stage of using this prefix of Mr. for each other. For the summer, I am going to be your teacher and in India, we have different culture than England. While I have no aversion to any place or culture, for me and my mystics, teacher is on a pedestal higher than god. We address our teachers as 'Guru' meaning teacher however if you do not like, you can call me sir and likewise I will call you Harry."

Harry thought it over for a moment. Until he learned of his heritage, he had been Harry to others and likewise he called them by name. As for his teachers, they had more of a professional relationship with the students and what Harsh was explaining felt like a familial bond to him. An Apprentice, if you will. He had been noting that the purebloods even the light ones like Longbottoms and Weasleys practiced certain manners which he once would have called snobbish but perhaps there was some reason behind these customs and manners. He knew that while not everything was good there were some things which needed to be kept. In his quest to defeat Voldemort, he would have to ensure that the wizarding world did not change its identity altogether. While some practices decidedly could not be retained, some were worth saving. As to Harsh's offer, he had made up his mind already.

He turned to Harsh, "I would be honoured to address you as Guru. I would like to learn your ways and customs and add them to my own. I recall having read recently that in the older days, newly graduated wizards used to go touring the world so that they could experience the customs and ways of other people first-hand as well as learn other magic. I have the opportunity to visit your land, one which has an ancient and rich history, culture and magic. I would like to make the very best of it."

Harsh smiled at him producing an enchanted piece of string, "Harry, whenever we take a new student, we tie this thread to their wrists. This is enchanted to inform me if you are in trouble ever and this is a sign of a bond between a teacher and his student. Another hidden purpose of it is to remind you that you have been taught by a teacher and that if the time ever came, that teacher can call upon you to serve him. If he ever has to call on you, then the teacher unties the thread meaning you are free of the debt. May be I will never have to call a favour on you and I will untie it the day you will come back. So, do you accept?"

Harry readily accepted and Harsh tied the red and yellow thread on his wrist chanting something. As he finished tying the thread, the thread glowed golden before it returned to its original color.

Harry was looking at it in surprise while Harsh was looking curiously at him, "This happens when mother magic approves of something that is done. If she had not wished so, the golden glow would never have come. Now this thread cannot be untied by me before I make you ready for the task that is your stepping stone to a greater destiny."

Harry nodded his head and wondered at how every single one of his steps had a deeper meaning. He had never stopped to consider the consequences of his actions before but now that he did, he was beginning to realize that his every action and choice had consequences.

Harry turned to Harsh, "Guru, what...".

Harsh cut-in quickly, "Guruji, Harry. That is the correct title. I would not insist upon it but others may think little of you or may think that you are a little boy trying to  
show-off."

Harry nodded. "Umm Guruji, what is the story of the men who met us when we went to St. Mungo's?", he asked the mystic.

Harsh smiled, "I was wondering when you were going to ask me about that. The men who met me are parts of the Chayya (shadow) whose work is to carry out covert tasks. They are kind of our intelligence gathering units who work in shadows to gather intelligence or information. From the time you left Hogwarts at the end of Summer Holidays, we have had a shadow present around you all the time. He has been present there in your room at the Black Townhouse where he popped at time to keep vigil over you. When we had to visit St. Mungo's, he was present in your kitchen and after listening to Dumbledore, he silently left and went to scout around St. Mungo's and found two of the death eaters lurking in corners, avoiding eyes of ordinary wizards when our shadows cornered them and took them captive. Since then they have been in care of the shadows."

He clapped his hands and the men Harry had met the other day, appeared before them. Bowing low, he bent touching Harsh's feet, "Guruji, you called?"

Harsh asked him, "Nayak Himvat, have our guests told you anything of consequence?"

Himvat grinned maliciously, "At first they were reluctant and even had the guts to threaten us with the name of that abomination on Mother Magic. But when Meru Dand used them as whet-stones for sharpening knives, they sung like the koyal in the morning."

Harsh smirked at his nayak's expression, "I trust you have not killed them because I was looking forward to have some enlightening conversation with them."

Himvat grinned, "They have been free boarders of the prison since the last few days and their trash talk has been grating on my poor ears. The sooner you have enlightenment from them, sooner my ears will relax."

Harsh stood, "Very well. Tell Sumerdhwaj to get the ship airborne. I will have my enlightenment and then we will have to pace up our journey. I do want to go all the way like a muggle cruise. I wish to see the Indian coastline by morning tomorrow."

Harry accompanied Harsh to the lowest deck where there had been nothing but empty space. Tugging at a spot in the air, he grasped it and whispered something and a door appeared followed by a prison. There were two men in the room hanging upside-down in chains. Harry thought that they could have apparated but soon realised that perhaps the chain was enchanted to prevent apparition.

Harsh lowered the two men to the ground. "Hello my esteemed guests. I am very sorry that I could not already come and welcome you to our ship but I had been busy. We will remedy the situation now. So, why don't we take off your masks before we talk", he winked at Harry, "that will make our conversation easier since I would be able to understand you better."

One of the death eaters snarled, "You cannot take it off, fool. This is a gift of our great master and only he or I can take it off."

Harsh had not lost his calm demeanour and spoke in his jovial tone, "Then either your master is too vain or you are a fool to think he is infallible." Harsh gestured and immediately their masks started to smoke. Harsh lowered his tone and menaced at the prisoners, "The abomination you call master thinks that he is the most powerful wizard."

The men were pulling at their masks, trying to get them away from their faces as the masks smoked more and began to burn.

Harsh continued, "But, he is a great fool. I can easily remove those masks, and your faces with them if I so choose."

Now the death eaters were howling in pain as their masks burst into flame. They became frantic as they tried to get the flaming things off their faces. With another gesture from Harsh, the masks vanished with the flames, revealing the two faces. Harry recognized them immediately. They were Crabbe Sr. and John Caldwell, two of the death eaters who were present in the graveyard the night when Voldemort returned.

Harsh smiled at the men, "Now that I have seen your charming faces, maybe you should start talking about what that abomination that you call master, is doing. And remember gentlemen, you lie for once and I will make you regret it forever."

Crabbe Sr. who apparently was a larger and smarter version of his son, started to speak, "the dark lord is recruiting more people to his cause. We were sent to scout the hospital and discover any weaknesses in its defences. Last time, he was not able to take St. Mungo's which had become a sanctuary for the injured. He wanted us to study the wards and find out how much time it would take to break them if the need arose. We were also told to make note of the prominent healers who could be abducted and used for his bidding. We had just started that day and were caught."

Harsh nodded at his words and tilting his head to the side turned to Caldwell, "What he has been doing and how many have pledged their loyalty to him yet?"

Caldwell refused to open his mouth. Harsh simply fast-drew his wand and shot a bone breaker at the man's chest. It struck him with such a force that Harry could hear his bones breaking and the man cried out loud. Seeing his friend in such a desperate position, Crabbe immediately started again, "the dark lord has been busy recruiting. He is also trying to pick up a glass orb in the department of mysteries. Something is in there and will give him an edge in the upcoming war but we have been unable to pick it up yet. One of his followers, Marcus Flint tried to pick up that orb from the shelf and since then has been in St. Mungo's. Last I heard, he had appointed some of his inner circle men to pick up the said object without any harm coming to us. He has also sent envoys to the giants to bring them in on our side."

Harry shuddered thinking of giants coming in to aid Voldemort. He had known two half giants in his life and had seen the amount of ridicule that they had to face for their heritage. He could not even think of what would happen if there were some giants in the war. He remembered Dumbledore had sent Hagrid on some mission during the summer vacation and guessed that perhaps Hagrid was going to the giants with Madame Maxime, headmistress of Beauxbatons.

Harsh who had been silent all this while, turned to the death eaters, "You gentlemen have told me all you know and it is time that you leave our ship. I detest free loaders."

He clapped his hands again and two mystics appeared, "Yes Master."

He turned to the mystics, "we are flying through the zone where there is abundance of predator birds. Last I remember they were fond of partridges. These two fine gentlemen here have offered to feed those birds. Take them to the bow."

The guards hauled the death eaters out of the cell and took them to the bow with Harry and Harsh following closely. As they reached the bow, Harsh drew his wand and with a quick gesture, the two death eaters were replaced by partridges. "Mr. Potter, would you like to do the honour of feeding the predators?"

Harry could not bring himself to do it. It was true that the two death eaters had killed many people, but; Harry was not a killer. He had caused the death of Quirrell, but; that was a life and death struggle, with a walking corpse possessed by Voldemort and it was more like an exorcism than a killing. There was the shade of Tom Riddle in the chamber of secrets, in that case, he had not attacked the human looking thing directly, but; destroyed the diary with the very same basilisk fang which had pierced his own arm. This was different. This was an execution, cold, calculated and deliberate. Even though his parents and grandparents had done their best to convince him of the need to kill, he still could not bring himself to do it, not this way. He shook his head to the mystic telling him that he was not ready to take a life.

Harsh merely shrugged and tossed the partridges into the air. Harry watched in horrified fascination as the two of them dived desperately toward the ground, hopeful of finding some cover there. But, to no avail. A griffon swooped down out of the sun with blinding speed, then all that remained of the partridges was a few drifting feathers.

Harry felt like throwing up but Harsh shot a spell at him and his queasiness was gone in the next moment. Feeling the need to get his thoughts in order, he retired to his room where he remained until he was summoned by Harsh.

**Longbottom Castle**

Neville arrived at the castle early in the morning and was surprised to see his parents sitting at the window of their room in the chairs that had been conjured by the healer. These chairs had been prescribed by the healer for them till they were in the prime of their health again. Augusta was happy to buy two of them. These chairs served the same function as muggle wheelchairs with the difference being that they could be moved with intent. The user only needed to think of a specific function and the chair would do it.

Frank and Alice were looking out at the ring of trees in the distance and talking in low voices. Neville did not want to listen to their private conversation, but; mention of Harry Potter made him falter.

"Frank," Alice was saying, "I want to bring Harry to live with us as soon as we are fit enough to care for him. He looked so lonely and small. I remember James at his age was well built and quite the charming young man. Either Sirius Black has failed in his duties or he is not around or he would not have let any harm come to Harry. In any case, when we get shot off that bothersome healer, I am going to discover the truth and if I find that the mutt is still around and failed in his duties, then I swear by Merlin that I will neuter that mutt."

Neville snorted hearing his mother cussing and they turned to him. Frank was smirking at him while he mock frowned at him, "How long exactly have you been eavesdropping on our private conversation, young man. Has no one ever taught you that is not proper."

Neville put on an air of offended innocence, "I am sorry, Father. I could see that the two of you were talking and I was about to leave when I heard Mother mention Harry Potter. I just could not resist staying to hear what she would say about him. Imagine how my innocent, young ears burned to hear her cuss so."

Alice, joining in with the spirit of the thing, adopted an air of utmost contrition, "My dear boy, I shall have to wash my mouth out with soap.". Then, more seriously, "Young man, if I ever catch you listening in on our private conversation again, I shall have words with you when I get out of this infernal Chair."

Neville did his best to feign mortification and abject horror at being thus threatened. Frank, no longer able to contain himself, burst out laughing. Alice and Neville tried to maintain their charade, but; one look directly at Frank and they were undone. They laughed until they were clutching their stomaches and tears flowed from their eyes.

Frank sobered up after a while, "Now Neville, these past few days that we have been back in the world of the living, you have only asked of our past and told nothing of the present or how things are going in the world yonder. We are strapped here in these infernal chairs away from the world. It makes me wonder if we are any better off now than we were when we were trapped in our own mindscapes."

Alice glared at Frank, "Speak for yourself Frank. I for one am very happy to be here joking with the two of you and being able to embrace my son and my husband once more. We are on the mend and will be strong again soon enough. My mindscape, without the two of you, was a very lonely place indeed."

"Mindscapes? You have both mentioned mindscapes. What are they?", Neville asked curiously.

Alice's face fell then she started out, "Do you mean to say that you haven't started... That your grandmother didn't teach... Oh! Neville… I am so sorry." Then she collected herself and started to explain, "A mindscape is a construct of magic and your mind. It serves some vital functions. First and formost, it is a defence against Legilimency, preventing unwanted intrusions into your thoughts, feelings and memories. As such, it is part of the art of Occlumency . Second, it is a valuable tool to help you to organize and retrieve important information, things like core memories, facts and your spells. Third, and this is what saved your father's life and mine, it can also be used as a place of retreat to protect your mind and soul when you are subjected to torture or unbearable pain from injury."

There was one thought there which Neville latched on to with enthusiasm, "Do you mean that if I had a proper mindscape, that I would be able to store and retrieve important information with ease? Mom! I have struggled with a terrible memory and this would be a huge help! Why do they not teach this at Hogwarts?"

Frank, who had been content to listen to his wife teach, took the lead now, "My son, there are some things of which we never speak outside of pure-blood families. This is one of them. Had I not been in a coma, I would have begun your training around the age of eight. As it was, this would have fallen upon your grandmother. I am so sorry that you have struggled. I will begin your training as soon as I am strong enough."

Neville had a lot to think about, but before one more moment passed, he needed to let his parents know that Gran had done her best, "Mother, father, Gran did try to teach me. I had no idea of what it was or how it would help me and ... well, I didn't try very hard."

Frank softened a bit. This is his son and he fully accepted responsibility for his failure. Then he remembered that it was his father who had instructed him. Perhaps his mother was not much of a teacher. He began, "It's alright Neville. I will teach you as my father taught me. I hope that now that you understand how important this art is, that I will find nothing lacking in your efforts to learn it. In the meantime, please ask healer Lynn to instruct you in meditation. You will need to know how before we can begin."

Neville brightened at this, "Yes sir! I will be ready when you are."

"Just one more thing, Neville. Please don't choose a forest mindscape. You'll have a devil of a time finding anything in one of those."

Neville instantly perked up, "Forest mindscape? That would be amazing!"

Frank turned to Alice to see a broad smile across her face. "He is my son, Frank", she said with visible pride.

Frank sighed, "Yes Neville. This charming lady here, who I have the honor to call my wife, has a forest mindscape and she had a lot of animals in the forest. I once tried to enter and was baffled at the first step when I ran into an Acromantula. As I ran away from the beast, I was goaded by a Unicorn. Running from them, I fell into a river and then I decided to make my exit before any harm came to me."

Neville turned to his mother who was looking a little sad, The last 14 years have not been kind to my beloved mindescape. By the time Harsh found me, the trees were all uprooted and burned and all the creatures were dead with the exception of one Romanian Longhorn who was my protector. It is the only defense I have right now."

Frank shuddered to hear what had happened to her mindscape and seeing the effect it had on Neville, he spoke to distract him, "Neville, I know that you are under orders from the healer not to say anything, but; answer a few of my questions anyway."

Neville knew he should not tell him anything, but; he could not refuse a direct request from his father. He merely nodded, "I will answer those questions which will not open a whole can of flobberworms."

Frank grinned, "Excellent. Now tell us if Dumbledore is still around? Are Sirius, Remus and Peter alive? What happened to Voldemort? What happened to the war?"

Neville could not answer those questions without other questions being asked, "Father, it pains me to refuse you, but; the questions you have asked would lead to more questions which I am not at liberty to discuss with you at this time."

Frank did not chastise Neville but grumbled about telling off the healer.

So it was that Healer Lynn found them in the chairs and when she tried to use a diagnostic spell, Frank stopped her saying that he would not allow her to cast any spell unless she permitted Neville to answer his questions.

Consequently, half an hour later, Augusta Longbottom arrived at the castle. After a quick diagnostic, Augusta agreed to allow some questions to be answered while Healer Lynn monitored their condition. If they became over-excited or showed signs of stress, she would call a halt to it and no more questions would be answered for another week. Although Frank wasn't too happy about it, he agreed to his mother's terms.

As Neville was asked the questions, it fell upon him to answer them, "Albus Dumbledore is still alive and in good health in the position of head master at Hogwarts. Sirius Black and Professor Lupin are also alive. Peter Pettigrew is in the custody of the DMLE head, Madam Bones who is going to try him for betraying the Potters. You-know-who was vanquished at Godrick's Hollow the night of October 31 1981 after killing Lilly and James Potter but failing to kill Harry. If anyone knows how that happened, they have not told me. In my first year at Hogwarts, he turned up again, possessing Professor Quirrell, the DADA teacher that year and Harry defeated him again. And again, if anyone knows how, they are not talking to me about it. Finally, I'm not clear on the details, but; Albus Dumbledore announced that he got his body back last June and he is active again. All the death eaters who claimed to be under the Imperius curse and bribed their way out of sentences in Azkaban when he fell, are working for him again. They are doing so quietly for now. Cornelius Fudge, the minister for magic, is being difficult. He is trying to silence or discredit everyone who believes that You-Know-Who is back and some are saying that he is being bribed.".

"Fudge!", Frank exclaimed, "they gave the position to Fudge? Did the wizarding world lose its mind? Fudge was a pacifist. Absolutely the wrong man for the job with a war brewing. He barely managed his department as it was. What happened to old cousin Barty? He was tough as nails and it was assumed that he was a shoe-in as the next minister."

Neville looked to his grand-mother before answering this time. He already felt that he may have said too much.

Augusta cast a meaningful glance at the healer who shook her head in response. She sternly glared at her son, "That will be quite enough for now, Frankie. We have agreed that you will have to wait for the rest of the answers. I promise next week, when you are stronger, you will be given more answers."

Frank did not say anything but pouted making everyone laugh.

**Black Town House**

Sirius was tired from the exertions of the day. Today there had been no training for the members of Harry's circle so he had taken Moony with him to the cottage on the hill where Moony had put him through his paces.

First the werewolf had made him run laps around the property for an hour. Then they duelled, keeping it to nothing stronger than stinging hexes. Sirius started off by dodging when he could and shielding when he had to, but; he was rusty and some of them got through. He managed to get a few stingers off himself, but that wasn't the point of the exercise. Now he was weary and sore from the run as well as smarting from the hexes that got through. But there was also the feeling of euphoria from a really good work-out after far too long a time. In spite of his aches and pains, he felt better than he had for a long time. He thought that even though he wasn't a teenager anymore, a couple of days rest and he would be back at it, stronger than before.

After Moony finished using him for a training dummy, the werewolf had him practice disarming while he kept disapparating all over the property, sometimes appearing behind Sirius and stunning him before disappearing again. Sirius had to work harder and concentrate harder because he wasn't using his old wand.

Amelia had told him that his wand was placed in ministry storage after he was arrested and last time she checked, the wand was under the best protection that the ministry could offer. The wand he was using belonged to the last Lord Black, Arcturus Orion Black. A lesser known secret about Arcturus Orion Black was that he was a master wand maker but he only ever crafted five wands in his entire life and he sold all of them to a wand maker who was on the payroll of the family of Black. Perhaps, he could convince Dumbledore to let him visit Mazarin.

As he stepped into the kitchen, he found himself being hoisted to the ceiling by one ankle by means of a muggle snare. A few moments later, the twins entered the kitchen, saw him, howled with laughter and then disillusioned him and left. Sirius smirked. He could rely on the twins to make things fun when it got monotonous. He quickly called Kreacher and the elf freed him in a matter of seconds. Then he gave some instructions to the elf and went to find Moony. He did not want to be in the house when his pranks became apparent and everyone started looking for the culprit behind the mayhem. He silently prayed that the witches in the house would never figure out that it was him.

He found Moony in the library and quickly explained why it would be a good time to make themselves scarce right now. Moony did not have to be told twice. The two of them left on the motorcycle the same minute. It was for just such occasions that the cottage on the hill was well stocked with provisions.

He thought that while he was hiding from the rest of the Order, he could send a letter to the wand maker and arrange a meeting. To do so would require some pretty creative planning. Good thing that he had brought the brains of the Marauders with him.

**REVIEWS PLEASE**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N- **I am positively elated with the response that this story is generating. I love you guys for loving this fic.

Thanks to anarion87, Marilyn, Ronin and ObsessedwithHPFanFIc for your insights. I again want to make this clear that Harry will not get anything easy but he will be kicked, inspired and coerced into learning new things. If you do not like the way I am preceding, please let me know. I appreciate that people are taking so much time of their schedule for my fic.

I will be using words from Hindi very often now and put their meaning in bracket beside them. Please bear with me for it.

This chapter has been updated to bring some clarity in the provisions and to make it more interesting reading. Thank you Hypergym.

**Disclaimer- **Last I checked, he still belonged to JKR and she was not in a mood to lease him to me. I am only having fun on the ground.

* * *

**The Marichika**

When evening came and Harsh realized that Harry was not coming out of his cabin, Harsh summoned him. Harsh gestured for Harry to join him at the table where Harsh was reading a book. Harry looked at the book as he took his seat and noticed that the book was in a language he had not seen before. It made him wonder where the book was from and what it was about. 

Harsh looked in Harry's eyes and asked him, "Harry, why do you think you cannot kill anyone? Or do you think that killing someone will make you evil? I know that you have not killed anyone ever but look upon everything that has happened to Wizarding Britain in the last war and tell me if things would not have been better if the defenders of light had used lethal spells and killed death eaters when Tom Marvolo Riddle had raised his poisonous hood. If the Aurors had killed some of that death eater scum perhaps others would not have joined him and things may have been very different. Can you imagine how many families were destroyed in the war? So many children were orphaned, so many houses wiped out of existence and so many had to live in such deplorable conditions devoid of love or compassion from anyone. This all could have been avoided if one person had stepped up and did what should have been done anyhow. We were watching but we could not act, because we have never fought open wars but when it all did not cease even for ten years, we decided that we would raise our army and kill the scum who defiled mother magic, however, before we could take any action, you had vanquished him." 

Harry thought over the mystic's words and at some level, he knew the words made sense. If the Aurors had been given authority to use lethal force early on in the war, things might have been quite different for him and many of his class-mates for that matter. Maybe many of the people in the photo that Neville had shown him would still be alive. Who could say how many others may have been saved.

Some of the deaths were unnecessary and cruel. So many talented people had to die to keep the society from falling apart and they all had died to ensure the safety of their loved ones. So many children were orphaned. He, Susan, Fay Dunbar they all had lost their parents or at least one of them to the war, Neville had spent his childhood devoid of parental love in the shadow of the fame of his father and the stern upbringing of Dowager Lady Longbottom. He remembered that his parents had told him that he would need to kill to keep himself safe but he just could not bring himself to use any of the unforgiveable curses.

He turned to Harsh, "Guruji, I understand what you are saying. I even agree with you. Having to defend myself or someone else for that matter, in a life and death struggle is one thing. I feel that I could accept the responsibility for the death of another living human being, or intelligent magical creature for that matter, at my hands under such circumstances. However, I do not believe that I could ever be an executioner. I will not kill a person who is completely at my mercy".

Harsh sighed. "Harry, you know when I killed for the first time, I could not get over my guilt for three days. My guru then taught me a lesson, War is not about those who are gone but it is about those who are left", Harsh said gravely to him, "we often do not kill for ourselves but to keep others safe. When the time comes, you have to decide."

"But I can't even use the unforgiveable curses", Harry said "I mean I tried to use one on Wormtail in the graveyard and I just could not."

Harsh smiled at him brightly, "That is indeed very good. It means that your heart is not full of hate but love. You know of the Patronus, Harry? You know what fuels it?"

Harry thought for a moment before he started saying, "Remus told me that our emotions fuel it. I use my happiest feelings for a Patronus."

Harsh smiled and said to him, "Remus was right but it's mostly over love for others that fuels it. Love is a feeling which is so strong that it can make us do impossible things. It was love for you that made Lily Potter use such ancient magic which is basically non-existent in Wizarding Britain."

Harry looked at him sharply, "What do you mean?"

Harsh said to him, "Tell me Harry, what do you hear when you go near a dementor?"

Harry baulked at telling him. It was not like he was ashamed of it but it was deeply personal. Sharing that experience with Harsh felt like a terrible breach of intimacy. Then he thought that perhaps the mystic could tell him something that would help him understand what had happened on that Halloween night over 14 years ago.

"When a dementor comes near me, I can hear my mother begging Voldemort to spare me but to kill her in my place. He tried to get her to stand aside and spare her life. He said that she did need to die. However when she did not relent then he killed her. There was that green flash that seemed to fill the world, the rushing sound as she screamed and she fell. With her out of the way, he cast the killing curse at me. There was the green flash again and then nothing", he finished in a flat tone.

Harsh could see that Harry was struggling for self-control. He gave Harry a minute before telling Harry what he thought it all meant. Harsh said thoughtfully, "It is as I had thought. She did find the ancient blood sacrifice ritual."

Harry curiously asked him, "Blood sacrifice ritual? Is that what it sounds like?"

Harsh straightened in his chair, "You see Mr. Potter, after you vanquished Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore took you out of the place, I led a team of mystics to find what had happened in the cottage. What Tom Marvolo Riddle had not found was that there were runes on a wardstone in your room and the stone was seeped with blood and magic and as soon as we found the stone we whisked it because we knew your ministry could not find anything out of it. We ran some tests on the stone and we found that it had traces of an arcane blood magic ritual which has not been seen in the wizarding world for centuries. Your mother performed a ritual in which she offered her life to mother magic as sacrifice for your protection. This ritual requires the caster to step in front of death meant for another to sacrifice their life. As the sacrifice happens, the person sought to be protected gets a protection which cannot be penetrated by anyone. Think about it, Harry. You are not the first person whose mother stepped in front of death of their child but it did not protect them. Your mother's love fuelled her resolve to give up her life to save yours. It was love that drove James Potter to stand wandless against Voldemort and give time to Lily to perform the ritual which saved your life. Your parents gave their lives to save you and if you stick to your righteousness and die, their sacrifice will be in vain and the people you care about will die anyway."

Harry was feeling a myriad of emotions surprise, elation, sorrow and intrigue. Nobody had ever told him about this. The most that he had known ironically was from Voldemort who told his followers that it was an ancient magic which he had underestimated while Dumbledore had told him in his first year that Lily had used her love for him to give him some protection. Voldemort perhaps knew of the ritual but did not elaborate because he did not want to appear weak. Perhaps Dumbledore did not tell him because he valued his secrets and the boy-who-lived was one of the greatest mysteries of our time

He had always felt that it was his parents who gave everything to keep him safe while the world credited him for doing something miraculous when he was only 15 months old and could not even hold a wand. His parents had died to keep him alive and he wanted to honour their sacrifice by staying alive. If it came down to kill or be killed, Harry would do what he had to. Unfortunately, that meant that he would have to kill Voldemort. Thanks to that wretched prophecy, Tom Riddle was convinced that he had to kill Harry to live and Harry was not going to let that happen.

"Harry", Harsh's voice called Harry back from his musings, "even if now you are not in favour of killing anyone, perhaps I can tell you a story which will sway your thoughts."

Harry nodded eager to listen to any story which the mystic had to tell.

Harsh closed his eyes, his forehead wrinkled as if in thought, "In the ancient times, there was a time when evil was running rampant and there were many kings who were monsters in human's body. There was a kingdom in Aryavarta known as Hastinapur where king Pandu ruled. Due to some reason he had to abdicate the throne and he went to live in forests where he sired 5 sons who are said to be divine born. In his stead, his blind brother Dhritrashtra was made king and he sired 100 sons. King Pandu died in the forests and the children came back to the royal palace with their mother Kunti. They were looked after and loved by Bhisma, elder brother of their grandfather. Needless to say that the sons of Dhritrashtra clashed constantly with sons of Pandu and did not let go a moment to torment the sons of Pandu and at one time tried to kill one of the Pandu sons but he was saved. They all took weapon training from Dronacharya who regarded one of sons of Pandu as his favourite student. The sons of Pandu had a cousin, Krishna who was a god. After a lot of suffering and betrayals that the sons of Pandu faced at the hands of sons of Dhritrashtra, they still avoided any war between themselves. Years later, after a lot of hardships which they faced in which they were embarrassed, insulted and whatnot and Krishna convinced them that war was inevitable for peace. So, the stage for war was set and both sides started amassing their army. The sons of Dhritrashtra had larger army and many venerable warriors among them however the favourite student of Dronacharya, Arjun was vaunted as the greatest warrior and the god himself was driving his chariot in the war.

"On the day the war was to start, Arjuna asked him to take the chariot between both the armies so he could see his foes. Needless to say, Arjuna found himself unable to kill anyone because most of them were his family, friends or teachers.

"The god, Krishna delivered a sermon to him that the muggles call Bhagwat Geeta and we refer to it as 'Song of the lord'. In it, he told Arjun that death is just another stop before the soul is reborn and nothing ever happens without his will, so, any death that happens at the hands of a warrior lies on him. Since everything came from him and goes back to him, we are blameless."

Harry was fascinated by the tale, but it did not change how he felt about killing. He would not kill unless he absolutely had to.

Harsh saw the resolve in his eyes and sighed. He had done what he could and now it was upon the teen to take the moral and embrace it. If he did not bring his mind around the fact that killing was necessary then perhaps he will be jolted when someone close to him lost their life.

"Now Harry, I have been told that you are good at defense", Harsh grinned at him mischievously, "we should start your training with the basics."

They proceeded to the deck where Harsh called four of his mystics, "Harry, they will test your basics. We need to see where you stand before we proceed with a plan for you."

Suddenly Harsh vanished and the four whipped their wands out shooting hexes at him. Harry immediately dived to the ground to save himself. In the next moment, he was up with his wand in hand. He barely had time to cast a stunner before they flanked him and were shooting at him from all directions. Unable to dodge spells coming from all directions at once, he cast a shield to deflect the onslaught of spells, but; it didn't last long. He cast another shield and it lasted long enough for him to notice that they were all firing at once, giving him a few seconds respite between volleys. That was all the advantage he needed. At the end of the next volley, he dispelled his shield and fired, a disarming hex at one of the mystics who swatted it away with a flick of his wand, he sent a stunning spell at another who merely side stepped, a blasting hex was sent at the third who lazily produced a shield and he sent a reducto at the fourth who simply disappeared and reappeared a second later, grinning at Harry.

Harry was flabbergasted. He was easily one of the best in Hogwarts when it came to defense and his prowess with a wand was already a subject of talks between the students but here he was a child. He had cast with the best of his ability and none of his spells had found its mark. They were toying with him.

He fired a stunner at the third mystic who produced a shield. The stunner reflected straight back at Harry who was so surprised that he neither shielded nor dodged. Struck by his own stunner, Harry fell to the deck unconscious.

One of the mystics enervated him signalling him to get ready again. They started raining down spells on him and this time, he noticed a different pattern. They were each taking their turn casting a spell at him then apparating away to re-appear at a different spot and do it again. Harry found this pattern of attack confusing and impossible to dodge. He had to keep a shield up. He could not reply to the attacks as the mystics apparated away before he could take aim, cast and wait for the spell to connect and he had no way to anticipate where they would appear again. Although, after a time, the pattern appeared to be that they liked re-appearing at his back. Casting a few stunners behind him broke up that action quickly.

After about 20 minutes, casting a new shield every few seconds was getting to be exhausting. Harry was ready to call it quits, but; he remembered his lesson from Harsh and did not let his guard down. When Harry was wavering on his feet and it seemed that casting one more shield would cause him to pass out cold, Harsh called out, "Stand down". The mystics went still.

He turned to Harry, "Lower your wand, Harry."

Harry lowered his wand and sat down on the deck, panting. While the mystics had played with them, he understood what they were teaching him. As he fought with them he realised where Moody had learnt the Mantra of Constant Vigilance. If people attacked him like this he would be paranoid of everyone like the old Master Auror.

Harsh was scrutinising him closely. He knew what the teen was thinking and smirked inwardly. The young Potter did not know what was in the future for him. By the time Harry Potter is done with his training, he will either revere the mystics or hate them.

"Are you tired Harry?", he asked.

Harry nodded his head, "I thought I had more stamina than this. I have never tired this quickly before."

Harsh smirked, "And how do you know that, Harry?"

"I have trained for the last year with Ron and Hermione. I learnt a lot of spells with them and I used to practice with them. They even used some powerful spells against me while I defended and my shield used to last longer. Here I have to raise a new shield after every 10 to 15 stinging hexes. Not to mention that their attacks are so random that I cannot guess where the next attack will come from", said Harry, exasperated.

Harsh chortled, "Harry, Harry. Have you not studied magical theory in detail?"

Harry looked down, his face red with embarrassment. No, he thought, that was Hermione's thing. He had never bothered.

Harsh laughed, "Your reaction told me what I wanted to know. It will not change anything but only you will have to work even more hard now. You will need to study about it in detail later but for now it will suffice you to know that it does not depend on the nature of the hex but the power behind it. Your friends Ron and Hermione though are powerful more than average wizards their age but they are not powerful as a mystic. They also do not know to put all their power in a spell as my mystics do. If it was any ordinary wizard in your place, their one hex would have shattered your shield but even your basic shields are powerful than others."

Harry was listening with rapt attention. Nobody had ever explained things to him this way. He again regretted not having read enough and he wondered if Hermione knew about it or not. Whether she did or not, Hermione was not here and he would have to study it for himself.

Harsh raised his hand and a few seconds later, Harry's trunk came flying through the air to them. Harsh tapped the trunk and it opened. He calmly opened the library portion and picking up a quill he wrote something on the sorting parchment which was kept at the start of the shelves and a book glowed on one of the shelves. He picked up the book and handed it to Harry whose mouth was opened in surprise, "I want you to study this book, Harry. Before we land at India tomorrow, I want you to finish this book or you will face my displeasure."

Harry found his voice by now, "How did you open my trunk? I thought that it can be opened only after giving a passcode."

Harsh grinned at him, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Harry blanched. "How did you know my passcode?", he asked flabbergasted.

"Let's just say that until you can make your mind safe, there is nothing safe", Harsh said cryptically.

Harry remembered something Dumbledore had said. "Professor Dumbledore also said something like ensuring that my mind is my own but he did not explain", he pouted at Harsh.

Laughing at Harry's antics, Harsh replied, "That is for later, Harry. For now, you need to brush up on your magical theory because without knowing this, there are things you cannot fathom to understand."

**Head Master's Office, Hogwarts**

Dumbledore was sitting in his office with Minerva. The topic of concern was the law that the wizengamot had just passed this morning. Cornelius, who had been getting more and more paranoid day by day and apprehensive about Dumbledore, had pushed a law through the Wizengamot which gave power to the ministry to appoint a professor in the school in case the headmaster failed to find one before the term began. On the surface, this might appear to be a measure, on the part of the ministry to ensure the quality of education at Hogwarts. But Albus was no fool. He understood this to be the thin edge of the wedge for Fudge to take control of the entire school. With the track record of the defense Against the Dark Arts professor not lasting for more than a year since Tom Riddle's visit all those years ago Fudge would use this law to place his agent in the school and begin undermining the authority of the school board and the head master.

"Albus, you could have stopped the passage of the bill", Minerva was saying, "Cornelius does not have the same power as you do. You could have stopped the bill."

"Minerva, the times are perilous ahead", Albus shook his head, "I could have blocked Cornelius and tried to stop the bill from passing. This is not about power. This is about influence. Influence is a resource which must be carefully nourished, grown if you will. To overuse it is to kill it. If I had used my influence to block such a seemingly banal law, contrary to the expressed will of our minister, it would have given them all the leverage they needed to undermine or even destroy my credibility. No. This was the bait and I am not walking into their trap. I need the ancient houses to support me, especially during these times. This could have turned some of them against me. We will have to wait and see how things will unfold. Perhaps when the great alliance once again sits on the wizengamot, we can try to pull the rug from beneath Fudge's feet."

Minerva did not answer but pursed her lips in disappointment. She understood that times were not as such where they could risk turning houses against them. It was just that her faith in Dumbledore's reputation was so much that she believed that he could have anything he wished for. As she talked, she realised that in the past few weeks, the world had changed and it all revolved around her great godson, Harry Potter. She would love to see how things unfolded when Harry Potter returned to the castle. He definitely would not be the meek, docile boy he had been the last four years. If he was half his father and god father, then anyone the ministry sent in would have the time of their life.

"Minerva, if we do not find a teacher for defense Against the Dark Arts this year, you know Cornelius will saddle us with a worthless teacher who will teach nothing to students but act as a spy and spread the ministry's propaganda. We will need to be prepared", Albus said "I have heard that he will try to push for ousting me from the position of Chief Warlock before the next academic year starts. If that happens, we will need to be careful in the castle and make sure that the ministry cannot find anything which would lead to incriminate us."

Minerva did not say anything but nodded in response.

"Perhaps it is time that I made some changes to Hogwarts", he mused "maybe I can convince Binns to retire and advertise for the post of History Professor."

"That will be a day when the students of Hogwarts will thank you with all their hearts!", Minerva said with mirth filled eyes.

"There is another thing, Minerva. I have observed and you would agree with me that since the first war, the quality of students has been deteriorating. The OWLs and NEWTs have been evidence of the falling standards. With the war at the door, we need to teach our students to use what they are taught for self defense", he said gravely, "With the times that are approaching us, we will need to teach them things which they can use to defend themselves and others, if the need arises."

"So it begins.", she thought knowing that she would be meeting the teachers to convey what she was being asked of her. The comment of falling standards had hit too close to home.

The students were not as good as they used to be. She will have to remedy that.

**Bones Manor, the Dungeon**

Rita Skeeter was having the worst time of her life. She had been bested by a mudblood who had trapped her like a common bug and then handed her to Susan Bones. Now she was in the custody of Amelia Bones, a woman who had too much hatred against Rita in her heart. While climbing to her fame, she had destroyed the reputations of many formidable witches and wizards. She even had the audacity to go after Albus Dumbledore but she had not been able to destroy his reputation. Now she was here in a dungeon where she had no way to escape.

She had tried to apparate but that was not possible. She had tried to change to her animagus form and that didn't work either. She was entirely at the mercy of Amelia Bones who could kill her and no one would know of it. She knew of some of the darker aspects of the old families when in the ancient times, they used to silence their enemies in such a covert manner that no one ever knew anything about it. Even the Council of Lords never interfered in such feuds and those old rules had been retained when the Wizengamot was formed which meant that Amelia Bones could kill her and dump her body in some lake or among some beasts who would devour her body. She could do even worse like handing her over to some dark family who was out for her blood or she could send her to Azkaban without a trial.

Her musings were interrupted when her cell door swung open on its well-oiled hinges. In stepped her jailor, Amelia, accompanied by a man whose face was covered with a mask. All she could see of his face were brown eyes.

Amelia stepped up to her and getting right in her face smirked evilly, "Hello Rita. I believe that our conversation is well overdue. There will be no quick quotes quill this time. You have ruined a lot of lives. You know secrets about almost everyone in the wizarding world and we could do with some of those secrets.". She pointed to the man "This is Mr. Aparichit who has kindly agreed to help extract some of those secrets from your mind. You see being an officer of the law I cannot perform the Imperius curse or use any other coercive methods but Mr. Aparichit has no such inhibitions."

The man stepped forward and looked into her eyes. Rita tried to look away, then the man petrified her. She could feel him probing her mind and she raised her defences. The intruder knocked softly on her shields for some time, then retreated.

Rita was cautious and did not lower her shields. The man's eyes brightened for a bit and Rita felt like someone had set her mind on fire. Suddenly there was a firestorm raging through her mind and within seconds her mind shields were burnt to cinders. Rita was left helpless to stop the man from reading her thoughts. It did not take long for him to find where she kept her secret information such as who were her sources in the ministry, whom she was blackmailing, where she kept her physical files and what measures would be required to access them. Best of all, myriad details about Fudge and his corrupt dealings.

The man retreated from her mind completely and then nodded to Amelia and together they left the room.

"What did you find out, Mr. Aparichit?", Amelia asked.

"Madam Bones,' he said in a deep voice, 'she knows awful lot of information. She has a cellar in her home where she keeps the secrets she comes across, a number of your Head of Departments in the ministry are sources for information and she has a big fat dossier on the corruption of Cornelius Fudge and he pays her a big bag of Galleons every month just to keep the secrets buried. If those secrets were to see the light of the day, Cornelius Fudge will not have enough space to run."

Amelia's whole face broke out in a great-big grin, "Mr. Aparichit, it looks like my birthday has come early this year! Mr. Fudge's days in office are numbered."

Finally she had something with which she could payback Fudge for all his idiocy. But she would need to deal with Fudge's minions before she took out the minister himself. There was an immediate use for this dossier though. She could prepare a welcome home gift for Harry Potter.

"Mr. Aparichit, if you are willing, I could use your assistance to secure certain valuable materials from a certain reporter's home", She asked the mystic in a formal manner.

With a courtly bow, he answered, "Madam. Bones, I would be honoured" And taking her by the hand, they disapparated together.

**Cottage on the Hill**

The members of Harry's circle were being trounced. Early this morning they had arrived through the floo and as each of them passed through the visitor's room to the hall, they were, in turn, each stunned and bound. After Neville came through the door and was stunned, they all were enervated by Sirius who was smirking at them. The reason for his smirk immediately became clear when someone familiar growled, "Constant Vigilance. Is it so hard to maintain?". The teens were freed from their bonds and facing an irate looking Moody with his wand trained on them, "Pathetic. If you were in the Auror Corps and I was your trainer, I would have fired the lot of you for the pathetic show that you just gave me. Has no one learned a lesson from this year? Granger'!", he growled, "what did you all do wrong?"

Hermione, who was rattled like the others, took a moment composing herself, "Please, Professor Moody. I can't speak for everyone here. As for myself, I exited the floo and walked right on through the door without even looking around."

There was a general nodding of heads and murmur of agreement from the rest of the teens.

"Weasley", he said, "Ronald Weasley, not you two, what should anyone do in conditions like these?"

Ron was not much on academics but was a good strategist said, "Travelling by floo is disorienting. I always need a moment to get myself together after I land. The very least I could do during that time is have a good look around to make sure everything is where it is supposed to be. If one can do it, casting a Homenum revelio would be a good precaution even if the visual check shows that nothing is out of order. Then, if there is someone waiting in ambush, I would already have my wand out to deal with them."

After a brief lesson, the general theme of which was, "Constant Vigilance!" Moody had them running laps around the perimeter of the property for 15 minutes. By the time they were done, they were panting and crashed on the ground. Moody however was relentless and immediately started shooting stinging hexes at them to make them move. Today's war game was teachers versus students. The teachers were only allowed to use disarming hexes on the students. The student's task was to subdue the teachers. It sounded simple, but the reality of it was quite different. The professors kept apparating all over the property and sometimes, they would duel with one of them. Within 5 minutes of starting the duel, they had disarmed Ginny and Ron. Hermione was the next to go when she was caught between Remus and Sirius who both shot the disarming hex at her at the same time from two opposite directions. Susan and Neville banded together to avoid losing but they were outnumbered when Sirius and Remus caught up with them. They were successfully defending themselves for sometime before Flitwick appeared out of nowhere and disarmed Neville while Susan was taken out by the marauders. The twins were proving elusive with apparating all over the property till they apparated inside the hall of the cottage and suddenly felt a trap go off. They tried to apparate out of it but could not.

Sirius came in the room, saw them trapped, guffawed at them telling it was revenge for the rope and then painted them Gryffindor gold and crimson before walking away.

Then Moody put them in pairs and ordered them to practice disarming on their partners.

While they were good, there was room for improvement. The teachers went around making tiny corrections and telling them to resume.

In the evening they were dismissed with instructions to read what they had been taught in the previous years.

**Greengrass Manor**

The blond slytherin was in a bad mood. When she came home after the fourth year, her father told her that the Lord Malfoy was pressuring him to arrange a betrothal and even threatened them with the Dark Lord. She of course knew that the Dark Lord was back but her father was leader of the neutrals and they would never align themselves with the dark faction. Besides, the Greengrass family was old and influential and had considerable power. Her father had resisted Lucius Malfoy's overtures for now but they needed to do something to keep the family safe. She had an idea which would help her family get through the war alive but it would mean giving up their neutrality for the light. Right now, the light faction was powerful because they had Dumbledore on their side and if Daphne believed her mother's information, Harry Potter was going to turn the Wizengamot upside down soon. Her mother worked in the family records department at the ministry and she had brought some astounding news to them.

_**-FLASH BACK STARTS-**_

Roxanne Greengrass had returned home after a tiring day. Ordinarily she had boring days since not many people had business in her department. It was a position which was relatively quiet even during the previous wars except for the fact that they had to keep constant records of families which were wiped out of existence or inheritances going to new individuals.

As she arrived at the office today, she got a visit from the head of the DMLE Amelia Bones. For some reason she was interested in the records of the Ancient and Noble House of Gaunt which was the last descendant of Slytherin. After a thorough inspection of the records, all she had got was that the last descendant of the House of Gaunt was born of the union of a squib daughter and a muggle in Little Hangleton and that the son had attended Hogwarts in the 50s.

As Amelia Bones left, she received a rather large stack of parchment which came from the Goblins. When she enquired, the Goblin liaison Officer, Dirk Cresswell merely shrugged telling her that it was secret. Of course, Roxanne knew what confidential meant in her department. It meant that no one except her could see the documents and not even Cornelius Fudge could ask her to bring the documents to him. It was made so by the Council of Lords so that the ministry could not interfere in House's business. As Dirk left, she opened the stack of parchments and it was the biggest shock of her life. Recently, Harry Potter had ascended to his lordship not that Roxanne was surprised. She knew that he was the last Potter so he would be Lord Potter but the stack contained other houses also. Houses that Roxanne did not know he was an heir to.

She was astounded to find that he was Lord Black. She knew that the last Lord Black was Arcturus Orion Black and he had died 6 years ago. The next lord Black would have been Sirius, but he could not ascend to his lordship while he was serving a sentence in Azkaban or a fugitive. In the absence of any direct descendants of Sirius, the next heir would have been Draco Malfoy through his mother's line as all other possible heirs were either dead or disowned but to see him being ousted by Harry Potter was something nobody could have foreseen. When she looked in to the older records, suddenly the knut dropped when she found that Harry was godson of Sirius Black. Did that mean that Sirius Black was innocent? The magics behind the oath of God father were severe and even trying to think of breaking those oaths could kill someone. This cast a shadow of doubt on her mind regarding his guilt.

Another parchment that she found in that stack was of a blood adoption of Harry Potter by Sirius Black which told a different story altogether. If Harry Potter was his blood adopted son that meant Harry Potter was in constant contact with the Azkaban escapee. Something to ponder and use for the safety of her family.

The next piece of parchment was more surprising. This piece of parchment turned a lot of her perceptions upside down. Lily Evans, one of her best friends, was a pureblood. Lily always maintained that she was a muggleborn yet she had an unwavering fascination with the wizarding world's traditions and customs which was surprising. She was surprised when Lily agreed to a marriage contract with James Potter as per the old customs but perhaps that was because as per old customs, she as a muggleborn did not bring any family magic to the marriage while James's family was ancient and one of the pillars of the wizarding world. To learn that she was not a muggle born but daughter of one of the old families which was entrenched in the dark as much as the Rosier family was, it certainly boggled her mind. Harry Potter by reason of being last scion of House Rosier was the lord of Rosier now. He was also the Lord of an old house of Germany which was insanely rich. This lordship would not give him any more seats on the Wizengamot, but it likely made him the wealthiest wizard in Europe.

He held lordships of four houses and that gave him 11 votes seeing he was lord of the Ancient and Reverent House of Peverell which gave him 5 votes and 2 votes each for his other houses. There was an off chance that he could claim the vassal houses and their votes in the Wizengamot. In other words, the politics were about to get interesting.

If she could have, right there and then she would have sent a missive to her family's friends and allies and banded them together with House Potter but her position and her oath as the head of Department did not permit her to do so. She could talk to her husband though.

_**-FLASH BACK ENDS-**_

Her mother had returned home an hour ago and had told her that she had something important to discuss with her and her father. "House Secret.", if she would. House Secrets referred to secrets which could not be disclosed to anyone who was not family, not for any reason.

"Good evening, Daphne", Cyrus's voice cut in on her thoughts; "the frown on your face tells me that you are lost in thought."

Daphne actually frowned. Cyrus Greengrass had blond hair, brown eyes, a long face, aristocratic features, was about six feet tall, well built and had a jovial sense of humour. He could always sense the moods, whether it was Roxanne or any of his daughters and he always seemed to know the exact thing to say to brighten their day.

"Evening, father", she replied, "I was thinking about Malfoy's threat of consequences. With that monster being back, things will indeed turn bad for us and the other neutrals. The light side is woefully unprepared. We would not interfere in their petty conflicts, but; their self-styled dark lord has shown, over and over again, that he does not care who dies, so long as it serves his purposes. Most of the deaths of his own minions were his own doing, but; they are either so terrified by him or so stupidly loyal that they do not desert him. No, instead they came running back to him the moment it looks like he may have any real power again. It is unbelievable! To keep our family safe, we will need some powerful houses on our side. With all the devastation from the last war there are only a few of those houses left."

"Then you will both be happy to know that there is someone who can help us to remain safe in the war", cut in Roxanne's voice who had just entered the room, "And  
thus, we come to The house secret that I called you together to discuss. This should help us to sort out our priorities."

"What secret are you talking about, dear?", asked Cyrus, pecking his wife on the cheek as she sat beside him on the sofa.

"This morning I received a fat stack of parchments from Gringotts, about Harry Potter", she replied.

"Ah, yes, Young Mr. Potter. I would assume that since he is the last of House Potter that he has ascended to his lordship? Young, but he has proven himself capable. That's two more votes for the side of light", Cyrus wrinkled his brow in puzzlement, "How does that help us?"

"My dear husband, you are both intelligent and impatient", she said smiling at him, "You are right, as far as what you know and have guessed, but; there is more."

At this point, Roxanne had their full attention.

"As you have correctly guessed, young Lord Harold James Potter is Lord Potter", She paused for dramatic effect, "And Lord Weber. And Lord Rosier. And Lord Black. But most significantly he is also Lord Peverell."

A minute passed in silence as Cyrus and Daphne processed what this meant.

Daphne was the first to break the silence, "Weber! What is House Weber? I've never heard of them.".

Then before Roxanne could answer, Cyrus cut in, "Peverell? But how? There hasn't been a Lord Peverell for centuries! And, and, and five houses! How is that even possible?"

Roxanne turned to Daphne first, with a glint of conspiracy in her eye, "Daphne, House Webber is an ancient German family, thought to be extinct, which may explain why you haven't heard of them. They have no seats on the Wizengamot, but quite a considerable fortune. And that, my lovely daughter, quite likely makes him the wealthiest wizard in Europe."

The next half hour passed with Roxanne explaining in detail how the goblin tests worked, how Sirius had blood-adopted Harry and how the Peverell family magic had accepted a Lord after having laid dormant for centuries, not only the magic, but also their grimoire and vaults.

"So you see," Roxanne wound down to her conclusion, "Sirius must be innocent. Lord Potter now has 11 votes on the Wizengamot all by himself. And, this time, You-Know-Who will be up against magic which has not been seen in Avalon since the last war-mage over a thousand years ago."

"Merlin's beard!" exclaimed Cyrus, "This will take the Wizengamot by storm! The dark side won't know what hit them." Then he grinned, "That mealy mouthed idiot Fudge will never have another peaceful night's sleep again. And that regency of house Black that Malfoy usurped when the previous Lord Black passed on while Sirius was rotting in Azkaban, those votes will go to their rightful heir."

Daphne, who was taking this all in, while at the same time, drawing her own conclusions, spoke, "Mother, do you suppose, that all of that gold which Malfoy and his father have been flashing around, do you suppose that it came from the Black family fortune? Does this mean that the impudent little toe-rag Draco is shortly going to find that his entire family is flat-broke and his slimy git of a father is Azkaban bound?"

Roxanne regarded her daughter with wide-eyed fascination, "You are entirely too good with this stuff for your own good Daphne. Remind me never to get on your bad side. Although everything you say may very well be true, however as it happens, a Regent cannot touch a family fortune and it is available only to the supposed heir when he comes of age. The Malfoys may be fugitives from France but they brought their wealth with them which while is not significant compared to Black Fortune but is sufficient for them for posturing around. Also I believe that Narcissa was given hefty dowry when she was married to Malfoy. If there has been any misuse of funds or not, it will concern Lord Black and it is upon him to do something about it. We must behave as it were all a big surprise when it all comes down."

Daphne rolled her eyes, "Really mother? Isn't that what family secret means. Don't worry. I know how to keep private things private. But, this will change the balance of power in Slytherin house at school and I must be ready to act."

Daphne was already making plans. She had a lot of influence in the house of serpents already. With that impudent git Malfoy broken, she could easily leverage herself to lead the whole bunch of them. And that would deny any new recruits to He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. If that was all she could do for the war, she would be satisfied, but; was there anything else?

Her Father broke-in on her thoughts, "Daphne, I want you to become Harry Potter's friend. It is time that we step to the light. After the war, we can go back to being allied with the neutrals."

Daphne made a quick appraisal of both of her parents. Become Harry Potter's friend? Yes. That would be done if at all possible. It didn't hurt that he was filthy rich and seriously cute. But, openly coming out on the side of light? That lacks subtlety and may not be the best tactic, however; the two of them seemed to agree, "Father, I shall do, even as you wish."

**THE MARICHIKA**

Harry was tired. He had gone to bed pretty late in the evening after reading the book assigned to him by his guru and slept fitfully for only 3 hours before a stinger to his backside woke him. As he woke up, he was commanded by a gruff looking mystic to join him on the deck.

As he climbed the stairs to the main deck, He could see that the ship was being boarded. When he looked around, he and the one mystic seemed to be the only ones on deck. The invaders were a herd of hippogriffs. They were making a lot of noise and be fouling the deck and the rigging. Something had to be done soon, but what?

"Young Potter!", the mystic shouted above the din I want you to tame one of these beasts. As soon as you tame one of them, fly it out of here and the rest will follow. You will then return with your Hippogriff to the deck."

Harry thought the mystic was mad. Then he remembered what Hagrid had taught him about Hippogriffs and that he had befriended Buckbeak. Would the same actions work with a wild hippogriff?

"What are you thinking?" bellowed the mystic "get on with it".

Before Harry could move, he was hit with another stinging hex.

Harry turned to the mystic, "I have an idea. Back me up. If this goes pear shaped, it will happen fast." Harry scanned the herd, looking for the alpha-male. Spotting a  
large and active male that was Black and Red in appearance he walked right up to him and, establishing eye contact with him, bowed from the waist. The hippogrif's eyes widened momentarily then he returned the bow. Harry cautiously walked forward and patted the beast. To his surprise, he felt an immediate connection with this beast and after a few seconds, vaulted to its back, with his knees secure in that space just behind the wings. With a click of the tongue and a gentle tap from his heels, the hippogriff launched itself into the air and the entire herd followed them.

This was not like riding Buckbeak. This creature was a lot larger and stronger. When they reached an alarming altitude, the creature did a barrel-roll, and harry only managed to hang on with its back by grabbing the front of the wings. As the creature righted itself, he resumed his seat and held on more tightly with his knees. Then the creature did a loop and Hary did a better job of hanging on.

It was all getting to be too much and pulling his wand out of his robes with great effort, he conjured a make-shift bridle, and a lasso. Once the bridle was in place and the lasso was around the beast's neck, he stopped showing-off and harry guided them back to the ship.

It took about ten minutes for the two of them to find the ship again and land on her deck. When they did, the mystics were there to greet them, wands out and alert.

As soon as Harry dismounted, Harsh embraced him, "Well done Harry. Hagrid did not exaggerate when he told about your bond with animals. You have, indeed, tamed a magnificent beast."

"Guruji, if we could have kept flying through this area and the beasts would have done us no harm, why then did I have to tame one?", Harry asked him.

Harsh smirked, "if you had not tamed your hippogriff, you would have had to make your own arrangements for traveling from Gujarat to Himalayas."

"Meaning?", he asked.

"You will see", said Harsh. "I do not want to ruin your surprise by breaking it to you. For now, go and have your sleep. We have a busy and hard day tomorrow."

**The Next morning**

Harry Potter woke up tired and sore. While he was exhilarated with all the hard work that he had done and the flying with the hippogriff last night, the adrenaline rush had not let him feel the soreness of his muscles or the amount of energy he had spent in trying to subdue the beast. Right now, his bones felt heavy to him and even getting out of bed felt like a herculean task to him. Muttering, "Gryffindors charge forward!" he stepped out of his room and found one of the mystics grooming the hippogriff he had tamed last evening.

"Harry", the mystic said, "what did you name this one?"

"Name?" Harry asked confused, "why do I have to name him?".

"Because Harry, you have tamed him and I can see a bond exists between you both. Without a name, how would you address him to do your bidding?"

Harry thought back for a moment then he remembered feeling something when he first touched the hippogriff's neck, "Bond. Yes, I did feel something." He looked into the hippogriff's eyes for a moment, while asking as if the creature could answer him, "How would you like to be addressed? Skylord seems appropriate. But no, that is your title not your name."

Then he turned to the mystic, "I thought it was people like Hagrid who like to name beasts. Hagrid would know what to name him."

"Harry, Rubeus Hagrid is very beloved of beasts and blessed by mother magic when it comes to them. All the beasts in the forbidden forests love him. If anything were to happen to him, there is nobody who can control the creatures in the forest.", the mystic replied. "He is very talented with them. I do not imagine there would be many beasts which can scare him."

"You are too right about that, sir. So what should I name him?" Harry asked the mystic. "It is not like I have many names with me that I can choose from."

"You can choose any name that you think would describe him", the mystic replied.

"He is certainly fast and wild like a wind storm", Harry mused, "And the black color on his coat is more prominent than any other colour", He looked into the hippogriff's eyes again and a feeling of certainty struck him, "Black Storm. Your name, in my language would be Black Storm. May I call you by that name?"

The hippogriff nodded his approval with a neigh while pawing the deck.

With a broad grin, Harry affirmed, "Then Black Storm you shall be named", and he gave the hippogriff a hug around its neck.

"He agrees with you, Harry", the mystic laughed, "Now off with you. We are going to reach India in few hours and I want you to break into him before we land."

He handed tack to Harry, "he is yours to saddle and bridle. Make sure you do it right or you will hurt him."

Harry looked at the saddle and all the bits of metal and leather straps in confusion. The first two times he had ridden on Buckbeak, he did it bare-back. When he rode Black Storm this morning, it was also bare-back. He had never saddled and bridled a creature of any sort before nor had he even watched while someone else had done it.

A series of stingers peppering his body brought him out of his reverie, "Get on with it, Harry. Time will not wait for you."

Harry turned to the mystic, "Do we really need a saddle? I mean, won't that hurt him?"

The mystic was only now beginning to understand that Harry had almost no experience with care of riding creatures, "No, Mr. Potter. A properly adjusted saddle would distribute the load, making carrying you much easier on his spine. Over a long journey, riding bare-back, he would get sore there. What's more, it will be easier on you."

Harry finally did what he had very reluctantly done in the last 4 years. His time with Dursleys had shaped him into an individual who never sought other's help and his experience of last 4 years was not helping either. Whenever he tried to get an adult to help him, they did not help him but coddled him like a child. The mystics were treating him with dignity and he was concerned that if he continued to spectacularly fail at everything, they would start to treat him like a child too.

He turned to the mystic and confessed, "I have never learned how to put the tack on a horse, much less a hippogriff."

The mystic regarded Harry with a look of mingled surprise and sadness, "Guruji has told me that you can ride a hippogriff. We all saw what you did with Black Storm this morning. How can this be?"

"I can ride one. Hagrid taught us to approach them but he did not teach us to use the tack.", Harry replied, aware of the mystic's gaze on him, "we had one lesson  
with the hippogriff and I was the only one who had approached it before Malfoy decided to be a git and got hurt after insulting the hippogriff.".

"Insult a hippogriff? What kind of fool does that?", the mystic asked incredulously.

"The kind of fool who thinks he is better than others because his father has a lot of money. The kind of fool who has no idea that the power of a person is determined by how much magic is in him. A fool who thinks his family is greatest of all regardless of the fact that his family fled like fugitives from France and anyone bearing that name is still not allowed within its borders", said Harsh who had approached the pair just then.

The mystic immediately bent and touched Harsh's feet. Harsh responded by fondly touching the other mystic on his head and murmured, "Ayushman Bhav (May you live long)."

"Pashupati kindly teach Mr. Potter to saddle and bridle the beast,' Harsh said smiling 'he is new and we will need to teach everything to him. Treat him like a child who is to learn everything that is there except defense where he is very accomplished for his age."

Pashupati bowed to Harsh and said, "As you say, Guruji." Then turning to Harry, seemed to produce a second set of tack from thin air. He laid his set of tack out on  
the deck, motioning to Harry to do the same.

Once Harry had his tack laid out to the mystic's satisfaction, he began to explain, "Harry, It is understandable that for one like Hagrid, use of tack is not the first thing he would teach. Now, it is time to amend your education. I will spend the next few minutes going over the tack. I will explain the name, the purpose, the materials and the method of making each piece. When I am done, you will be able to do the same. If any question should present itself to you, you will please, stop me and ask."

Harry understood this to mean that there would be a test and paid close attention. After only 15 minutes, Harry had sufficient understanding of the tack to satisfy the mystic.

Pashupati then turned to the bow of the ship and gave a shrill whistle. A moment later, a hippogriff landed. The mare had bay fur and iridescent feathers. He bowed to her and when she returned the bow, he gave her an affectionate hug around her neck, "Welcome Gracewind. Will you help us with our lesson today?"

She pawed the deck and nodded her assent.

"Harry, I will place the tack on Gracewind here. As I do so, I will give you verbal instruction on each step and warn you what to look out for. Gracewind is gentle and highly intelligent. She will remind if I should forget anything. You will attend?".

It was obvious to Harry that Pashupati was going through the process at a speed which was painfully slow for him. With all the explanaition, it took another 15 minutes. And yes, there was one point when he neglected to tell Harry how to deal with bloating while tightening the girth strap that Gracewind reminded him by demonstrating bloating resulting in the strap being dangerously loose.

By the end of the demonstration, Gracewind had Harry wondering how intelligent these creatures really are? Harry bowed to Gracewind and thanked her for her help. When she bowed back, he gave her a pat on the side of her neck.

"Now, Mr. Potter", the mystic directed him to Black Storm, "Let us see what you have learned. You will now place the tack on Black Storm and you will tell me what you are doing at every step."

Harry started with the bridal and worked his way through the entire process. To Pashupati's delight, he got everything right the first time, right down to giving Black Storm a firm thump in the side when he tried to bloat and keep him from tightening the girth strap. The mystic went over the tack and found everything in order.

The mystic nodded his approval, then turned back to Harry, "Now, Mr. Potter, you will remove the tack, lay it out as I have shown you and put it on again. I will be timing you. Go!"

Harry went through the steps as quickly as he daired. When the tack was back on Storm Wind, he said, "Time!"

Pashupati said, "Five minutes, 33 seconds. Not a world record by any standard, but; it will do for a rank beginner. Let's see how you did". And he set to work, inspecting the tack. As he finished his inspection, he pointed to the stirrups and said, "You will need to adjust those for your comfort. Other than that, I see no problem with your work. It will do."

Harry made his best guess at what would be a comfortable height for his feet and adjusted the stirrups accordingly. Wearing his dragon-hide boots and a riding cloak, he approached Black Storm from his left side and vaulted to its back. Part of the saddle was a set of leg restraints. They were there to prevent the rider from falling out of the saddle during extreme maneuvers. Harry made sure that they were secure before he gave a click of the tongue with a gentle kick to the sides and Black Storm rocketed into the air. Now that Harry felt secure in the saddle, he whooped with glee and really enjoyed putting his new friend through his paces.

Pashupati flew right beside him on Gracewind. She was not quite so large or powerful as Black Storm, but; she was considerably more graceful and the mystic's riding expertise put him in an entirely different class.

As they were flying, Pashupati drew out his wand and started firing colour spells at Harry. Harry, seizing upon the challenge, started working with his mount to dodge the spells and answered with a few colour spells of his own. This was when the superior grace and flying skill of his opponents really shone through. While Harry and Black Storm jigged and dodged as well as they could, they sustained a great many hits while their opponents never quite managed to be their when Harry's spells went shooting by.

After about two hours of sustained dog-fighting, Black Storm, as large and mighty as he may be, was not used to carrying a rider or having to sustain aerial combat maneuvers and he was beginning to tire.

Harry called out, "Mr. Pashupati! I am concerned for Black Storm. I believe that he has had enough for now."

The mystic signalled down with his wand arm and Harry followed him back to the ship at a very leisurely pace.

As soon as they landed, Harry released his legs from the restraints and leapt to the deck. The deck felt very strange to him after the unceasing motion of his mount, but he set straight to work on removing the saddle. Beside him, Pashupati had already removed and stowed his tack. After he bowed to Gracewind and said something Harry did not understand, she took to the sky and was gone. He came over to see how Harry was doing.

Harry had managed to remove the saddle and the mystic was assessing Black Wind's condition. He turned to Harry, "Leave the bridle on.". Harry looked a question at him. He continued, "Hippogriffs are not horses, but they do have some things in common. One of those is that you cannot stable them while they are all hot and sweaty like this. Spread out his blanket over his body and walk him around the deck until he dries. When you have done, I shall teach you about grooming and feeding." It was another hour before Harry had cooled down Black Storm, cleaned up the residue from the colour battle, stowed his tack, groomed the hippogriff and finally showered and dried himself.

When he was done, Pashupati said, "I believe that Guruji is expecting you. Please offer my apology for keeping you so long."

Harry entered Harsh's cabin to find him in a state of meditation. In that moment, Harsh was looking at peace with himself, his forehead without any wrinkles, his face calm and his magical aura pure white. He opened his eyes after 10 minutes and seeing Harry there, he smiled, "Harry how your flight was? I hope you enjoyed it."

Harry returned the smile, "Yes guruji. I love flying."

"Harry, did you finish the book?"' He asked 'if you have not then I will be angry with you.

Harry nodded in response, "Guruji, I should hope that I shall never experience your displeasure. I could not put the book down until I finished it." He had finished the book after he found that he liked it. It answered so many of his questions which he always had but had never got any answers to them. It had explained why he was different from other students even though they were the same age. It told why some people had more power in their spells while others did not. Why some could cast spells which could penetrate a brick wall while others could damage a large area of the brick wall with the same spell.

"Harry can you tell me what is the difference between Remus Lupin and Neville Longbottom's casting?", Harsh asked him.

Harry took the time to recall images of the two of them casting and evaluate those images in the light of his newly acquired knowledge before he answered. "Remus Lupin is a powerful wizard whose spells can create a wide area impact and consequently do more damage. By contrast, Neville Longbottom's spells have more power in them and are more focused. While Remus's spells would not destroy the target Neville's would destroy it utterly, possibly even causing objects to explode and cause secondary damage. Remus's spells would be more effective with targets which are difficult to hit or areas containing multiple targets. Neville's spells would be highly effective against targets which are more resilient. These are natural phenomenon and differ from wizard to wizard. It cannot be controlled or perfected by someone by their intention. This is like an inherent part of their magic which cannot be changed."

Harsh nodded, "Good Harry. Now tell me why does your shield falter in front of my mystics but it used to hold against your friends?"

"Ron and Hermione are not as powerful as mystics. They only cast with about half of their strength. Much of their potential remains unused. Hermione has a strong grasp of theory and has excellent technique, but she is not yet fully grown and she will become stronger as she matures. Ron," he shook his head, "just doesn't seem to work hard at anything. To make matters worse, he wasn't even using a wand which chose him during his first two years at Hogwarts. He will never be able to do much unless he has a complete change of attitude. When they used to practice with me, they were only a fraction powerful as compared even to your mystic trainees. Spells by themselves are not powerful but it depends on the power of the caster. The more powerful the caster is, the more powerful the spell will be. Your mystics are more powerful than ordinary wizards and I have no idea how they got that way", Harry finished his findings and Harsh was smiling at him.

"Now Harry we are around an hour away from India. We will be seeing the coastline very soon. I want you to saddle your ride and pack your belongings. When we land, you will help other as they require you to", Harsh instructed him.

**Daily Prophet, London**

Barnabas Cuffe, the editor of the Daily Prophet was sitting in his office behind his desk reading an article which the ministry had sent with orders to publish in the next day's edition. It made him sick to publish this rubbish. Journalism is publishing verifiable facts. This… this reminded him strongly of the work of the Russian paper "Pravda" during the muggle cold war. It was nothing but a fabric of lies woven with inuendo designed to discredit anyone who opposed the minister. He would just as soon wrap a bowtruckle in this aand print it. But, his orders came from the ministry and he liked his job, so, print it he will. What difference would one more article, painting Dumbledore as a balmy old git who was losing his marbles, make anyway.

He had guessed that something major had happened on the night of the third task. When Dumbledore had proclaimed that you-know-who was back, Cuffe did not dismiss his statement like many others. He wanted to publish the story, but without reliable witnesses, and the first hint of things to come, an order from the minister himself to refrain from publishing any such story, it did not get published. Since then, the stories had been getting nastier.

Was it possible that what Dumbledore was saying was true? He had never been known to lie before. Keep secrets, yes, but lie, no. Cuffe went over the facts in his mind one more time. No one knew what had happened to You-know-who at the end of the first war. Only thing that they had found was his cloak, a wand and a crying Harry Potter with his mother's dead body near him. They had believed Dumbledore's word that You-know-who was vanquished. Not dead, vanquished. Most people did not appreciate that there was a difference. But, Dumbledore chose his words carefully and he had a reason for choosing that one. It meant that Dumbledore believed even then that You-know-who would return eventually. Perhaps he knew something that no one else did and if Dumbledore knew something then there was no reason for them to doubt his word.

The harsh reality was that the ministry owned the paper. And so, if Cuffe wanted to keep his job, he published what the ministry wanted published and suppressed what the ministry wanted suppressed. As he read over the article one more time, he wondered if he could get away with making any changes to it without getting the sack. Perhaps he could establish a new column as "Letters from the Ministry" and add a disclaimer that this did not represent the opinion of this paper. Such a daring move would discredit the minister and maybe even restore the faith of the readers of the Daily Prophet but the paper was meant to be sold and make Galleons. Having the Ministry at loggerheads without some powerful backing would be fatal to his career.

He was interrupted in his day-dreaming by a disturbance in his outer office. He placed his quill back in its holder, readied his wand and rose from his chair to go and see what it was all about. Before he could even get out from behind his desk, the door to his office burst off its hinges and on the threshold stood one furious looking witch, namely Andromeda Tonks nee Black. His secretary was meekly peeking out from behind her, looking apologetic. With the first flick of her wand, his wand soared across the room to her outstretched hand. The second flick of her wand sent a bombarda through the space which Barnabas had just vacated in favour of the underside of his desk. There was a crazy witch in his office. She meant business. Security would be on the way. But, how would he stay alive long enough for help to arrive and him with no back-up wand?

Maybe he could stall her. "What do you want?" he called out from under his desk.

She growled, "I want you to grovel like the spineless worm you are", and shot away part of his desk.

He could hear her coming around the desk, crunching through the debris, trying to get an angle for a clean shot at him.

"A- a- anything you want! Just, please don't hurt me.", he squeaked, as he moved his chair, trying to use it as a shield.

The desk levitated away and landed on the other side of the room.

"There you are!" she said with a grin of satisfaction and reduced the chair to rubble with a reducto.

Cuffe just swallowed hart hard and looked down the wand that was now pointed between his eyes, "."Kill me if you want. It's not like my life is worth much anymore." And he broke down and wept.

"Fortunately for you Mr. Cuffe, those are not my orders. Would you be so kind as to inform your executive assistant that you will take my meeting now?", she said without moving the wand so much as an inch.

Still looking at the wand, he said, "Yes, of course." Then raising his voice so that his assistant could hear, "I will be meeting with Madame Tonks. Cancel all other appointments and do not allow anyone else to enter."

From the outer office, she responded, "Yes Mr. Cuffe. Shall I send in some tea?"

The assistant knew that her boss did not drink tea. This was code to ask if she should summon security to eject an unwelcome guest. Cuffe responded, "No, not today. I don't believe that Madame Tonks will take any tea."

A few moments later, the office was restored to order with the door, the furniture back in place and several anti-eavesdropping spells on the door. Cuffe was back behind his desk, with his visitor sitting opposite him. Cuffe was still shaking in his cloak, but; at least she had stopped aiming her wand at him.

"Do you know who I am, Mr. Cuffe?", she said glaring at him.

Cuffe looked just a little annoyed at the question, "Yes, madam, I certainly do. You are Andromeda Tonks nee Black, disowned for marrying a muggleborn, partner in a law firm with your husband and one other muggleborn lawyer. If I did not know that, you would already be on your way to Azkaban for trespass, destruction of private property, assault with a deadly weapon and making death-threats against a public figure. Does that about cover it?"

"Here is a news update for you, Mr. Cuffe. The new Lord Black has reinstated me and I am here representing his interests. You cannot charge me for trespassing at a place which he owns, nor can you charge me with destroying his property. I have neither threatened you nor assaulted you. As for the rest, read this", and she flung a stack of parchments on to his desk.

As Cuffe opened the stack of parchments, the first thing that caught his eye was the official seal of Gringotts. The document showed that the majority share holder of the Daily Prophet was, through his holdings, none other than Harry Potter and what's more, the ministry had sold off their shares during the economic crisis over eight years ago. His face went ashen gray.

"Well", he gulped, "With all the rot we've published about Harry Potter over the last year, I suppose you will want my resignation."

With a most imperious glare, she said coldly, "That Mr. Cuffe depends on our interview today. Before we go any further, do you understand the difference between a threat and a promise of specific performance, based on your actions?"

He looked to one side and then the other and seeing no help there, essayed an answer, "Threats may be empty, as in lacking the power or will to carry them out, whereas one both can and will carry out a promise of specific performance. Is that correct?"

"Close enough for our purposes. Let me assure you, Mr. Cuffe, that nothing I will say to you today is a threat", she said with finality as if the topic was closed for further discussions.

"It is the express wish of the owner of this paper that it becomes a credible source of news and information. To that end, no article shall be published without direct evidence, such as memory records, photographs, written documents, direct eye witness accounts. Second, no story shall be quashed which is both factual and in the public interest. Third, you will print two retractions per week until further notice regarding these articles", she slapped a thick folder full of clippings from the past year's issues on his desk.

"Will there be anything else, Madame Tonks?", he asked to make sure that was it.

"Yes", she said, producing another document and passing it to him, "You will cease and desist from printing any articles, ads or letters from readers which defame or depict Lord Potter in a negative way. Professor Albus Dumbledore has said, and you may quote him on this, that he does not care if you call him a balmy old geezer as long as you don't take him off the chocolate frog cards. However, I advise you that the entire staff of this paper is on probation. Any person or persons publishing a story without proper proof will be dismissed with cause, without references and without severance. Please issue copies of this notice to every one of your employees."

"Very well", he said, "I will do as you ask. There are certain individuals who are currently on the payroll who may not be on-board with this new vision for our paper. Am I free to re-structure as needed?", he said with a grin, savouring the thought of giving every ministry spy the boot.

Andromeda looked thoughtful for one moment then said, "Copy me on your restructuring. We won't be interfering with your day-to-day operations, but; I do want to know who you identify. It will be helpful in other areas."

Cuffe looked heavenward for strength before asking his next question, "When Fudge sees tomorrow's edition of this paper, he is going to have my head on a platter and it won't matter to me who owns the Daily Prophet then. What should I do?"

Andromeda gave a feral grin which really showed her teeth, "Mr. Cuffe, so long as you act to serve the interests of Lord Potter, the services of our firm are part of your package. Such action would result in a really bad day for the minister."

Even though the grin was not meant for him, it sent shivers down Cuffe's spine, "In that case, Madame Tonks, rest assured that I will be serving my employer's best interests at all times."

Andromeda looked straight into his eyes for a moment, then nodded, "Very well then, we have an agreement. I will not be asking for your resignation, however; should you fail to abide by any term of our agreement, you will be dismissed, the same as any other employee under these terms. There will be no review or appeal."

As Andromeda left, Cuffe saw her to the door of the outer office. He waved off the security people and he found the rest of his staff waiting in the hallway looking very anxious. In his best drill-sergeant's voice, he said, "Good! You are all here. That will save me the trouble of calling you all together. Conference room, now!"

By the time the meeting was over, several staff members who were nothing but ministry spies, had been fired, with cause because they had never written so much as a single word of what might be called journalism. Others who were questionable were put to work cleaning the presses and fetching for the real reporters. And, the people who had been submitting the real stories, and not getting published, were promoted. Tomorrow's edition was going to be very different. Lead Story, _"The Daily Prophet, Under New Ownership"_ however as Andromeda said, he was not to announce the name of the new owner.

**Minister of Magic's Office, London**

Cornelius Fudge was in conference with his Undersecretary and his junior undersecretary. He was plotting a way to oust Dumbledore from the Wizengamot and as head master of Hogwarts. The old wizard was conspiring against the minister to oust him from his office and Cornelius would not let him win.

Dumbledore's efforts to undermine him with his outrageous claims that You-Know-Who was back from the dead would not stand. He would see to that. Cornelius had started his counter measures against Dumbledore and started weeding the ministry of Dumbledore's loyalists however there was a problem that none of them were openly forthcoming and there was no way that he could devise to ensure their loyalty towards him. A new wrinkle was that the Daily Prophet was no longer taking orders from the ministry. The large majority of the spies he had placed there were no longer permitted near the building. Those few which remained had been shunted to positions where they could not learn anything of value nor make any meaningful changes. The article that he had sent to the paper to publish which proclaimed that Dumbledore was senile and Harry Potter was a confused, insane and possibly dangerous teen which had been articulately worded by Umbridge and proofread by Weasley, was returned via an owl with a message that they had to send a memory to back up their claim. The parchment also seemed to have stains on it as if it had been in close proximity to discarded parchments with wet ink and food wrappers. He had immediately gathered the Aurors of his protection detail and proceeded to the offices of the Daily Prophet and tried to intimidate Barnabas Cuffe telling him that the ministry owned the paper and he would be fired if he refused to comply. The man responded by informing Mr. Fudge that the ministry had sold the paper during the economic crisis eight years ago. One of the houses had bought the paper and they had given orders that would restore The Daily Prophet as a legitimate news paper and that he, for one, was glad of the change. When Umbridge started berating out threats of pressing charges for treason and conspiracy, Cuffe ended the conversation by informing them that they would shortly receive a visit from his solicitors and advised them not to make things worse for themselves by any further contact with him, his staff or these premises. The entire party was escorted off the property by his security team. Feeling defeated and humiliated, they had returned to the ministry.

"Minister", his secretary called, "Madam Bones is here."

Grunting to allow her entrance, he straightened in his chair. A moment later, Amelia entered his office with some pieces of parchment in her hand.

She said, "Cornelius, I want a meeting to which no third party should be privy to."

Umbridge immediately simpered, "Surely you can speak in front of us, Madam Bones. The minister has complete faith in us."

Amelia eyed the witch hatefully and passed a parchment to Cornelius, "Cornelius, if you want me to discuss this in front of her, I would be delighted."

Seeing what was on the parchment, Fudge was mortified. This was clear evidence of him taking bribes from death eaters in the previous war and letting them go. Fudge had been paying a hefty bag of galleons to Rita to keep this buried but he did not know how Amelia had got her hands on it. If this got out, it meant that his career was over and he was bound for Azkaban. He signaled his undersecretaries to leave the office.

Umbridge immediately protested, "But Minister, it may be of importance for the ministry. I am the senior undersecretary…."

She did not finish her words before Fudge roared, "And I am the Minister, Dolores. You will do as you are told or you will find yourself looking for another job."

Umbridge and Weasley immediately left his office. The moment they left, with a wave of his wand, Fudge locked and muffled the door behind them. He chuckled shortly, "Let them just try and listen at keyholes now." And he cast an imperturbable at the door for good measure.

Amelia turned to him with a maniacal glint in her eyes making him shiver, "Now that the unpleasantries are out of the way, let's get down to business."

**Waiting for reviews**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N- **I am delighted with the interest being shown however there were some reviews which best be taken out of the way before we go further and see what is in the store for the wizarding world in this chapter.

Mckertis- Yeah it is so stupid because you obviously have not read the books and do not understand that term 'fanfiction'. I can take a little liberty with the events and the characters but well you would not understand the concept.

Guest- it is a little mistake which I intend to correct soon.

MarilynT- Ofcourse he will demonstrate his powers. As I recall he has to have powers to rival Tom therefore he will. What you need to understand is that just swift wandwork and powerful spells would not be useful where your opponent has much more at his disposal.

ObsessedwithHPFanFic- AS always, I am always delighted to see how you relish reading every chapter.

Rayondjay41- I know they are dragging along but not for long. With this chapter, I am hoping to speed things along at a pace that you will like.

This Chapter has been edited by Hypergym and many details have been added which were otherwise missing. I hope you would like the changes.

* * *

**Disclaimer- **The emerald eyed wizard still belongs to JKR. I do not own him

**The Marichika**

The ship landed on a deserted part of the coast line where there was nothing in sight but desert spreading for miles. It was picturesque in some ways but worrying in others. As far as Harry could see, there was no one in sight. As soon as the ship landed (they had been flying for some way) and the captain lowered the gangplank, he saw as many as 20 people on the coast. Harsh walked off the ship nonchalantly and the men immediately lined up on both sides of the gangplank. For every step he took, every one of the men bowed his head like he was some sort of king.

Harsh had told him that the mystics did not use the port for their ships but this deserted part of the coastline because it was easy this way and it avoided any prying eyes from finding their secrets. They had more threats to them there than just muggles.

One of the mystics called for Harry's attention, "Mr. Potter, Guruji has asked us to enlist your help."

Harry nodded his head and followed the mystic to the lowermost level of the ship where there was a storeroom. As he looked about he could see that the room was filled with many things and trunks scattered throughout the room. Harry could not remember seeing the store room earlier but shrugged. He hadn't seen the prison either.

"Mr. Potter", the mystic said, "your job is to sort these items and store them into the trunks neatly and you can use magic for the task."

There were a lot of items and Harry had no idea about how to do the job until inspiration hit him. As he could see among the things littered on the ground, there were cauldrons, scales, couple of brooms, a heap of books and a variety of other items.

He raised his wand and incanted, "Accio Books!" The next moment all the books came hurling through the air towards him, some of them hitting him in the face. The mystic, who had leapt out of the centre of the mayhem, was doubled over laughing at Harry's predicament as Harry toppled over into the pile of books. Harry's face was a glowing shade of red as he climbed out of the pile.

The mystic said, "Nothing to feel embarrassed about, Mr. Potter. You could summon every book at once is a testament to your power but I feel you have not been taught to use the summoning charm to collect things. I will teach you to use the summoning charm this way. Observe."

He raised his wand and flourished it in the required motion and keeping it raised, he directed the books flying through the air to an open trunk. Within seconds, all the books were stacked neatly in the trunk. As soon as the last book was in the trunk, he upended the trunk and the books were again littered on the floor. He banished them throughout the pile.

Grinning, he looked at Harry, "Could not have done your work for you, could I?"

Harry shrugged but did not say anything. He raised his wand and did as the mystic had taught him but halfway through the process, the books lost their will and fell to the floor. The mystic again sent the books all over the room. This time Harry raised his wand and used the charm with all his power. The books came flying from all directions and fell into the trunk in a heap leaving the mystic laughing.

"Mr. Potter," he said, wiping tears from his eyes, "did you use all your power?"

Harry sheepishly grinned, "I thought this way the books would not fall midway."

The mystic nodded, "Yes, but you need to learn how much power you need to use. You are like a power house full of unlimited power but if you do not know how to  
use that power, it will cause accidents like this. Now sort these books into neat stacks."

When Harry told him that he did not know the charm, the mystic taught him the charm and the motion. It was not a very complex motion but he had not used it before so he had to try it more than once. A few tries later and the books were sitting in orderly stacks in the trunk.

Instructing him to arrange the other items in the other trunks, the mystic left him there. After 20 minutes, Harry had arranged everything in the trunks with the lids closed. As he waited and the mystic did not come, he shrunk the trunks, kept them in his pockets and went to the deck where he found that the mystics were making arrangements to go forth.

His hippogriff, Blackstorm, was tethered to the rail with a flying horse he remembered that they were called Pegasus or something, alongside. As soon as he emerged, he was approached by the mystic who he had been helping below decks, "Mr. Potter, you will travel with Guruji on your hippogriff. You both are taking the route from Gujarat to the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, then the state of Punjab from there you will reach near the Himalayas. This evening you both will reach the mystic camp in the Thar Desert and will stay there for today. Tomorrow, you will be given directions for the journey ahead. Now I must warn you about the perils ahead. We have many enemies and most of them have tried to sabotage our order by directing attacks on Guruji. We have averted all their attacks so far but they have never ceased. It is your duty to ensure that no harm comes to our Guruji. You will be his guard for today and use anything that you have in your arsenal."

Harry nodded but was worried. He was just a teenager who was being asked to act as guard for someone much more experienced than him. He knew that any attack on the Lord of Mystics would not be stunners and disarming spells but dark magic. He had no experience of duelling anyone but he resolved to do his best.

"Are you ready for the journey Harry?" Harsh's voice brought him out of his musing, "we better be going. The journey is long and the path is hard."

Approaching Black Storm, he bowed and when the beast lowered its head, he patted its flanks before mounting. As soon as he was mounted, Black Storm ran for a while on the deck and spreading its wings, took to the air instantly. As he ascended, he found that Harsh's Pegasus was flying at the same speed as him. The flying horse was a regal creature with its chestnut color, 15 feet spread of wings and tall musculature. They started by flying to the north in general with an accelerated pace. About an hour or two into the ride, Harry was bored of idle flying.

As they were flying, he could see desert beneath him spreading for miles. He turned to Harsh, "Guruji, what is this area we are flying through?"

"This", Harsh made an expansive gesture with his arms, "is the Thar Desert. One of the biggest deserts in the world and this particular area is the part of the no-man's land between India and Pakistan. This is the international border where none of them can claim sovereignty. This desert is important to us magicals because there are so many things found in the sands which are useful for us only. We have been keeping a post in here since the tribe was formed."

"Guruji, I have been curious about your tribe' Harry asked, 'I mean what it is and how one can join you?".

"The tribe is like a big family where we have wizards and witches of extra ordinary abilities. This tribe is a force which often clashes with the forces of evil. Our primary task is to serve mother magic and do her bidding. To be a part of this tribe, one has to give up all their attachments and identities. Once you become a part of us, you forgo your previous life.", Harsh said, lost in thought, "No one can join it by themselves but we seek them out. We always test them and their characters and see they are susceptible to corrupted by power. If we find someone is power hungry and would use it to wreck havoc, we never go to them. Decades ago, we were studying two men who were extra ordinarily powerful and talented but we found one of them though was powerful but could use our secrets to bring destruction and the other wanted to expose all our secrets to the world. The first never sought us out and we never approached him and we avoided the second and dissuaded him from finding us with some difficulty. Years later, those men were turned to be heros and villains to the wizarding world."

"Are you talking about Head Master?", Harry asked hesitantly.

"Yes", Harsh smiled, "Your head master was adamant about finding us to learn our secrets but those secrets being known to others would have caused much more damage than they prevented. We had given a thought to invite Albus to be a part of this tribe but we gave up on the idea instantly because we knew he would never give up on his identity. He had the best interests of Wizarding Britain in his heart and he could not be convinced otherwise in any way."

"Identity?", Harry asked in confusion.

"Yes", Harsh replied, "to become a mystic you have to give up on your life. You have to renounce everything that you were in life, your family, your identity and even your name. Albus loved Wizarding Britain too much to give up on it. We have had members from around the world in our tribe since we started and at times, we take help from witches and wizards who do not wish to join us."

"I do not understand", Harry said.

"You remember I told Mr. Longbottom that his family wand was given to me?", Harsh asked. "The wand belonged to Lord Harfang Longbottom who was powerful in his own might. We were in a war in Bulgaria where we were fighting a dark lord who had a massive army at his side and we sought his help. He along with your ancestor Lord Potter and a few other members of your family's alliance answered to my pleas and we raised a force. We won the war but the Lord Longbottom succumbed in the war trying to protect your ancestor. The wand was given to me by Lord Longbottom while his body was taken to Avalon by your ancestor. We have sought help from many people around the world in many conflicts but those people do not become members of the tribe."

Harry nodded his head thoughtfully absorbing every bit of the information he was being told.

"What is the story of the goblins?", Harry asked Harsh, "why were they not allowing you into the bank?".

Harsh chuckled, "During the second goblin rebellion in 16th century, the wizards were fighting a tough fight and the losses were heavy on both sides. There was a stale mate situation with none of them getting upper hand. We were watching closely and when we were asked to help by the alliance, we sent best of our warriors. I led my people through the goblin stronghold with members of the alliance and we killed nearly 300 goblins in a few hours. As we reached the leaders of the rebellion, the wizarding forces were signalled to make the move to quell the rebels. The rebellion was quelled in few hours but so many goblins were killed with a lot of wizards. When it was time to frame a treaty, the goblins sought for me to be punished but I had already vanished with all my warriors. The treaty was entered into and the Goblins were forbidden to carry a wand but they expressly banned me from entering any of the branches of Gringotts. I never had much use of the bank before but sometimes, I had to go to them and they get in a tizzy. I have fought them many times since then but never a full scale war but like little skirmishes or battles which get resolved with killing a number of them. The last time I visited was about 70 years ago when I was trying to find some ancient relics and I suspected them to be housed in a high security vault. The goblins denied me entry and when I refused to leave, they attacked me. I was successful in entering the bank but they were too many. I slaughtered too many of them and Iron Fist who was one of their best warriors fought me to almost standstill before I was able to hang him as an egg for a dragon. While they hate me for killing a lot of them, they respect anyone with power."

Harry smiled thinking of the story. It was incredible but he could not remember being taught about the mystics in the history taught by Professor Binns. When he asked the question, Harsh shrugged, "As I said, we work from shadows Harry. When we have to work in open, we take different identities. Your ministry was only told that some foreign help was sought and used to quell the rebels. As there were not many fighters and the number of Aurors was going down, we were welcomed without any questions asked."

"Now Harry, we are going to land near the sand dunes there", Harsh pointed to a dune nearby, "there is the stop for tonight."

Harry landed near the designated spot and as soon as he dismounted, a mystic appeared at his side to take the reins of the hippogriff.

Harry could see nothing in sight and turned to Harsh, "Where is the stop, Guruji?"

Harsh smirked and said cryptically, "You need to know where to go. Magic leaves its traces. Tell me Harry what you experienced when you visited Ollivander's for the first time?"

Harry thought back to the moment 4 years ago when he had stepped into Ollivander's and he had felt a rush of wind which raised his hair for a moment. He nodded to the mystic, "Yes Guruji. I felt a tingle on my skin when I entered and a rush of wind which raised my hair for a moment."

Harsh smiled, "Interesting. You had spent a decade away from the magical world and were no better than a muggle born yet you distinctly felt the magical tingle on your skin. It says a lot about your magical prowess. The tingle that you felt was magic. Ollivander's shop is very old and exudes ambient magic with all those people going in to find a wand suitable to them. You felt the magic which lingers there and that shows that you are blessed by mother magic."

He then thrust his hand forward and asked Harry to do the same, "Harry, concentrate on the environment around you and try to find the same feeling that you had got in Ollivander's. As soon as you get that feeling, thrust your hand in that direction and try to grasp anything which may be present there. I would not be disappointed if you do not find anything."

Harry closed his eyes and tried to feel something. For five minutes, his mind kept wandering to different thoughts like Hogwarts, Susan Bones, Sirius Black, his parents and many other things which kept popping up for no reason. As he tried harder, he thought he could feel some tingling sensation and tried to advance his senses in that direction but could not find anything more. Frustrated, he opened his eyes to find Harsh looking at him curiously.

Harsh said, "Did you find anything Harry?"

Harry shook his head, "I could not concentrate at first. Things kept popping up in my mind and after trying hard, I could feel a tingling sensation but that was all."

"Don't worry Mr. Potter.", Harsh said, "It is normal to happen. No one gets it in the first chance. This place does not even have that much residual magic for novice to feel around. However, after you training you would be able to feel it easily."

Harsh grasped something in the air and within a second, he had a rope in his hand. As he pulled on the rope, a door appeared and they went inside. Inside was a three story complex which resembled a small fort with thick brick walls, torches burning in their sconces and guards at every gate. They went through a tunnel on the right side of the door which opened into a big hall which was big enough to rival the parlour in Bones Manor. The walls were sparsely decorated with a coat of arms hanging on one wall. The coat of arms showed a two headed bird soaring through the air alongside an owl with wands crossed in the background and there were some words beneath it which Harry could not understand.

On the far side of the room, there was a raised platform on which sat a comfortable looking arm chair while a number of chairs were arranged in two rows in front of the platform. Harsh climbed the platform and sat on the chair while Harry stood dumbly not knowing what to do till he was prodded by a mystic to stand beside Harsh. He recalled that he was protecting Harsh for the journey however he did not know anything of the perceived threat. He took out his wand and stood in alert position behind Harsh's chair while he held a meeting which lasted for an hour.

After they were done, Harsh proceeded to the dining room where Harry again noticed that many of the mystics did not touch any meat on the dining table however Harry tried some of those and found them to be quite delicious. As dinner ended, one of the mystics cornered him, "Mr. Potter, as I understand you are working as security for Guruji. For the next 4 hours, you will stand guard outside his bed chamber and then you will be relieved of your duties. It is your duty to ensure that no harm comes upon him."

Harry nodded his head, looking determined.

2 hours later, as Harry was alertly guarding the entrance of the bed chamber, he heard approaching footsteps but could not see anyone. At first he was confused but soon he realised that whoever it was, they were using the disillusionment charm which he had seen at Privet Drive. As he looked more closely, he could see shimmering in the air at 4 places. Immediately he whipped his wand out and shot a couple of stunners in the directions he could hear steps coming from while remaining alert. A great thud was heard and two people fell to the ground while two more people became visible and immediately started raining hexes on him forcing him to conjure his most powerful shield.

One of the men fired a light blue spell at him which he recognised as a blasting hex. He shielded against the hex and turned to the other man who had just raised his wand at him. Knowing himself to be outnumbered, he took the approach he knew best. He started casting at the best of his speed by firing off whatever came to his mind. As he was raining down on them, he even cast a lot of the grey spells (spells which are borderline dark) which he ordinarily would not have done. Sometimes, he would dodge and sometimes he would shield but mostly he kept up the attack and the two men were on the defensive the entire time but keeping him on his toes. After about 20 minutes, as Harry's energy was ebbing, he got worried about not being able to stop the men but at the same moment, Harsh appeared from his chambers, "At ease, men."

The two men immediately lowered their wands and Harry did the same. Harsh signalled all of them to follow him into the hall where he was seated like everyone else unlike before.

Harsh started, "What is your assessment of Harry, Viraksh?"

The mystic Viraksh gathered his thoughts for a moment before he spoke, "Guruji, Mr. Potter is very powerful and has a knee jerk reaction to events around him. He had situational awareness around him and he heard our footsteps from about 200 meters away and within seconds, he had fired stunners at us. These two were lax and paid for it with being stunned before they could even fire a stinging hex and Mr. Potter did not allow us to fire more than a handful of hexes. He kept us at bay for 20 minutes and that is impressive considering he did not incapacitate us but only kept firing high powered hexes at us. To keep firing such high powered spells for so long is a testament to his prowess. Whoever is training him has trained him well. But he will need to be trained intensely if he is to match that abomination in a battle."

Viraksh tipped his head in acknowledgement towards Harry while the other mystic did the same.

Afterwards, they were dismissed for the night with Harry going to sleep extremely tired and content to have been able to hold his own against the mystics. And he was hopeful with what they had said about training him. He was glad there was someone who was interested in training him to deal with Voldemort for good. He had started taking notice of things which he had observed happening in himself. He was feeling confident and he had started to try to regulate the amount of power that went into his spells. He also had started to try to connect with his magical core as it said in the book. This was proving frustrating to him because he could not feel a thing within him and the book said that it was important for him for any witch or wizard to find their magical core since it would help them to use the most of their magical strength. He was surprised that Hermione never brought up this subject and neither did Ron but then probably they didn't know about it. He would ask them when he returned.

Thinking of England, his thoughts went to his friends and extended family there. The first he thought was of the Marauders who tended to him like their own child and always tried to do their best by him. He thought of Hermione who was off to Europe with her parents on holiday. He thought about her reaction when she finds out about what he was learning. He could imagine her nagging at him to teach her everything he had learned. Then he thought of Neville and his parents who had quickly adopted him as one of their own. He thought of the Weasleys who considered him as their extended family and treated him as such since the day he had gone to the Burrow before his 2nd year. He thought of Susan Bones and his heart did a little somersault but he could not understand the feeling. He thought of Amelia and her kindness towards him. He wondered how they were preparing for war but he knew that whatever they were doing would be useful for the war. He idly wondered whether the head master had found any more of the Horcruxes. Eventually he fell asleep tired of his exertions of the day.

**Black Town House, London**

Dumbledore was sitting at the head of the table in the meeting room waiting for other members of the order to arrive. He had received an owl from Amelia during the day which stated that there was business which needed to be discussed only with the inner circle members of the Order. So, he had sent patroni to the Weasley members, Sirius, Remus, Alastor, Kingsley, Minerva and Nymphadora. As per Madam Bones expressed orders, Severus had not been invited to this meeting.

Albus heard the door opening and the Weasley's walked in followed by the Marauder duo, then the aurors and lastly Minerva came in with Amelia who was laughing at something Minerva had just told her.

"Welcome everyone to this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix", Dumbledore announced, "Madam Bones has called this meeting saying she has some new business to share with us."

He pointed to Amelia, who started, "Due to the efforts of some students, I came into some information which has given me unprecedented leverage over the minister. I decided to make some use of the information before we axe him. Armed with the information, I confronted Cornelius and persuaded him to agree to have a trial for Sirius Black before the Wizengamot. During which Cornelius has pledged his full support to us.", Amelia smirked "needless to say, within a fortnight Sirius Black will be cleared of the perceived crimes against the Potters and the murder of 12 muggles."

This elated everyone who was present at the meeting knowing that Sirius being free would work in their favour since his political clout was still more far reaching than anyone else, considering the number of vassals that the House of Black had. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling like mad, his mind in over drive about the leverage to Fudge. He turned to Amelia, "Can we use the information to coax him into increase the budget of DMLE or initiate emergency measures?"

Amelia shrugged, "No, Albus. We cannot do that without getting the consent of the majority of the Wizengamot and as far as we know, even with all 11 of Harry's votes, we will be short of a majority because the dark and neutral faction together are larger than light. We need to break the neutrals to gain any advantage."

Sirius who had been sitting quietly all this while turned to Dumbledore, "Who will be looking after Harry's seats? I mean he is not of the age where he can attend the Wizengamot according to the rules, so there will be a regent. He has 4 houses and I believe there have to be 4 regents in that case."

Dumbledore sat smiling for a moment then said, "This will depend on Harry alone but if I were to guess, he would name you, Remus and Amelia as the regents for those houses. Probably you will handle two of his houses."

As there was not much else to discuss, the meeting was adjourned quickly.

**Malfoy Manor**

Tom Riddle was holding court in the ball room of the manor with all the men that he had been able to recruit since he came back. Most of them were his old followers, some were those who had returned to him the night he came back, others were those who had supported him from the sidelines without taking the mark. Many of these were aurors or part of the ministry in the capacity of Department heads or at obscure positions where they could work for him without anyone finding out about it. These had been informed of his return by the death eaters and this was the first time since he returned that they had gathered here for him.

His return had not gone according to plan. True that using the boy's blood had, at least, made it possible for him to touch the boy without being burned, but that was as far as it went. Instead of the humiliating death he had planned for the little whelp, he had resisted the Imperius curse, his Imperius curse, a thing that had never happened before. Then there was that thing which happened between their wands. And finally, the little wretch survived his killing curse... again! Had his death eaters seen the fear in his eyes? Had they noticed the shock and temporary weakness he experienced when his killing curse hit the boy? No, he did not think so. It was dark and they were all very busy trying to stop the boy. But they failed and the little wretch escaped. At least the wizarding world at large did not believe in his return. It had been surprisingly easy to manipulate the minister with a little nudge and gracious donations from Lucius to use his position as minister to discredit and deny any account of his return. He also had lost two of his faithful who ironically were the very same ones who had been instrumental in helping him gain this body. Severus had told him of the rat being caught by Dumbledore and Barty being captured by an obscure wizard that no one knew about. He had lost two followers in exchange for a body, a trade he considered fair since he was sure that he could break the rat out of Azkaban when he stormed it.

A visit to the prison was in order to break out his most trusted and loyal followers but that had to wait. For now, he was lying low so that nobody could confirm that he was back. From the shadows, he and his followers continued to recruit and add to their numbers. There was very little success so far but he hoped for that to change when he decided it was time to step into the open, whenever that may be. Right now his two main concerns were getting his hands on that prophesy and discovering what happened to the two death eaters who had been missing for a week now. He had assigned them to scout out St. Mungo's and they had not been seen since. Perhaps they had deserted his ranks. They and their families will be punished obviously.

One thing which had been lying heavy on his mind was how the boy had escaped twice from him. The boy had been hit with the killing curse twice now but he had lived. Perhaps he was immune to the curse. What's more is the first time the boy survived the curse, it had rebounded on him, breaking his power and leaving him a disembodied consciousness, even less than a ghost. The second time, he felt shock and weakness, as if a part of him was destroyed instead of the boy dying. He would have to research more to be certain. He was sure that the boy could still be killed. There are worse ways to kill someone than the killing curse. Voldemort favoured that form of execution because, for some reason, killing someone while leaving no sign of injury on their body was somehow much more intimidating than leaving a mangled mess. Ah, well, he would just have to make a mess, this time. The death will be gruesome and painful, of course. The boy had escaped him too many times and for him one was far too many. To complete his quest for world domination, he would have to kill Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. Those two had been thorns in his side for far too long. He knew that he could not be killed but he needed to hear that prophecy. Pity Severus had only heard a part of it. His men's attempts at the department of mysteries were getting nowhere with the order playing guard all the time and the unspeakable security. He would need inside help in the department. His old faithful, Rookwood was incarcerated in Azkaban. He would need to break him out. Then he would be able to do something but for the time being, his followers were trying different methods to obtain the prophecy.

Another thing that had worried him initially was the locked wands which had happened when he and the boy were locked in a battle of wills. How the boy was able to beat him was beyond his comprehension but it showed that the boy was powerful for his age. It could mean that in a few years, the boy will be more powerful than him and it did not bode well. The boy will need to die before he did anything. He had tried to find the boy's muggle relatives' home since he knew that he stayed there during the summers but Severus had informed him that Dumbledore had removed the boy from them and the muggles had moved away. No one knew where Dumbledore was keeping the boy. The only good news that Severus had brought him was that the boy's wand had been destroyed in the grave yard which meant their wands would not be locked into a struggle again.

The boy, the boy, it kept coming back to the boy. He had tried and failed to kill the boy three times now. He needed to kill the boy and that cursed prophesy held the key to killling the boy and he must have it. His thoughts went round and round. Then Lucius spoke into the silence, breaking him from his reverie.

"My Lord,", Lucius said, "We have tried every way we could think of to pick up that prophecy from its shelf but it has not yielded any results yet. Marcus Flint is still in St. Mungo's being treated for his injuries but the hopes of his recovery are next to nothing."

At the same time, Voldemort was angry that he had been distracted from his thoughts and welcomed the opportunity to entertain himself, he raised his wand at Malfoy, "Crucio". He laughed inwardly as he watched the least trustworthy of his death eaters squirm and struggle not to cry out. A full minute passed as he relished the pain and made his point for all those in the room who might think to defy him before he lifted his wand,. In his high, cold voice, he spoke slowly and deliberately, "You dare to speak out of turn, Lucius? You forget your place."

Malfoy said nothing, but shook his head fervently.

The Dark Lord addressed the people in the room, "I want the prophecy by any means necessary. I do not care what you have to do to obtain it but, obtain it, you shall."

**Cottage on the hill**

Alastor Moody was thoroughly irritated. The brats before him were green. They had seen nothing of war and their minds were not attuned to combat at all. The way he was training them, they would never reach their full potential. For one thing, none of them knew anything beyond the standard spells or curses which were taught in the academic curriculum. He had been hoping that things would be better with the Bones lass or the Longbottom boy whose families had a long history of warriors and their family magic was full of such magics as are useful in battles.

He rued the death of Edgar Bones. He was a fighter and often praised by others for his skills but he had died in the previous war saving his family. He was adept in the Bones family magic and if he were here, he would have been an excellent instructor for the students and at the very least he could have taught a thing or two about his family magic to his daughter.

Likewise he missed Frank and Alice Longbottom who were excellent aurors and still fondly remembered by the men in the ranks as being warriors beyond all compare. To vouch for their exemplary skills, they had fought with You-Know-Who three times and had escaped him, a feat only rivalled by James and Lily Potter. The squad of Amelia, James, Frank, Alice and Sirius Black was known for their efficiency and ruthlessness in the battle field. As soon as they arrived in battle, they had the power to turn the tide of war in favour of the Aurors. He had been surprised when they all sans Amelia had left the Auror forces but he understood their reason. They all were fighters but they often fought to keep their family safe. James and Lily had started their family and Harry Potter was just born which forced them to go into hiding and likewise Frank and Alice had their family to care for. They were some of the best Aurors that Moody had trained in a long time and had come to love as family.

When he heard of the death of the Potters and the incapacitation of the Longbottoms, he had gone into a rage. He still remembered how he had been in a hospital bed recovering from his injuries when he heard the news. He had reported for duty the same day. The next few weeks, he had hunted death eater scum and killed as many as he found. It was only when all the death eaters were either captured or killed that Moody tendered his resignation and went into retirement. The war had given him too more wounds than he needed and he would be damned if the snake faced monster took anymore people away.

Seeing the children all arrive through the floo, he hobbled towards them. He barked orders to them to do some warm up before he ran them through the mill.

After about 30 minutes, he had all of them before him, panting and tired.

Looking at all of them closely, he barked, "Who can tell me about the blasting hex?"

Immediately Hermione Granger started, "The blasting hex is one of the standard hexes which are used to blast obstacles into tiny fragments. It has two variants- Bombarda and Bombarda Maxima of which the Bombarda Maxima is more powerful. The required wand motion is half counter clockwise circle. The colour of spell may vary from Light Blue to Purple depending upon the power used in casting."

Moody muttered, "Typical Ravenclaw answer. You copied the book, lass?"

Hermione looked flabbergasted but did not say anything.

Moody turned to the twins, "You two, how would you describe the blasting hex?"

One of the twins raised his wand and incanted, "Bombarda" shooting a light blue spell towards Moody who absorbed it into a shield he had raised almost instantly. The other twin instantly fired "Bombarda Maxima" which was deep purple and Moody batted aside with a flick of his wand.

Turning to the others, he manically grinned, "This is not your class and I am not your professor. Here you are to be trained in the ways of a warrior so that you are able to hold your own in a fight. I do not require parchments for the work I assign but I need you to learn what is in those books. Your life may depend upon them and do not shun any spell as irrelevant. Even a simple stinging hex may get you an advantage."

"Now I am going to see if any of you can dodge or shield. I will fire hexes at you all randomly. I want you to shield or dodge them", he barked.

Immediately he started firing stinging hexes randomly at everyone there. Sometimes they connected, sometimes they were dodged or shielded against when he realised that they shielded more than dodging. He instantly started firing shield breaking hexes and soon all of them were scurrying for cover. Soon enough, they all sported welts or bruises from all the times they failed at dodging or shielding and when their shields were broken.

**THAR DESERT, INDIA**

Harry Potter woke up tired and sore. Yesterday had been a long day and he had only been able to sleep for a few hours. Every small movement was a new experience in pain. He gritted his teeth and persuaded his limbs to get out of bed, one muscle at a time. He got to his feet and stretched every joint and muscle through its full range of motion, feeling them protest as he did. In a few minutes, the soreness was still present, but he felt more limber and thought that he could bear it. Feeling a bit unsteady, but making his movements deliberate and slow, he made his way to the main assembly hall where the mystics were just sitting down to breakfast.

He had expanded his trunk which he kept in his pocket, and was rummaging around, trying to find his toiletries.

The mystic Vikrash approached him, "Mr. Potter, you will not use mundane methods to do your chores."

"Huh?", Harry muttered groggily.

The mystic suppressed his smile, "I mean Mr. Potter that till the time you are with us you will not use muggle ways to do things. For anything that you do, you are supposed to use magic for it. From brushing your teeth to other chores that you may have, you will use magic for it."

Harry nodded his head and pulling his wand, he summoned his toiletries before he was directed to a bath situated on the first floor of the building. The bath had a big tub in it which was big enough for 4-5 people at once, but there were no taps in the bathroom. As he was stumped at this, he quickly remembered the mystic words about using magic for everything and raised his wand, "Aguamenti!" A thick jet of water started flowing from his wand and in 5 minutes, the tub was filled but he felt quite the drain on his magic. As he slipped into the tub, he immediately forgot the exhaustion.

He appeared in the hall after 20 minutes, dressed in a black robe with his cloak billowing behind him. There was the Potter crest on the left side of the robe with the Peverell crest and on the left side, he had another crest which he was sure was the mystic's crest.

As he entered the hall, he found the mystics were hauling a large bundle out of the front door. As they stepped out, the mystics laid the bundle on the ground while one of them whipped his wand out and tapped it with his wand. The bundle unfurled itself and he found that it was a carpet like the ones he had heard about in fairy tales. The carpet was about 20 feet long and 15 feet wide and 6 inches thick blood red in colour.

Harsh stepped onto the carpet followed by Harry while the mystics retreated to a distance. Harsh tapped his wand to the carpet while muttering something under his breath which Harry did not understand but within seconds, the carpet was starting to hover in the air and in a few moments they were airborne.

Harry had flown on brooms, hippogriffs and now he was flying on a carpet and all were different experiences. Flying on a broom felt like he was in command. Riding a hippogriff was like an extension of his thoughts since he had started riding Blackstorm. While on a carpet, he felt like something else was in control.

He turned to the mystic, "Guruji, we could have apparated to the tribe's home. Why are we travelling this way?"

Harsh smile at his thoughtfulness, "we could have done that Harry but think it as part of your training. Besides, all the initiates of the tribe have to go through this process. While you are not going to become a permanent member of our tribe, you have been accorded honorary member's status."

Harry smiled but said nothing.

"Harry, this area that we are passing through is notorious for attacks. We have been attacked too many times here by all sort of creatures and people. That is one reason that we use carpets to travel through this region but the most dangerous are the flying serpents which are some abominations bred by a nefarious wizard and used against us for a long time now", Harsh said to him, "I want you to use whatever you have to resist any attacks and make sure that no one is able to climb aboard the carpet..

Harry nodded while he tightened his grasp on the wand. His mind was furiously imagining all the scenarios which they might face, one of them being him getting toppled over the edge of the carpet. As he raised the question to Harsh, he guffawed, "No Harry. Unless I wish it, none of us will drop over the edge. You see there is a layer of sticking charm embedded in the carpet which would keep you on board. Unless I wish you cannot leave of here by yourself."

Harry's mind started thinking over the other aspect of the situation- the flying snakes. If he had faced this problem before the first task, he could have simply talked to it but he had not tested his parsel tongue ability since the third task and as so many things had changed after being hit with the curse. Who knew if he retained the ability? Perhaps, it was time for him to find out.

As they sped onwards in silence, he saw some creatures flying towards the carpet and he started blasting them out of the sky before they could land. He successfully blasted some of them while he petrified others however a couple of them landed on the carpet. While he banished one off of the carpet, one flew to him with the intention to strike him. Before Harry could banish it, it sank its fangs into his leg. Harry felt a little sting but could not feel the effects of the snake poison. Before he could devote more thoughts to the issue, he found the snake dissolving with its flesh burning away like hot wax and the snake was writhing in agony. He saw another of the snakes near him poised to strike and Harry yelled, _"Stop!"_

"_A speakerrrrr..._", The snake hissed in reply, quivering all the time.

"_Don't bite me or you will die_", Harry hissed back to the snake, "_Can you understand me_?"

"_You have scent of a speaker about you great one, I am not worthy to talk_", the snake replied.

_"My friend can you tell me why I did not die when that Snake bit me?_", Harry asked pointing to the dead snake.

"_You have the poison of the great serpent coursing in your blood, it protects you from all ssssnake poison_", the snake replied.

_"Its okay noble beast. Do you think you can leave here without causing any troubles to us?_" Harry asked the snake.

The snake said nothing but dipped its hood towards Harry in form of respect and flew away. Harsh who had been watching everything curiously turned to him, "Are you a parsel tongue, Harry?"

Harry turned to him, expecting loathing in his eyes but he found intrigue,

"Yes Guruji. The first time I knew was when we were at the zoo for Dudley's eleventh birthday. There was a rather sad boa constrictor at the reptile house and Dudley was getting his father to try and wake him up. When he just kept laying there, the others lost interest and wandered off. Then I started talking to the snake and found out that he could understand me. Then there was that time at the duelling club when Malfoy, at Snape's suggestion, conjured a great ugly snake and set it on me. While I was deciding what to do next, Lockheart hurt it and the snake went after another one of the students. Next thing I knew, I went gliding across the room after it and called it off. That was when people started telling me how rare this ability is and that they thought only dark wizards could do it. I could also hear the great basilisk muttering to itself when it was moving through the plumbing. When I asked Head Master about it, he thought that I could speak to snakes because Voldemort transferred some of his power to me when he gave me this scar.", he indicated his forehead. "I thought I had lost the ability when the second killing curse destroyed the soul fragment within me."

Harsh nodded his head in thought while Harry continued speaking, "I also thought you would hate me."

"Hate you?", Harsh said in amazement, "Why would I hate you for having a gift of magic, Harry? This is a very rare gift and only those blessed by mother magic have this gift. It is the hypocrisy of British Wizards who classify things into light and dark. We embrace all the gifts that Mother Magic has so generously bestowed on us. While none of your Potter ancestors had this gift on their side, your Black heritage had some of their descendants gifted with this gift of Parsel tongue having come from Egypt where wizards with parsel tongue are still found in abundance."

Harry nodded feeling relieved. He had initially thought that the mystic would be repulsed that Harry was a parsel tongue but he was finding that a lot of his apprehensions were baseless when it came to the mystics.

"What I am curious about is what did you say to the snake and why did not the poison of the snake kill you?", Harsh asked, eyeing him curiously.

Harry smiled embarrassed, "He told me that I am a speaker and that he is not worthy to talk to me. He said that I have basilisk venom and it protects me."

"Oh yes, the monster of Slytherin", Harsh smiled, "the basilisk he had put in the school to act as school defense in case of an intrusion."

"How do you know about the Basilisk?", Harry asked in amazement.

"If you are asking how I know there was a Basilisk in Hogwarts then you have to remember that I knew Salazar since he was a child", Harsh smirked at the look on Harry's face, his face showing surprise and his eyes wide, "Salazar told me that he intended to put a Basilisk in the hidden chamber where he had his living quarters. No one knows how the rumour that he hated the muggle-born started since he used to find and bring muggle born wizards and witches to Hogwarts and look after them personally. If you are asking how I know you faced a basilisk then Dumbledore recounted that tale to your godfather and I was there to listen. However, he had not mentioned of you being a parsel mouth."

Harry's mind was reeling with what he was told as he had never known half the things that Harsh was telling him notwithstanding that there was no public information available about any of the founders. He realised that he had been fed a long standing prejudice against Slytherin without any facts to support the statement.

He turned to Harsh again, "What do you mean that he used to bring muggle born wizards and witches to Hogwarts?"

Harsh started, "It was a dark time for wizards and witches all around, Harry. It was an age when wizards were hunted by muggles out of fear, their wands were snapped or they were killed in general by muggles. Muggle born wizards had it worst since their parent would kill them thinking them to be abnormal or freaks of nature. Salazar recognised the need to save them and he devised a plan where he often went to families where they despised their magical child and he often whisked them away to Hogwarts from where they were taken in by wizarding families and raised as pure-bloods. Later, many of those wizards started their own families many of whom are ancient families now. He had left on invitation from the somewhere in Europe to open a school to rival Hogwarts. Legends state that he had died in a battle which involved some rather nasty evil wizards who all ganged up on him and took him down. We tried to find what happened but never found a trace of it."

Harry was in awe of the story. Salazar sounded like a noble man who lived to serve magic all his life and even made efforts to make things easy for Muggle Born wizards. He resolved then to make friends with some of the good Slytherins when he returned to Hogwarts. He felt is unjust to condemn one-fourth of the school only because they belonged to a different house.

After Harsh finished is tale, they kept flying in silence till late evening when Harsh landed the carpet in dense woods. As soon as the carpet touched the ground, 4 mystics appeared like shadows and escorted them to a clearing in the woods and gave a folded piece of fabric to him, "This is the tent Mr. Potter. Erect it while we make food arrangements."

As they left, Harry was standing there with the tent in his hand, thinking furiously about the spell he had seen people use to erect a tent. "I believe the charm is erectus with the wand movement of a quarter clock wise rotation with a flick at the end", he muttered to himself.

Harry put the bundle in the clearing and pointed his wand at it incanting, "Erectus!", while he gave a clockwise quarter rotation with a flick and the tent started erecting itself. Within seconds, the job was done. On the inside it was three stories tall and resembled the tents he had seen at the Quidditch World Cup.

Next morning, Harry woke up refreshed and as he stepped out of the tent, Harsh grabbed his hand and was gone.

**Ministry of Magic, London**

Cornelius Fudge was sweating bullets. As soon as Amelia had left his office that day after properly intimidating him with all the parchment pieces she held, he had immediately decided to acquiesce to her demands lest she barge into his office with an arrest warrant. With the evidence she was holding, he would get a one-way trip to Azkaban. That would be catastrophic for fudge, and he flattered himself to think it would be catastrophic for the ministry as well. Umbridge had pestered and pried at him to try and get the details of the meeting between him and Madame Bones from him. Fudge had to resort to threatening to fire her, again, to get her to stop.

The junior undersecretary Weasley was silent and keeping an eye over things happening. The boy was a consummate politician and a shrewd person. He had the sense to see what way the wind is blowing and to choose his side wisely. Fudge had already decided to keep an eye on him if he remained minister for long, which didn't look likely right now. Cornelius realised that he had reached the end of his tether and there is nothing much that he could do about it.

As Amelia laid into him about his crimes he felt remorse for his younger righteous self which he had sacrificed at the altar of his ambition. He had fallen from the path the moment he decided to take his first bribe from a suspected death eater. Soon he was engaged in rampant corruption, turning a blind eye to everything Lucius did. He had easily agreed to Amelia's demand to arrange a trial for Sirius Black since the alternative was to become a permanent guest of the dementors. It was political suicide. Black had been his favourite scape-goat and this sudden reversal was certain political suicide. But, that ship had already sailed and maybe, just maybe, if he owned up to one mistake, he might find work somewhere.

Amelia had Peter Pettigrew in custody. The naked tailed rodent had confessed, under Veritaserum, that he had betrayed the Potters. He also confessed to faking his own death, cutting off his own finger and setting off the explosion, which killed all those muggles, to cover his escape into the sewers. Based on that testimony, Sirius Black's only crime was breaking out of Azkaban and since he did not belong there, that was no crime at all. As minister, he could simply issue a pardon, but the formal procedure would look better and distance him from responsibility for the decision. It looked even better in light of the fact that an heir of one of the most ancient and noble houses had been tossed into a cell without a trial. Now, he would get one. Maybe, with some luck, he might not get any more flack from the Daily Prophet. Ever since that day when they announced that they are under new ownership, they had been out for his blood.

He had sent out notices to call an emergency session of the Wizengamot to hear the matter today. Lucius had arrived within minutes of receiving the notice and looked furious that Cornelius had called an emergency session without conferring with him. Cornelius had to remind him that he was the minister and as such it was his prerogative and he did not need Lucius's advice to do his job. As Lucius seethed and took his seat, Cornelius jovially greeted many of his acquaintances and warmly shook hands with the Chief Warlock. He had heard that the DMLE chief was getting real cozy with the chief warlock and as such, Cornelius wanted to be in everyone's good books.

"The emergency meeting of the Wizengamot for the month of July is now called to order.", announced the voice of Chief Warlock Dumbledore, "Minister Fudge has called this session, therefore, let him address it. Minister, the floor is yours."

Cornelius stood and casting a sonorous at his throat, began

"Thank-you Chief Warlock Dumbledore. It has recently come to my attention that a man who has been living under a death sentence has never received a trial. A few days ago, DMLE head Bones brought evidence to my attention that may prove that man's innocence. We have gathered here today to hear the facts regarding this case and to determine his guilt or innocence. Regardless of the outcome, we will have, at the very least, have corrected the egregious injustice, which was committed by the previous administration, of holding this man without trial in blatant violation of his most basic rights. I give the floor to DMLE Head Bones", he nodded to Amelia and sat down.

Amelia stood and faced the assembly, "Thank-you Minister Fudge. The accused is one Sirius Orion of the Ancient and Most Noble house of Black."

There was a general intake of breath mixed reactions of fear, loathing and surprise. A few even chuckled.

Malfoy's face was a mask of cold fury. With a contemptuous sneer on his face and a tone to match, he was on his feet, "You cannot be serious! There is no possibility that man is innocent! I move that we dismiss this proceeding and track him down like a dog! He deserves death!"

At that moment, several things happened at once. The entire room went silent. Albus Dumbledore tapped his gavel twice, "There had been no trial for Sirius Black in the first war and such he was wrongfully incarcerated in Azkaban in ignorance of the due process of law and violation of principles of natural justice. One more outburst and you will be sent out of these august chambers.

Malfoys pointy pale face rapidly went from crimson to gray. He swallowed his angry retort and sat down muttering, "Yes, Chief Warlock Dumbledore."

Madame Bones waited a moment for the reaction to finish then continued, "Prior to his incarceration, the most serious charge against this wizard was for creating a nuisance in connection with his involvement in a brawl at The Leaky Cauldron Inn. The charges against him are as follows: First: conspiracy. In that as keeper of the Fidelius secret, that he did knowingly and with forethought, reveal that secret to Lord Voldemort (with the sole exception of Dumbledore, everyone in the room winced) who subsequently murdered Lilly and James Potter. Second: Murder. In that he did knowingly and with forethought hunt down and murder one Peter Pettigrew. Third: Muggle Baiting. In that twelve muggles were killed in the explosion which the accused used to murder Peter Pettigrew. Fourth: Jail Break. In that having been incarcerated for his crimes, he did escape from custody at Azkaban. Is everyone present familiar with these charges?", and she paused as the assembly showed their assent.

Now, it was Dumbledore's turn to speak as Chief Warlock, "Does the accused understand these charges?", turning to the table where the defence sat.

Ted Tonks rose from his seat, "Acting in Sirius Black's stead, I am authorized to answer for my client. We understand the charges."

"So entered.", Albus said. "We will now hear motions. Madame Bones?"

"Of all these charges, only the last has been brought during this administration. As DMLE Head, I found that the accused has been wrongfully imprisoned in that he has not received a trial in accordance with our laws and recommend that this charge be dropped immediately.

Amelia then said, 'Now it is time for us to hear what happened at that night from the only witness alive who first handedly knows about the events of the night. One who was thought dead for all these years and touted as a hero by. Quite alive, though slightly maimed Peter Pettigrew, (again, there was a collective gasp all around the room) ".

The doors to the corridor opened and Peter Pettigrew was escorted in, flanked by Shacklebolt and Tonks, his right hand missing.

Albus turned to Ameliaand asked, "DMLE Head Bones, have you examined the witness?"

"Yes, Chief Warlock Dumbledore", she answered.

"Are you satisfied that this is Peter Leone Pettigrew for whose Murder, Sirius Black was accused of?", he asked.

"Yes, Chief Warlock, I confirm that this is indeed the same Peter Pettigrew.", she stated.

"Well then", said Dumbledore, "since the man is obviously alive, the charge is dropped. We will now hear evidence regarding the remaining two charges. Call your first witness."

"Black killed those muggles, Madam Bones.", Sneered Lucius, "I object to this trial."

Dumbledore hardly glared at Malfoy, 'Lord Malfoy we have already established that Sirius Black never received a trial, a blunder on part of the previous administration and we are gathered here today to correct that mistake and to save a man from a fate as horrible as Dementor's kiss. If you have any tenable ground to object to this trial or some evidence which proves him guilty, please bring it forth otherwise please do not interfere with the Wizengamot or as the Chief Warlock, I would be compelled to restrict you from entering into this chamber for the entirety of this session along with imposing fine on you.'

Malfoy rose and thundered towards the exit and the entire assembly followed Malfoy to the door with their eyes, trying not to look like they were looking. When the door made a very solid thump and click as it closed behind him, Albus spoke again, in his usual pleasant tone, "Please proceed with your case DMLE Head Bones.".

She looked at the man being held firmly by the two aurors and said, "Chief Warlock, I seek permission to interrogate Peter Pettigrew with veritaserum so that we can determine the truth as he otherwise may be reluctant to speak the truth."

This time, there was a definite twinkle in the eyes behind those half-moon spectacles, "Permission granted DMLE Head Bones.".

Peter was escorted to the stand, the chains on the chair engaged to hold down his arms, legs and torso. The Aurors administered three drops of Veritaserum and waited a few seconds before beginning questioning.

Amelia first asked him, "Your name, for the record please?".

"Peter Leone Pettigrew.", he said, looking bewildered and defeated.

"To your knowledge, was Sirius Black the secret keeper for the location of the potters, James, Lilly and Harold?", she asked, next.

To his credit, the rat actually tried to resist answering this time but finally had to give it up, "No. He was not."

Madame Bones tried again because, despite her desire to let Sirius Black go free, she was the Head of DMLE and had to make a good show of trying to find some evidence against Sirius. She asked, "Please tell the Wizengamot, who was the secret keeper for the Potters?"

This time, Wormtail broke down and wept, "I was" and the last bit of fight went out of him.

"On the night of November 7 1981, there was an explosion which took the lives of twelve muggles and, until recently, it was thought you. Were you present when this took place?", she asked.

The rat knew where this was going, but he had no more desire to try and fight it. He answered, "Yes. I was present."

Then she asked, "did Sirius Black set off that explosion?"

He looked around the Wizengamot and could see the hate in the eyes of the Lords gathered in the Wizengamot and whispered, "No, he did not.".

She observed, "Mr. Pettigrew, you sound quite certain of that." Then she asked her final question, "Mr. Pettigrew, who did set off that explosion?"

Looking down at his feet, he answered, "I did."

Amelia turned to the WIzengamot and addressed the gathering, 'We all have heard the truth of what happened that night and as it turns out, the previous administration incarcerated an innocent man in Azkaban for 12 years and the present administration initiated manhunt for him since these last 2 years. I move that the charge of conspiracy be dismissed on the grounds that he was not the secret keeper for the Potters and therefore could not reveal that secret to You-know-who. I further move that the charge of muggle baiting be dismissed as Peter Pettigrew has just testified that he did, in fact, set off the explosion which caused those deaths."

Dumbledore now addressed the Wizengamot, 'We have heard the entire story of the fake death of Peter Pettigrew who also caused death of those 12 muggles and his illegal incarceration for 12 years in Azkaban. Those who are in favour of acquitting him of all the charges and exonerating him?'

Almost all of hands went up, primarily because Sirius was scion of an Ancient and Most Noble Houses and the houses usually stood together when it came to one of their and because Sirius Black had been extremely popular Auror.

Dumbledore rapped his gravel, 'Sirius Black is hereby exonerated of all charges and the manhunt going on for him is called off. He has been made subject of public ridicule and hatred at the behest of Ministry. The lack of trial was a grave mistake for which no amount of Galleons can compensate however we can do we can. The ministry will publish advertisements in Daily Prophet and all other publications daily for a week wherein the Ministry will tender its apologies for besmirching his fair name and his reputation in addition to violation of his rights as scion of Ancient and Most Noble House. Reparations to the tune of 1 million 2 hundred thousand Galleons shall be made by the ministry for the injustices meted to him. It is also decreed that if Sirius Black be found, he shall report to the chief of DMLE and the minister shall tender his apologies in person to him in her presence.'

Just then, Sirius seemed to materialize out of thin air in the spectator stands making people cry in astonishment and wonder and Fudge paled. Sirius turned to the addressed Lords in general, 'Well, I am waiting for that apology from the Minister.'

Dumbledore tapped his gavel twice and declared, 'It is so ordered. Mr. Weasley, please issue those orders forth with. Is there any further business?'

This time, it was Madame Bones, "Yes, Chief Warlock Dumbledore. In light of the evidence we have heard today, I move to remand Mr. Pettigrew into custody pending investigation of charges for conspiracy, multiple counts of murder and sedition in connection with activities as a death eater.'

Dumbledore tapped his gavel twice more and said, "It is so ordered."

She gestured to the aurors and they took hold of the rat as the chains released him from the chair. She said, 'Take him away."

In the next hour, all the paperwork done and a notice delivered to The Daily Prophet, The Quibble, Teen Witch Weekly. Sirius was a free man and he eagerly awaited his son's return.

**Waiting for your reviews.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N-** As has become the custom from last few chapters, lets get the amazing reviews out of the way before we get to the fun stuff.

ObsessedwithHPFanFic- AS always, I am always delighted to see how you relish reading every chapter.

Anarion- thanks for your review.

Khatix- I do not think Harry Potter will dump Ron because they both are 15 years old children and children make stupid mistakes but to dump a friend who has been with you in life or death situation for his petty feeling of jealousy is not rational, at least not for Harry Potter. There is a storm brewing and he will need allies before all is said and done.

Hypergym- Thanks for all the praise that you have given to this story and for being such avid reader. You guessed it right that English is not my first language and my profession of a lawyer also does not allow me to cultivate love for writing. Writing for this fic is done whenever I get time out of my job of lawyer.

Raymondjay- Sorry for the wrong spelling of your name in the Author's Note of last chapter.

War Hammer- thanks for the review.

**Please note that all the conversation between Harry and the Nagas will happen in Parsel Tongue and are italicised.**

**I will try to show some interesting things in this chapter which will entertain the readers. I would love if you guys would leave a review telling about the chapter and what you liked in it or what you disliked.**

**I AM REALLY SORRY FOR THE MANY GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THE LAST CHAPTER.**

THANK YOU HYPER GYM FOR THE EDIT

* * *

**Disclaimer- **This is perhaps dream of every other fiction writer to have some dibs on this amazing world but sadly none of us have any such right. Harry James Potter well and truly belongs to the JKR.

**Wizarding Britain**

The next day, the front page of The Daily Prophet featured Sirius Black's smiling face with the headline:

**"SIRIUS BLACK EXONERATED"**

**By Amidalus Bartrey**

**In an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot yesterday DMLE Department Head Madame Bones presented irrefutable evidence that Sirius Black is innocent of all charges. In a surprising turn of events, Peter Pettigrew, who was believed to have died at the hands of Sirius Black over 13 years ago, is alive and in DMLE custody. (Continued on page 3)**_"_

Page 3 continued the story:

Yesterday, an emergency session was called for by the Minister of Magic on the insistence of head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones. While the Fudge administration has not had called for an emergency meeting since escape of Sirius Black from the infamous prison Azkaban two years ago, this meeting was also concerned with Mr. Black. (See p. 10 for the exclusive of Daily prophet about the escape)

As the Wizengamot gathered, Madam Bones presented a person long thought dead before the WIzengamot. Peter Pettigrew, who has been thought dead at the hands of Sirius Black and touted as a hero by all of us since last 14 years was found alive and captive of the DMLE. Madam Bones argued before the Wizengamot that Peter was the one betrayed the Potters and Sirius Black was innocent of all the crimes ascribed to him. (See p. 8)

As Lord Malfoy tried to object to the trial stating that Mr. Black was already convicted, Chief Warlock Dumbledore revealed that Mr. Black had never got a trial. A scion of Ancient and Most Noble House was sent to prison to without a trial in blatant violation of our laws! That is a sacrilege of the sacred laws which have been guiding our society since its inception. (See p. 9 for the laws governing the formation of WIzengamot)

Peter Pettigrew was administered the veritaserum and under its effects he confessed to being a death eater and of betraying the Potters by giving the Fidelius Secret of their location to you-know-who on that fateful Halloween. Mr. Black was declared innocent and given an apology for the blunder committed by the previous administration with reparations to follow.

This begs the question: what else is the ministry lying about? Is there any truth about the claims of Harry Potter the boy-who-lived and Albus Dumbledore who have been saying that you-know-who has returned? If their claims are true, then we will be in deep trouble when the truth comes to light and we are not ready for another war as the last war which eliminated many of our houses.

We at the Daily Prophet tender our apologies to Mr. Black for publishing derogatory articles about him. (See p. 11 about the life of Sirius Black and his association with Potters).

The paper was full of the fall-out from that meeting. There was the half-page ad, paid for by the ministry apologizing to Sirius for the treatment he received. There was the article about Lucius Malfoy stomping out of the meeting, just short of being ejected for contempt. There was another article about the regency of The House of Black being stripped from Lucius Malfoy and conferred on Sirius Black. There was an editorial about questionable decisions the minister had made since taking office which included refusing to look into the possibility that Sirius Black was innocent when witnesses claimed to have seen Peter Pettigrew alive over a year ago, cutting of the DMLE budget to dangerously and historically low levels, his flat refusal to investigate claims that You-Know-Who might be back and his smear campaign over the last few days against Dumbledore and the Boy Who Lived.

**Foothills of the Himalayas**

Harry Potter and Harsh Vardhan appeared at the base of a hill which reminded Harry of the mountains around Hogwarts. In this part of the world, however, this was a minor foot-hill. Looking into the distance, Harry could see ranks of higher and higher mountains marching away from him until their snow-capped peaks were lost in the haze. The lower slopes were alive with dense forests which were dense and lush with trees he had never seen before. Scanning up the slopes, the trees changed to more familiar evergreens thinning out to scrub near the snow-line. Reading about it was one thing, but seeing it was quite another experience. Standing where he was, in a forest easily as dense as the forbidden forest at Hogwarts, feeling the warmth of the sun, it was hard to take in that he could see all the way to where it was so cold that the snow never melted.

As they arrived, Harsh quietly conjured a chair and sat down leaving Harry to stand alone. After sometime passed and nothing happened, Harsh spoke, "We have to wait for a while, Harry. Are you sure you want to remain standing?"

Confused, Harry asked, "Uh Guruji, there is no other chair for me to sit on."

Harsh smirked, "It is each to his own Harry. As your good professor McGonagall would say, "Are you a wizard or not?"

Feeling embarrassed at his stupidity, Harry drew his wand and transfigured a branch of a tree into a chair. While Harsh's chair was very comfortable looking, his was very basic and lacked the detailed work that Harsh had done on his chair.

As they sat waiting, Harry began to doze and a minute later had fallen asleep. A stinging hex woke him up. Opening his eyes, he found Harsh to be engaged in battle with 6 men who were ferociously duelling with the mystic and trying to do him in while he was fighting with an ease against them which showed in his spells. He kept shooting his choice spells at them while the men were trying hard to overcome him. As Harry watched, one of the men fired a bone breaker which broke Harsh's off hand. Finally alert to the danger, Harry sprang into action. He whipped out his wand and fired a stunner at one of them and a petrifying hex at another. Only one of his spells connected with the enemy. The other was simply batted aside. Two of them turned their attention to him while the remaining three of them were still engaged with Harsh who was easily sparring with them as if nothing had happened.

Harry immediately started sending some of the more dangerous spells at the two men who dodged or shielded them easily while keeping him engaged. He shot a bombarda at one and a reductor at another, both of which were swatted aside. He kept firing bombarda and reductor alternately at both the men while he shielded himself from the hexes he knew and dodged those he did not recognize. What made it hard for him was that the men were casting their spells inaudibly making him second guess everything he did while he kept invocating aloud giving them time to manoeuvre their way out of his spells. Trying his creative side, he ran forward while he shielded himself from their spells risking a dark spell which could shatter his basic shield. As he ran, he fired a bone breaker at one of the men who immediately jumped aside however as he jumped, Harry shot another bone breaker in the direction where the man was going to land. As the man landed the hex connected with his rib cage knocking the man backwards from the force of the spell. The other man who was surprised with this move dropped his shield and Harry immediately brought him down with a stunner. He turned to the rest to find that Harsh had disabled two of them while the one he had petrified earlier had been released from the hex and was firing lethal curses at Harsh.

Harry raised his wand and was about to fire a hex when he hesitated. He did not want to fire when the enemy's back was turned but then he saw that Harsh was getting tired and he immediately shot a stunner which downed the man. Harsh slumped in relief leaving Harry alone to face the last man standing. The man turned to his stunned comrade and enervated him before engaging Harry in a duel making him groan. He was alone while the enemy had just doubled. Thinking creatively, he shot a jet of water in one man's face and jumped aside to avoid a nasty looking grey colored curse. While the man was blinded, Harry sent a bone breaker at the man's wand hand. As the last standing opponent turned to him, Harry started firing highly powered bombarda, reductor and bone breakers at the man. As the man shielded himself from the barrage of hexes, Harry sent in a stinger surprising the man who faltered for a second and Harry immediately swooped in with a stunning spell taking him out.

"Bravo!", Harsh was clapping enthusiastically, "Well done, Harry."

Harsh immediately proceeded to tend to the fallen men, enervating those who were stunned while tending to the injured. Harry watched in amazement as the mystic tended to his enemies.

He asked, "Guruji, they attacked us. Why are you tending to them?"

Harsh laughed, "They did not attack us, Harry. It was pre-planned to test your alertness to your surroundings but it looks like you were drowned in the serenity of the ambient magic of this place."

Harry smiled sheepishly, "I felt an over-whelming sensation to take a nap and since you were sitting comfortably, I went to sleep. I did not know that magic could have this effect."

Harsh smiled, "Ambient magic does that to you. This place is on three powerful ley lines and is suffused with so much magic that anyone who is attuned to magic like you would be overwhelmed and feel the urge to sleep."

Harry nodded his head saying nothing while thinking about the mystic's words "Guruji, why did I never feel that way at Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts is a castle, Harry where there are hundreds of individuals sharing in the magic steeped into the walls of the castle so the effect is minimal while this place is sparsely populated and no one save for the magical beasts or mystics come this way", Harsh explained.

"Markesh, what is your assessment of Harry?", Harsh asked a mystic.

"Guruji, Mr. Potter is handy with a wand and his speed is impressive and he is quite experienced for his age. His spells pack a lot of power but he hesitates from using lethal curses. He stays his hand even in those conditions where it is crucial to act quickly but he is creative and never hesitates from taking risk to achieve what he desires.", the mystic replied "his spell repertoire is either limited or he do not have the conviction to use those spells effectively. He seems boggled into the traditional light and dark spells dogma of the British Wizards."

Harsh smiled, "Did any of you notice that he cast his spells audibly? He shouts his spells and inadvertently informs his opponent giving time to the opponent to either shield or dodge his spells. He seems to favour shielding than dodging which explains that he never had any formal training in duelling but has self trained. He cannot control the power in his spells and they come out rather heavy handed. A bone breaker with controlled power would only break bones but a bone breaker cast by him was powerful enough to throw his opponent a great distance while breaking his bones."

Harry was listening to everything being said with rapt attention. Harry was proud of his prowess but the battles he had fought in the last few days showed that power alone was not enough against experienced fighters. They could dodge or bat his spells aside while he wore himself out casting over-powered spells to no effect. Then however long it took, when he was tired, they could move in and take him down.

"Harry," Harsh addressed him "the day for today is almost at an end. Tomorrow, you will start your journey to find our tribe in the upper hills."

"F... F... Find?", Harry stammered, "I thought you were taking me."

Harsh smirked, "Yes, Harry. It is part of our initiation that the new recruits are to find our tribe from here. You will meet a variety of creatures in way, wandering magical tribes and many troubles but when you find us, you will be ready."

"Ready?", Harry asked, "for what, Guruji?"

"For starting your training of course", Harsh said with a wide smile "you are to train after all."

As they were talking, Harsh produced a bundle for Harry, "this is a ten for you to use when in the wilderness trying to find us, Harry. It has in-built runes of turning invisible with a tap of wand, animal and human repelling charms so that you can have nice sleep but there is no water and no food inside. That is for you to make do with what you find in the forest however there are some spices inside."

He also produced a small instrument from his pocket, "this is a magical compass fixed in direction of our castle. One more thing Harry, you will need your hippogriff for this part of the journey."

"But he is not here", Harry said, "How then, can I ask his help?"

"It's either that or fly Harry", Harsh smirked again, "you would have to cross valleys full of dangerous beasts and flying is the safest way."

"But how do I call him?", asked Harry exasperated.

"He is your familiar Harry", Harsh explained, "If you call him with all your intent then he will be able to come before morning."

Harry closed his eyes and scrunched up his face in concentration thinking of Blackstorm willing Blackstorm to come to him before the morning. He felt nothing for a few minutes and was about to give up when Harsh's voice cut into his thoughts, "Don't think too hard, Harry. Just think of him as you think about your owl, Hedwig and how she is always able to find you."

Immediately he relaxed and started thinking of Blackstorm's features and what it would be like to have the hippogriff with him. He felt a very light tug at his magic and he could sense thoughts of the Hippogriff. Opening his eyes, he grinned to Harsh, "He is coming."

"Now Harry how about you make the arrangements for your own food for tonight and erect this tent before we sleep in?", Harsh asked him, mirroring Harry's grin seeing the boy grimace at the thought of fending for his own food.

**Longbottom Castle**

Frank was getting bored. Since he had come out of his coma, he had been confined to his room, not allowed to step outside even for a moment. No amount of begging, pleading, bribery or threats changed the healer's mind on that issue. Healer Lynn put her foot down and told him bluntly that he was not strong enough yet, that he could barely even stand, never mind go for a walk. Frank just scoffed at her expert opinion. After a number of temper tantrums, she finally agreed that if Frank could walk all the way to the front door of the castle without slumping or any help, that she would allow him to walk around the grounds. But he was not to apparate or floo anywhere.

Frank had gritted his teeth and barely made it outside into the corridor before he slumped to the floor, unable to stand. The healer had since confined him to that infernal chair. Since that day, his regiment of potions was increased to expedite his strength gaining. Alice had been laughing all the while seeing him throw tantrums at being coddled like a toddler.

Neville had been coming to visit them daily without fail. Some days he was extremely cheerful and on other days he came exhausted looking battered and worn down as if he had been run through the ringer. While Neville always tried to sound very perked up and upbeat, Frank could hear the undertone of hopelessness and despair which made him wonder what was really wrong in the wizarding world. Augusta had forbidden any questions till next week and this was the next week today and he was going to have some answers. There was nobody who would be able to deny him those answers today.

"Frankie", Augusta's voice cut into his thoughts, "how are you this fine morning?"

"Good Morning mother", Frank replied in a jovial voice, or at least he hoped it was jovial, "Today is the day that you promised me some answers. So, how about it?"

Augusta laughed, then chided him for his impatience, "Well, good morning to you too, Frankie. Can't wait to hear all the news, can you?", then, with a sigh, she said, "I can hardly blame you. Very well then, ask your questions."

Frank immediately started, "what happened to the war? Did you-know-who die? Where are Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew? Who got the custody of Harry Potter?"

Augusta remained quiet for a moment gathering her thoughts, then started "the war for all intents and purposes ended the day that You-Know-Who disappeared. It took us months to round up the rest of the death eaters. There had been quite a few attacked in the last days of the war including you and Alice.

"A couple of days after you-know-who's fall, Sirius Black was arrested on the charges of betraying the Potters and of killing 12 muggles and Peter Pettigrew when Pettigrew supposedly tried to corner him about betraying the Potters. Sirius was sent to Azkaban by the war tribunal constituted in the following days and we all thought he was guilty. Since James & Lily's will was not found, Harry Potter was sent to Lily's muggle relatives to be kept safe."

Alice who had been silent all this while, shouted, "WHAT!? They sent Harry Potter to live with Muggles? Why didn't anyone interfere? Why did you not try to take him in, mother? Where was Remus Lupin?"

Augusta sadly smiled, "Remus Lupin was a tired soul. His entire world revolved around his friends. When the news reached him that James and Lilly were dead and then Peter Pettigrew a couple of days later and finally, that Sirius had been tossed into Azkaban for their murders. Something inside him broke and he disappeared. Nobody heard anything from him until Sirius broke out of Azkaban. That was when he came back to teach Defence against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. That was in Neville's third year there. He often says that Remus Lupin is the only decent defense professor they had. I had gone to Dumbledore to ask him to let me adopt Harry Potter but he pointed out that I already had a child to care for and I was not getting any younger. He said something about some blood wards keeping him safe and considering the attack happened at Green Hues, I was not willing to take any chances with two children in my custody."

Frank's face showed a variety of emotions including disbelief, surprise, and anger. As Augusta finished her narrative he said, "Of all the things that I know for certain mother, I can say that Sirius Black would never betray the Potters. James was like his brother and Sirius loved him more than his own brother, Regulus. He would have willingly taken a killing curse if it meant that it would save James. The ministry must have bungled up somehow. What happened in Neville's third year? Did they get Sirius Black?"

Augusta told of the entire fiasco that was the third year when Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban. He had spotted Peter Pettigrew in his animagus rat form in a picture on the front page of the Daily Prophet with the Weasleys. Knowing that Pettigrew was not dead, but perilously close to Harry, he did the impossible and somehow got past the dementors to confront the traitor. As it turned out, Pettigrew was a death eater. I don't know all the details, but somehow, Pettigrew escaped and ran off to look for You-Know-Who. Fudge refused to believe or investigate that Pettigrew was alive and went to fetch the dementors to execute Sirius. Again, I don't know the details, but somehow Sirius escaped as well.

"As it turned out, Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Junior, both thought to be long dead were instrumental in the tragic events around the third task of the Triwizard tournament just weeks ago. You-Know-Who was returned to his body. Harry re-captured Pettigrew and Sirius was exonerated. You-Know-Who and his cronies are trying to work in secret to recruit more to their numbers and undermine the ministry. Fudge continues to be an ineffectual idiot. And now you are up-to-date." As she finished, Frank and Alice's expressions had turned inscrutable.

Frank sighed, "What you have told us mother is horrifying. To think that we had been through a war and woke up just as another war is knocking on the door. But I know for one that I will fight in this war."

Alice who was quiet all this while turned to Augusta, "While all this is rich information mother, I am more interested to know about Neville's four years at Hogwarts. I recall you said that Neville often says that Remus Lupin was one of the most decent defense professors. I wonder what he has been going through at school."

Augusta schooled her features into an impassive face, "I have answered enough questions for this week. Now you both have to wait for sometime before I am up to another round of this play. Meanwhile, if you want to help your son and his god-brother, you should focus on your recuperation. The sooner you are in shape, the sooner you will be able to shake up the order of things."

They both nodded knowing there was nothing that could deter her from her resolution of not answering any more questions today. They already had a lot to think about and to prepare for another war. This time, they will not go easy on the death eaters but they will end the menace once and for all. He had lost many of his friends and allies at their hands, simmering with anger over their inability to do anything due to being tied down with restrictions. This time they will take the fight to them. The revelations had lit a fire in them to get well soon and on their feet to help with the war and to aid in any way possible.

**Cottage on the Hill**

"Good Morning, students", said Remus jovially to the students before him.

"What do you all know about the death eaters?", Remus Lupin asked the students before him. As always Hermione Granger raised her hand to answer.

Remus turned to her and said, kindly, "Miss Granger, I can always count on you to give the exact answer from the book. Let's give the other students a chance to show what they know."

Hermione blushed, but put her hand down.

"Miss Bones, will you answer my question?", he asked to Susan who by the looks of it was lost somewhere else. Snapping to attention she started, "From what I have read about them, they are mostly purebloods but not all of them are overtly powerful or adept at magic. Most of them are average witches or wizards who have a false feeling of supremacy about them. Based on their roles, I would classify them into the commanders and the foot soldiers. Commanders are the death eaters who are more dangerous than most like Antonon Dolohov, Bellatrix Lestrange etc. who are powerful and can cast dark magic and a variety of spells and have often been referred to as the "inner circle", while the foot soldiers are those who are not really powerful but they are used mostly to bolster their numbers or just to have another wand at their side. They cannot do magic like the commanders but all it takes to cast an unforgivable is hatred towards anyone and it makes them equally dangerous."

Remus smiled at her, "Very articulate answer. Your observations are very astute based on what you have been taught." He turned to Neville, "Mr. Longbottom, what strategy would you adopt against a foot soldier?"

Neville thought for a moment before replying, "In battle, all it takes for a warrior to fall is one spell. Foot soldiers as Susan said, are only to bolster their numbers, therefore, they must be neutralised as soon as possible because it takes only hatred to fire an unforgivable."

Remus turned to Hermione, "Anything you want to add to their findings, Hermione?"

Hermione who had been listening with rapt attention merely shook her head. Not everything Susan and Neville said was exactly as written in the books but they had precisely summed up everything. There were a minor things they omitted but those were not worth mentioning in all that they had recited.

"What strategy would you adopt against a Dark Lord?", Remus was asking.

"A Dark Lord should not be taken on by anyone except one who is as powerful as him. One who is as adept as him at magic and is equal to or greater in experience than him is suitable to fight him. If someone else wants to engage him in a duel, they should do it in groups. That way, they can keep him engaged and suffer minimum casualties.", she finished with a flourish while Remus was smiling at her.

He turned to Ron, "Ron, if we are to plan an ambush, what should be our approach?"

Ron sat still for a while before speaking, "I guess it would depend on many factors like how many warriors you have, the battle grounds, your resources and your capability. No strategy can be formed without knowing all the variables in an equation."

The students were discussing a chapter Remus had allocated them to read from "Dark Lords: From Grindelwald to Voldemort", which outlined their strategies, their mode of operations, atrocities they committed and how they met their downfall. The author was an obscure wizard who went by a pseudonym but had a very firm grasp of facts and details of events as they happened. Ironically the book had been banned from distribution in England and was brought from the continent by Dumbledore who had procured enough copies for the students and the members of the Order. Sirius had suggested that the junior members be allowed to read them so that they would know what they are facing. One of the tasks that they had not done yet was to desensitize them to battle and gore as they knew would follow. That would fall to Alastor though since none of the other adults had the heart to do it.

As the class came to an end, a sound started to blare through the cottage making Remus grip his wand and run outside with the junior members following him out. As they stepped out of the cottage, a red colored spell hit Ron in the face and he passed out making others halt. As Hermione stooped to enervate him, another spell approached them. Fred took it on his hastily conjured shield. Soon there were more curses raining down on them and the students started running for cover. As they ran, they noticed Remus engaged in a duel with two masked men who were trying to do him in while he battled them with everything he had.

They noticed McGonagall was there conjuring walls, transforming objects into animals motioning them to attack the hooded figures, tiny Professor Flitwick was holding his own against three of the masked men who were trying to corner him but the remarkable Professor was keeping them at bay with ease showing his extraordinary reflexes using even the easiest of charms to duel with the masked men.

There was Sirius who was fighting with two of them who were gaining the upper hand on him with each minute.

Neville immediately whipped his wand out and sent a powerful blasting hex at one of the two who were engaged with Sirius while he shouted at the others, "Fred and George, go and secure the perimeter of the cottage, do what you can to keep them in check and make sure that no one else enters. Hermione go and help Remus. Susan, go and help Professor McGonagall. Ginny go and try to contact Professor Dumbledore. Tell him we are losing and we need reinforcements."

They all immediately sped into action with each running to do their assigned tasks. The twins rushed to the property line where they found two of the masked men guarding a strange contraption.

"Hello, my merry men", said Fred.

As the men turned, George fired a stunning spell at them but a third man appeared out of nowhere and flicked the spell aside with a wave of his wand. He immediately started firing spell chains at them which forced them to run for cover. The three men they were facing were highly proficient and using lethal curses against them. One of them was solely using fire spells against them while another used a combination of bombarda, confrigno and reducto at them. The third was mostly defending the other two against any attacks not that the twins were attacking that much. One of the twins pulled out an innocent looking wire from his pocket and threw it at them. Before it connected, the other twin cast a finite at the wire and it expanded forming a net which immediately grew to disable the three of them tying them into a vast net.

Neville had engaged one of the two who were fighting Sirius and he sent a reductor at the man who dodged it and sent a tripping hex which Neville sidestepped and immediately had to dodge a nasty looking violet colored curse by ducking on the ground. Another yellow colored curse followed which made him roll from his position. Panting he got up and produced a shield which was met with a shield shattering curse followed by a disarming hex. As his shield shattered and he saw the disarming hex flying at him, he immediately willed his wand back into its holster on his arm. After the disarming hex passed harmlessly through him, he again willed his wand into his hand and almost instantaneously sent a blasting hex at his attacker who jumped out of the way. Neville immediately started sending high powered blasting hexes at the man who conjured a shield to avoid being hit. After a few seconds, Neville feigned dropping from exhaustion and his opponent dropped the shield to fire a hex at him. Neville immediately fired a stunner at his opponent who crumpled to the ground. Neville turned to the others and found that Hermione was barely holding her own against one of the masked figures who was firing hexes at her relentlessly. She was having a hard time defending herself from all curses for the reason that the basic shields she knew could not hold against the variety of curses fired at her. As Neville watched she conjured a shield which was shattered almost immediately and a stunner knocked her out.

Susan was not faring well either with her opponent who had forced her on the defensive and was coming down heavily on her. She was trying to hold her own against her opponent who was liberally transfiguring things into animals and animating them to attack Susan while the opponent kept McGonagall busy with turning her own animations against her. As McGonagall conjured a flock of birds and directed them towards her opponent to distract him, his opponent cast a wide area stunner which McGonagall dodged while Susan crumpled to the ground.

As Neville rushed forward to help his friends, Sirius fell to the floor with a gash on his forehead and before Neville knew anything, he was passed out.

Neville returned to consciousness with Sirius grinning at him while he lay on the floor of the cottage. As he remembered the battle, he immediately leapt up to his feet to see order members in the cottage while his friends were just waking up.

Dumbledore started the meeting, "This attack was a test for you all to see your alertness and responsiveness to a situation. You saw an attack happening and you people forgot that this property is under a fidelius charm and no one can enter here unless they are told the secret which meant anyone coming in here would not be an enemy. Afterwards you all did some quick thinking choosing to help the members already fighting and were bested in your turn. Now I want you all to narrate how you did and how you were bested."

Fred started, "we had trapped Kingsley, Dad,"

George continued, "and Bill."

Fred said, "We thought ourselves victorious."

George said, "When Hestia and Emmeline came."

Together they said, "They just apparated before us and stunned us."

Albus raised his hand in a gesture to stop them from speaking, "Good work using the contraption, Mr. Weasley and Weasley but you forgot your orders and were dallying around. I remember Mr. Longbottom ordered you to make sure that no one else can enter. Next time, pay attention to your surroundings. Miss Granger, your turn", he indicated Hermione.

"I was battling Tonks who was using random spells to defeat my shields. She used many spells that I do not know and she was casting them relentlessly not giving me time to think. She shattered all my shields almost at the moment I conjured them. She kept using single spells as well as a spell chain or two to keep me thinking and stunned me."

Tonks smiled kindly at her, "You need to work on your dodging. It is physically more demanding but it leaves your power free to use for attack and it is effective against unknown spells. You will get better with time, Hermione. You were holding your own against me for quite a long time. I think your exhaustion played a good role in getting you knocked out."

Dumbledore turned to Ron, "What about you Mr. Weasley?"

Ron considered for a few seconds before he spoke, "I was stunned before we even joined the battle."

Dumbledore nodded while turning to Ginny, "What about you, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny looked flushed, her cheeks tinted red, "Neville ordered me to contact you and ask for reinforcements. I tried to floo call you but the floo was down. I kept trying for sometime before I was confronted by Alastor Moody who fired a stinging hex at me which I barely dodged and was immediately knocked out by a stunner."

Alastor growled, "You need to be more aware of your surroundings. You were under attack and you were oblivious to the dangers around you. If it is any consolation to you, you were the last to be taken out but you need to work harder."

Dumbledore turned to Neville, "What about you Mr. Longbottom?"

Neville sheepishly smiled, "I do not know who I was duelling but he was fast and kept firing hexes at me which I barely dodged. I somehow stunned the man before I turned to see how others were faring and forgot the man Sirius was duelling with. As I watched Hermione and Susan getting stunned, I turned to help them and Professor Snape who had just knocked Sirius out, stunned me."

Alastor muttered, "Don't downplay your talents, boy." He turned to the others, "this one kept parrying me for a few minutes and dodged or shielded my spells. When I sent a disarming jinx at him, he sent his wand into his holster neutralising my hex and immediately started raining down on me with powerful blasting hexes. When he could not stun me, he feigned to drop from exertion and when I let my guard down, he stunned me. A bloody trickster, if there ever was one."

"Constant Vigilance, Alastor", chortled Sirius, making others laugh.

Dumbledore who was smiling at the antics of everyone around him turned to Susan finally, "You were helping Professor McGonagall to duel with me. You were holding your own pretty well until you missed the wide area stunner which knocked you out."

Dumbledore turned to the people gathered in the room, "You all did well but there is much more you will need to learn. You were successful in shielding and dodging but you will need to do more."

With that the meeting was dismissed and as they were leaving, Sirius was cornered by Arthur, "Sirius, did you do anything to Grimmauld Place?"

Sirius grinned at him, "why do you ask, Arthur?"

Arthur shrugged, "At random times, when we are eating in the kitchen or people are sitting there, weird things keep happening. Once all the food disappeared, once the table grew legs and walked away, the enchanted mirrors keep saying rude things, the fireplace keeps shutting itself off and once the mirror called Dumbledore "old goat", making the headmaster chuckle."

Sirius was trying very hard not to laugh knowing it would give away that he was behind these pranks. He had not been to Grimmauld Place since he had come to the cottage on the hill but he had asked his elves to keep everyone busy with pranks and they were obviously doing their part. "No, Arthur. I had nothing to do with the recent events as you narrated but I will look into it", he assured the Weasley patriarch.

**India**

As Harry woke in the morning, he found that nobody else was in the tent. He went out of the tent to find that there was no one else in the area either. He collapsed the tent and put it in a backpack which he had in his trunk and had taken out the previous day. As he took out the contraption Harsh had given him, he inspected it more closely and found a parchment with instructions to use the contraption. One of the instructions asked him to tap it twice with his wand and it would morph into a wrist watch that he could wear. He immediately did so and as he was setting out to find the mystics, he heard the whooshing of large wings and found his hippogriff descending from the sky to meet him. Grinning with pleasure, he immediately bowed to the beast. The beast bowed its head in return and sat on its haunches allowing him to mount upon it. To his delight Harry found that the tack was already on its back. He took a minute to check that the tack was in order before he mounted and took to the sky. Going north towards the hills, he could feel the cold wind hitting him in the face making him shiver. He descended near a stream and got off the hippogriff, "Go and forage for a bit, mate. I think I will need to find something to make me comfortable before we can fly."

As he looked into his trunk to find a woollen cloak or some sweaters or a Weasley jumper or his Gryffindor scarf, he found nothing. As he panicked, he remembered some of the charms that he had studied and some of the transfigurations that Professor McGonagall had taught him. He pointed his wand at his clothes, willing his magic and changing the fabric of his cloak into a heavy woollen cloak which immediately felt warm and he transfigured a piece of wood into a thick scarf which he rolled around his head. He pointed his wand at himself and cast some warming charms at him and again mounted the Hippogriff and took to the skies but had to land again after some time due to feeling cold. As he neared the ground he found that he was warmer than in the air. He took the tack off Blackstorm's back and shrinking it, he slipped it into his backpack. He released the hippogriff to forage for food while he continued the journey on foot.

As he walked, he began to take notice of his surroundings. The woods were heavily populated and thick with trees which he was sure were magical. There were a few he recognised from his Herbology class but there were many he had never seen. There was a tree with long curved leaves with a red hue which exuded a lovely fragrance. As he inhaled the perfume, he felt a compulsion to walk toward the tree. His trance was broken when the hippogriff nudged him with its head. As he came out of his trance, he noticed a small animal approaching the tree. When the animal got close enough to the tree, it fell down on the ground dead. A second later, a tentacle leapt from the tree lapping the dead animal into a toothy maw hidden in the bowl of the tree.

Harry blanched at the tree and decided to continue forward while trying not to think about what he had just seen. As he was walking, he became aware of someone watching him and chose to be careful with his actions. As he walked forward, an owl hooted making him jump. The owl was sitting on a nearby tree and was quite different from other owls he had seen. He was proud of Hedwig but this owl was truly beautiful. It was taller and heavier with its golden plumage shining and its amber eyes glowing.

As Harry watched, it hooted again and something flashed in his mind. Some scenes where he was flying on his hippogriff to battle, the Quidditch pitch on fire, him holding a girl in his arms and crying, him hugging Susan, he and Susan standing in a clearing with their wrists joined by tendrils of magic, him holding a wand in each hand, Harry standing over the dead body of Voldemort, Harry hugging Sirius who looked beaten with cuts and gashes on his arms but smiling, Neville smiling and embracing him like a brother and there were a lot of scenes which did not make sense to him but gave him some sense of foreboding.

As the flash ended, Harry found that the owl was gone and he was standing in the open. Trying to memorise the scenes of what had happened, he walked further and suddenly the hair on the back of his head rose and he ducked. A split-second later, a spear passed through the space he had just vacated. Harry fast-drew his wand and turned shooting a stunner in the direction the spear came from. A moment later, a heavy thud told him that the spell had found its mark.

A second later, Harry jumped aside as another spear whirred towards him. After another stunner and another thud Harry broke into a run with spears raining down on him from all directions. He kept running in a zigzag pattern and often doubled back on his own path but his pursuers seemed to know the forest well. Finally as he was out of breath and panting, his steps faltered for a moment when a spear grazed his leg making him wince in pain and he stifled a cry as he fell down with heavy ropes binding him. As he watched, a snake appeared. It was a big brown serpent with menacing fangs and had a broad hood. As it slithered towards Harry, hood raised, several men appeared around him wielding spears.

As the snake was poised to strike, Harry hissed, _"Greetings, Noble beast. Do not bite me."_

The snake stopped mid-strike, _"Who are you? You speak the tongue but you are not a Naga."_

Harry replied, _"I am Harry Potter."_

The snake hissed, _"Harry Potter who? I do not know any by such name."_

Harry did not know what to say. He was confident that the snake would die if it bit him. He had basilisk venom in his blood which vaccinated him against all snake poison. He needed to say something to the snake to stop it from attacking him. He hissed to the snake,_ "I am a descendant of snake speakers."_

The snake dipped its hood, _"I can taste the magic in your blood, ssspeaker. You have ancient magics in your blood. Peverells who walked the land long ago will walk again in you, ssspeaker."_

While Harry was surprised with the snake telling him about Peverells, he supposed it did not make a significant difference considering his ancestors were war mages but he did not know that the Peverells had parsel tongue in their blood line.

_"Peverells destroyed most of my kind and they walk again with one who speaks the tongue. Say your wish speaker, it will be granted and leave us in peace_", the snake hissed.

"_I was just passing through_", replied Harry.

The snake turned to the men who had been listening with rapt attention and ordered them to release Harry from his bonds and harm him no more. As the snake slithered away, one of the men approached him and released Harry from the rope that was binding him, _"Greetings Speaker."_

Harry had never met another man in his life who could speak to snakes therefore he was amazed to find that the man was one._ "You can speak this language?"_, he asked.

The man replied off handedly, "_of course we can. We the Naga are descendants to snake speakers from ancient times and we can speak this language. Tell me about you._"

So it was that Harry told everything to him about being a parsel tongue, Voldemort, coming to India with the mystics, crossing the terrain to find their tribal home and his aim to train to become a sorcerer who could defeat Voldemort for good.

As he finished, the chief (as he was the leader of the Nagas) invited him to the home of the Nagas for the night. As it was nearing evening Harry accepted their offer, grateful to have a roof over his head for the evening and not being alone.

After a dinner with the Nagas which was one of his strangest yet tasty meals, the chief invited him to talk.

_"So Harry,"_ the chief said, "_do you know any parsel tongue magic?"_

"_Parsel tongue magic?_", Harry asked, confused.

_"Yes"_, the chief replied, _"parsel tongue is a magical language and has more magic than your ordinary language. Even Ordinary spells fired in parsel tongue are twice more powerful than when cast in an ordinary tongue."_

Harry was intrigued. He had once or twice thought about the usefulness of Parsel tongue but he had not been able to find anything. Since Parsel tongue was considered a trait of dark wizards, there were really no books available on it. Sirius had hinted that there were books in the Black family library which could be classified as dark so, he was not interested in knowing them but here he was being offered to be tutored in parsel magics without any costs.

"_I have no knowledge of parsel magics, noble chief_", Harry answered the chief.

"_If you wish, Harry Potter, then come see us after you have done your training with the mystics. Lord Harsh Vardhana would not take offense to an offer like this_", the chief offered, _"we will teach you all that we can. This language can be of use for you in the upcoming war against this Voldemort. There are not many tribes left in the world who speak parsel tongue so I doubt he would know about these magics."_

_"I have one question, though_", Harry said to the chief,_ "how do you keep warm at this temperature?"_

The chief guffawed at this,_ "we have magic to keep us warm and we also do a lot of physical work. And we have a plant whose leaves help us to remain warm even in the harshest climate."_

After that Harry was led to a small hut on one side of the settlement where there was no bed in sight but a bed of straw laid out on the ground. Not wanting to offend his hosts and not wanting to do more magic, he immediately fell on the straw. As he was about to pass out, the Naga who had accompanied him, gave him two leaves to eat telling him that they would keep him warm for the night.

**Greengrass Manor**

Cyrus Greengrass had just returned home from his Potion Shop in Diagon Alley and was in his office working on some business ventures when his elf Moppy popped in, "Mr. Dumbledore has come to meet you, master."

"Take him to the parlor Moppy and tell him I will be there soon", he replied to the elf while thinking about this visit. He was not surprised that Dumbledore had come to visit, but that it had taken him so long to do so. The exoneration of Sirius Black had been two days ago and Cyrus had expected a visit the same evening. Calling Roxanne and Daphne he went to the parlor where Dumbledore was waiting for him, his face expectant and his eyes full of twinkle.

"Head Master, it is a pleasure to host you in these halls", he said to the older wizard, "or is it Chief Warlock, today?"

Dumbledore smiled jovially, "It is a pleasure to see you too, Cyrus, Roxanne and Daphne. It is only Albus Dumbledore today, head master of Hogwarts coming to see his students."

Cyrus snorted, "Pardon me, Head Master. You have never visited Greengrass Manor before as you say "to see your students'. It will be easy if we can come straight to the point."

Dumbledore smiled in return, "if that is your wish, Cyrus. I wanted to talk about what happened in the Wizengamot the other day. I had no idea that the neutrals would vote in favour of someone from a dark family."

"The way I see it, Head Master it was the houses sticking up for one of our own who had been subjected to injustice at the hands of the ministry", Cyrus said, "it also had the added benefit of being in the good books of Lord Black when the war comes. There will be no neutrals in the war, head master and I intend to see my family through the war with the minimum of casualties. The Dark lord has already sent his minions quite a few times to try and sway us but we have avoided them so far. If we do not ally with anyone, I intend to take my family and go into hiding. I daresay House Greengrass has several such places at its disposal."

"I know of the resourcefulness of your house to stay away from any side of a conflict Cyrus but if you are choosing sides, there is no guarantee that all of us will survive the war. People die in wars", Dumbledore said grimly.

"I know of the hazards, Head Master", Cyrus replied, "I do not want to give a chance to future generations to say that when the wizarding world was fighting for its future, House Greengrass ran and hid."

"What do you intend to do in the war, if I may ask?", Dumbledore asked the other man.

This time it was Roxanne who replied, "We will ally ourselves with the light with a number of our friends. We have been meeting in secret for the last couple of days having discussions upon this very topic and we all have agreed upon allying with light but there are some conditions which will need to be adhered to."

Dumbledore knew too well that there can be no offers from any of the factions without any conditions attached. Usually these conditions tugged at his moral compass and made him refuse but he was willing to hear them out this time.

"What are those conditions, Lady Greengrass?", he asked.

"First, call me Roxanne. Lady Greengrass is for formal occasions", she told him with mock sternness, "Second, we will not ally with light if the war is fought under your banner. We know you are a formidable wizard and you-know-who feared you but you are not destined to defeat him, are you? Thirdly, we will put in funding and men to fight the war but we will not restrict ourselves to stunners or disarming hexes."

"These are all agreeable conditions, Roxanne. I was not intending to be the leader anyway. Harry Potter is a beacon of hope people look to in times such as these. It is he who will lead us. Is that agreeable?", Dumbledore asked them.

"It is agreeable. In fact House Greengrass has long lasting ties with the House of Black and we have no problems whatsoever standing with Lord Black", Cyrus replied.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, my boy", Dumbledore replied, feigning innocence.

"You know what he is talking about, headmaster. The magically adopted son of Sirius Black, indeed", Roxanne grinned.

"I should have realised who I was talking to", Dumbledore muttered.

**Wizengamot**

The Wizengamot was assembled for another trial however it was not a full body trial as had happened with Sirius Black but a confidential hearing for an illegal animagus and the crimes perpetrated by her.

As the tribunal sat, Rita Skeeter was brought before the tribunal and sat in the chair with chains slung around her wrists. The minister was inwardly gleeful to see the pest in chains and awaiting trial. She had been a nuisance to far too many people for far too long. Many respectable pure bloods had fallen prey to her poisoned quill. He was sure that before sunset that day, Rita would be cooling her heels in Azkaban.

"Respected members of the jury," Amelia was saying, "I have received complaints about Ms. Skeeter spying on the private lives of many respectable citizens including the chief warlock, the minister and the boy-who-lived. When I investigated the matter, it came to my attention that she is an illegal animagus, a fact which has been confirmed to me by Professor McGonagall who is one of the foremost authorities on Transfiguration and has agreed to help us with the investigation."

The members were seething with rage at the reporter but the punishment for being an illegal animagus was 12 years in prison which was not sufficient for the gravity of her crimes. As one of the members started to raise his objections, Amelia Bones raised her hand signalling for them to remain quiet, "As I took her into custody and investigated into her alleged crimes, it came to my knowledge that all of her exclusives were based on information obtained by her in her illegal animagus form. She has also used this form to avoid detection when she trespassed in the ministry archives to steal and leak official ministry secrets in direct violation of the Official Secrets Act. This last crime carries the Dementor's Kiss for treason, however; since her information has been, shall we say, helpful, I am not calling for this sentence."

She banished a stack of parchment towards Dumbledore who distributed it to the members with a wave of his hand, "these are some of the crimes which she has committed in her animagus form. I implore this jury of respectable wizards and witches to judge her actions based on the gravity of her crimes."

As she finished, the jury retired to deliberate upon the punishment. After 30 minutes, the jury returned and handed a roll of parchment to the minister who read it with his expression turning gleeful. Hiding his smirk, he started, "Rita Skeeter, the Wizengamot has found you guilty of the following charges: of failing to register your animagus form, of multiple counts of liable and slander against members of our community, of multiple counts of criminal trespass in restricted areas of the offices and archives of the ministry, of leaking official secrets and treason. The last charge carries a manditory sentence of life imprisonment in a maximum security facility or death. However, DMLE Head Madame Bones has chosen to commute that sentence, citing your value as a material witness in matters which have not yet been heard before this body. You are sentenced, therefore; to 30 years in the minimum security wing at Azkaban with possibility for parole in ten years should you show that you are sufficiently reformed to no longer pose a threat to society. In addition your estates and account at Gringotts are henceforth confiscated to make reparations to those whose reputations you have damaged with your activities. Should any of your holdings remain after settlement has been reached, they shall be held in trust until such time as your sentence is complete. Furthermore, two years shall be added to your sentence if you fail to register your nefarious animagus form within 1 month of pronouncement of this judgment."

**India**

Harry woke up in a hut with walls made of mud with wooden poles. He was lying on a straw bed. As he thought, the events of last night came back to him reminding him of the snake, being chased by the Nagas and their hospitality. As he came out, he was taken to the chief of the Nagas who welcomed him fondly, _"Welcome Harold James, son of Peverells."_

_"But I am a Potter"_, he frowned _"why would you call me son of Peverells?"_

The chief grinned, _"Because we can sense the Peverell magic coursing in you. The ancient magics are strong in you and there are not many wizards alive who have so much power as you do at your age. You have reinstated the line of Peverell which was not in existence for centuries now."_

Harry frowned at the explanation. Were not his ancestors also the descendants of the Peverells? They were all descended from Peverells. May be he will have to ask the mystics who could explain this.

_"Are you ready for the journey ahead, Harry?_", the chief asked.

As Harry was served breakfast, the chief explained the route to him with some of the problems he was expected to face. After an hour, Harry left the Nagas to commence his journey to the abode of the mystics. He travelled further north on foot determined to learn about the animals and the flora and fauna of the place. As he walked, he saw a two headed bird diving towards him. Immediately he whipped out his wand and sent a stunner at the bird which dodged out of the way surprising him with its agility. As he was recovering from his surprise, the bird dived again and picked him up in his talons taking him into the sky. Harry levelled his wand at the bird to stun it but realised a second later that he would not survive the fall if the bird dropped him. Resigning himself to fate, he looked downwards and saw something which made his heart soar with joy. Blackstorm was flying towards him at a great speed and quickly covering the distance between them. Mentally ordering the hippogriff to stay beneath him, Harry stunned the bird which dropped him and he fell hard on the back of his hippogriff making him wince in pain. He could feel his ribs aching making it clear that he had broken one or two of them. Perhaps it was not a good decision to land on the hippogriff in mid-flight.

He settled himself comfortably upon the Hippogriff trying to limit his movements so as not to aggravate his injury. As he flew, he kept looking at the contraption on his wrist and steered the hippogriff in the right direction from time to time with a gentle pat on its flanks or a thought. When he felt cold, he dug into the pockets of his robes, pulling out some of the leaves the Nagas had given him. After an hour of flying, they were nearing the snow laden mountains which Harry had seen the previous day and he could see the wisdom in having a flying beast. He was able to soar over the deepest valleys in minutes, guessing at their depths, instead of having to spend arduous days scaling their sides. Suddenly the contraption on his wrist glowed red and he patted the hippogriff signalling it to go down. The Hippogriff plummeted towards the ground at an exhilarating speed making him shout in glee at the thrill of flying. After 5 minutes, the hippogriff landed outside a ring of trees which were spread in a giant circle but there was nothing beyond the trees. The contraption on his hand was inert showing no activity. He remembered the question he had asked Harsh when they had gone to Longbottom castle about every pureblood property being surrounded by rings of trees and he remembered that Harsh had not answered the question. Perhaps all magical properties were ringed by trees on their borders.

As he was pondering over what to do he remembered Harsh's advice about magic leaving traces. Deciding to test the theory, he extended his senses to feel anything like he had felt at Ollivanders. As he concentrated, he could feel a tug at his consciousness. As he concentrated more, he felt like he was trapped in a big circle that tugged at him from all sides. Over whelmed he sat down on the ground from all his senses being drowned in all the magic that was present in the place. He concentrated more and finally felt a lone string which extended towards the ring of trees. Getting up with difficulty, he dragged his feet towards the property following the string and soon, he was caressing the gnarled trunk of a very old tree. As he was doing so, Harsh appeared beside him grinning, "Welcome to Adhrispuram, Harry."

Harry grinned at him before he collapsed from exertion and the pain from his ribs.

Harry woke up in a room with walls built of closely fitted and polished stone blocks showing no sign of morter. The walls were generously hung with tapestries and portraits of warriors. Light was provided by a number of torches in wall-sconces. He was lying on a bed which was twice the size of his bed in his dormitory at Hogwarts. Harsh sat at his bedside grinning at him, "welcome back to the land of living, Harry."

Harry groaned, "Guruji, why did you not tell me that finding the abode of the mystics was so hard? I had to battle a bird and ran from spears and fly in the cold to find this place. Why did you not tell me that it would be so cold here?"

Harsh was amused. _"You have just arrived and you already have so many complaints. However I can relate how being taken captive by a bird would set you off. I hope the Nagas treated you well. They always treat all my recruits with generous hospitality but I think they would have treated you special considering you speak their language_", Harsh said hissing.

_"You speak it. You have been playing me all along_?", Harry hissed in indignation while Harsh just laughed aloud at his protests.

**REVIEWS PLEASE**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N-** Let's get the reviews out of the way before we go on. Thanks to ObsessedwithHPFanFic and Anarion for the reviews.

Thank you Hypergym for such astute observations. To answer your queries, Neville cannot wrap time but it was purely on instinct that he commanded the wand into his holster and after the spell passed through him he willed it into his hand again. Ginny is not weak but she was not very remarkable till the 4th book except her bat bogey hexes and you certainly can't expect a bat bogey hex to get her out of the situations I put her in yet. Also when she was trying to contact Dumbledore, she failed to keep track of her comrades as to who was still standing and Moody used it to his benefit. Luna Lovegood had not entered into Harry's circle of friends till the train ride on September 1st in the 5th year therefore I am waiting for that time for her entry. Trust me she will be as charming as she ever has been.

Sonia, thank you for taking time to read this and I appreciate the interest you have shown into it. I will try to keep up with your hopes.

This chapter is going to be a little short than my standard chapters but that was because I am saving something for the next chapter which would have made it run into 20,000 words or more. I promise the next chapter will be fulfilling.

Another thing that I want to talk about is that I would not be updating as quick as I had been due to several constraints as I have recently faced therefore, please bear with me. I will try to keep it at a chapter a week with a decent sized chapter as I am doing.

Since we all know I cannot own Harry Potter, I do not see the need to find creative ways to tell every time that I do not own the raven haired wizard.

**THANK YOU HYPER GYM FOR THE EDIT**

* * *

**INDIA**

Harry Potter woke up in the room where he had been taken when he had reached the mystics. The room was more than adequate for his uses. It was much larger than the small bedroom he was used to at Privet Drive. It was even better than the one at the Black Town House, being twice the size with a spectacular view out the window. There were hills visible in the distance which was more like mountains. He remembered reading in his Geography books in the muggle primary that the Himalayas were the highest and the longest mountain range in the world. He had not imagined the sheer size of it. Each of those mountains was easily over 3000 feet in height and at the foot of those mountains were woods so dense that even the forbidden forest would look tame compared to them but these did not look quite so sinister to him.

"Mr. Potter", a female voice brought him out of his musing and he turned to find a middle aged woman at the door of the room. She was athletically built, was tall with black hair and brown eyes. While she looked fairly unremarkable, the sheer power which seemed to exude from her was terrifying.

"Mr. Potter", she called again, "Guruji has asked me to tell you to get ready and meet him outside in 30 minutes and any delay on your part would be met with severe punishment."

Harry nodded, getting up and running to the bathroom. Half an hour later, he was facing the mystic who was sitting at the breakfast table with 5 other people. As Harry approached, Harsh signalled him to sit at the table, "Harry, let me introduce you to these fine people. They are Vari, Anal, Pawan, Achala and Ambar who will be looking after different aspects of your training. In between them, you will also meet Varahmihir who is our seer though I do not think you fancy divination much. I will be teaching you a lot of things but these 5 will be looking over your training. They also have the support of other mystics and whatever they order, you are bound to fulfil them or suffer our displeasure. We have some new recruits but their training is different from you so, you will be their only charge."

Harry nodded his head. He remembered something that the mystic had promised him when he woke up, "Guruji, I do not have a wand which is compatible with me."

Harsh smiled, "I remember my promise, Harry. As soon as you are done with your breakfast, we are going to collect the ingredients of your wand."

After finishing breakfast, they came out of the building they were in and Harry found that it was a castle but did not look as imposing as the Hogwarts castle but rather welcoming with the mountains in the background. The castle was around 4 stories high and spread in a large area with guards patrolling the tops of the walls and keeping watch. Outside the castle, there were large stables, pens and sheds where there were animals being kept. He noticed his hippogriff tethered to one of the stalls while the mystic Pashupati (that was Harry had heard was his name) was patting its flanks and tending to it so lovingly that he reminded Harry of Hagrid. There were many flying horses tethered to their stalls in the stable and then there were bovines which were being tended to by some mystics. The mystics had a large number of animals in their settlement which made sense to him since there would be no other supply of food in this place which was out in the middle of nowhere.

On the far end of the settlement, he could see there was some type of practice area where there was an earth embankment and it looked like it was used for battle practice. Indeed two mystics were standing at the sides bearing swords and readying themselves for sparring. On another side of the settlement, there was a big pool of water which was sparkling in the morning sun.

There was a practice area where some mystics were duelling with each other firing lethal curses and dodging them or shielding themselves with such ease that it fascinated him. He kept watching them as they used those curses and hexes in creative ways and were even putting in some charms or transfigurations to use in the battle.

One thing he noticed was that not all of them were wearing cloaks or robes like wizards in England did but mostly their torso was bare with just a light fabric covering their upper body which they would cast aside when doing any work but some were dressed in robes or cloaks. Harsh's comments about mystics coming from all over the world came to his mind.

"Harry," Harsh said, "as we are going to craft your wand so we will be leaving to see our wand maker Shilpagya who I am told is waiting for a challenge."

Harry did not say anything but thought back to how happy Ollivander seemed when Harry did not fit with any of the wands which he had tried. Perhaps this was another enthusiastic soul like Ollivander.

Harsh led him westwards in the settlement to a non-descript house where they met a man who was ancient. His beard was big enough to put Dumbledore to shame and his face was so wrinkled that it was hard to make out his features. He looked like a well placed jinx would do him in. The only distinguishing features were his brown eyes which were sparkling with so much energy that Harry could not take his eyes off him.

"Shilpagya," Harsh addressed him, "Harry here needs a wand compatible to him."

"I won't put in any efforts for a meager boy, Harsh", the old wand maker retorted, "if you cannot bring me a challenge, please do not waste my time."

Harsh said nothing but smirked, "I think you will love this challenge. This one here is a descendant of Peverell and Black. He is powerful enough to cast a patronus and drive away 100 Dementors at this age."

The old wand maker's eyes brightened, "A descendant of Peverell, you say? I will love this. I wish old Ignotus was here. I could rub this in his face for eternity."

He beckoned Harry closer and sliced his palm to collect a few drops of blood. As he studied it for a few minutes he turned to them, "the boy will need a seasoned piece of the sandalwood tree, a tail feather of Ganda Berunda and a Yeti hair. If you can manage a tail hair of Thestral, I would not say not to it."

Harsh said nothing for a few moments while his eyes took a maniacal grin. Then he said, "We have quite the task for us, Harry. Let's leave before the day is long and we can hope to collect the items as soon as we can."

Harry nodded but could not help asking, "What is Ganda Berunda? And what is a Thestral?"

Harsh turned to him, "Ganda Berunda is a two headed bird which is known for its strength, its powers of illusion and its capacity to carry heavy weights such as a tiny wizard named Harry Potter." He guffawed at Harry's expression.

"Sounds like a phoenix to me", he muttered.

"You are not far from right, Harry. They are cousins to Phoenixes but cannot quite arise again from its ashes like a phoenix but they are impervious to all magic that can kill them. Their death depends on their will", Harsh answered his unasked question.

"Why are they not listed in the Fantastic beasts?", Harry asked.

Harsh laughed, "Because Newt Scammander did not come to India. He did not even mention Pravirakarna owl in his books and they are rather legendary creatures. There are many animals found in these mountains which are not mentioned by Mr. Scammander."

Harry was surprised but eager to know more, "What is a Thestral?"

"A Thestral", Harsh said reverently, "is a skeletal winged horse which is considered by many as omen of death but we know it as the horse of death because only those who have seen death can actually see this animal. That is the animal symbol of House of Peverell and adorns your ring. Newt Scammander had met a lot of them in his school days."

"Where are they found in England?", Harry asked eagerly while thinking of the Lord Rings he had left in England when he was coming on this voyage on Sirius's advice that the rings would not be useful in India where his houses were barely known.

"Hogwarts", Harsh replied, "it has the biggest flock of them. I believe there are around 100 of the beasts in the forbidden forests and are looked after by Rubeus Hagrid. They are used for pulling the carriages."

"Nothing pulls the…", Harry stopped short as he realised that only those who had seen death could see those horses. He had not seen anyone die before Cedric therefore he could not see them.

Harsh was smirking at his expression, but; soon turned sober, "they are magical beings and are considered powerful. Any wand to have its tail hair and a tail feather of a Ganda Berunda would be quite the combination."

"Hang on", Harry said, "did not the wand maker say something about Yeti hair?"

"Yes, he did. You are going to ask it to give you a hair", Harsh smirked at him.

Harry was gasping in wonder that he was going to see a Yeti of all things.

"They are temperamental creatures, Harry. When you approach one, present yourself as one who has come to ask something and be humble. They cannot refuse anything to one who shows them proper respect", Harsh confided in him making him worry about the proper manners for a Yeti.

As they went out of the settlement, Harry found himself in the clearing where he had come in. Behind him there was only a ring of trees and there was nothing in it.

He turned to Harsh who was smiling at him, "We keep an invisibility shield up at all times. This way no one unsavoury can find us."

He took Harry's hand and disappeared to re-appear beneath a mountain where there was nothing but only snow all around. They were directly below the snow laden mountains making them look dreadful and imposing to him. There were no trees around the place and all he could see was snow.

He turned to Harsh who was just disillusioning him. Harsh pointed in a direction, "Go that way, Harry. After a kilometer or so, you will come upon them. The first Yeti you meet, ask him to voluntarily give you a hair for the purpose of triumph of good. Before he agrees, he would try to intimidate you, threaten you or scare you. Hold your ground against him and he will relent to give a hair to you."

Harry nodded and started in the direction Harsh pointed out to him. As he walked, he found that it kept getting colder. As he began to think about turning back, a figure jumped in front of him.

It was around 12 feet in height with a face resembling a great ape, red bloodshot eyes and snow white hair all over the body. Its large, powerful fingers were tipped with formidable looking claws and his teeth sported six inch fangs pointed like stilettos. Seeing the bizarre creature in front of him, Harry's mind froze and he could not say a word.

"What do you want, humanling?", growled the Yeti making him shiver to the bones.

He wanted to bolt but Harsh's warning kept sounding in his mind. "I… Iwantahair", he said quickly making the Yeti laugh.

"You are such a tiny thing, humanling. Now I ask again WHAT DO YOU WANT?", the Yeti almost roared at him.

Harry's legs were threatening to give way beneath him but he did not dare use his wand because he knew the creature in front of him would swat him away before he could do anything. Gathering his Gryffindor courage, he faced the Yeti, "O Noble being, I am Harold James and I have come to pray for a hair of you to forge me a wand which will help me win in the war against evil."

"Since you told me your name, I will tell you mine. I am Raktaksh, son of Shukraksh and the prince of Yeti's. We do not easily mingle with wizards who are always offending mother magic and her ways. What do you know of evil?", the yeti asked.

Harry was not sure of the answer. While he could give a pedestrian answer to anyone who asked this question, he knew the Yeti wanted to know something more. Something that was true only for the Yeti and no one else. He remembered how the mystic had always harped on about Mother Magic and offending her ways.

"Evil is when someone uses his gifts and tries to pervert the sacred rules of magic", he replied confidently, "When someone as such arises and tries to instigate others in those ways, it is evil."

"'Why would I give you my hair?", the Yeti asked while not commenting on his answer to the first question.

"Because I need it to craft a wand which will be a useful tool in the upcoming war against evil", he replied after a moment's reflection.

"I do not concern myself with the world's ways Harold James", the yeti said, "I can simply kill you and bury your body in the snow. Why should I not kill you?"

While all of Harry's instincts wanted him to run, he stood his ground, "You will not kill me, Noble Raktaksh because it is not your nature. I am the only hope against the upcoming evil and your contribution will ensure triumph of good over evil."

"Well answered, Harold James", the Yeti said, his face contorting into a smile which had the disturbing side-effect of showing off his fangs, "you will have your wish."

He plucked a long snow white hair from his arm and gave it to Harry. Harry conjured an empty phial and having corked the hair inside, stowed it back into his robes.

As Harry turned around, Harsh materialised before him, "Well done, Harry. You handled him well. Now let's see you tackle the Ganda Berunda."

They disappeared to appear a moment later in the clearing where he had encountered the two headed bird a day before.

"Harry", Harsh instructed him, "as the bird approaches, you have to avoid to being taken as a passenger in its talons but you have to hitch a ride on its back. It will try all its might to unseat you from its back and you have to keep hanging. When you have broken its will, it will willingly drop a tail feather for you which you have to collect and then jump off its back or it would plunge into a glacier."

Harry shivered at the task. The bird was enormous and he was not sure how to break its spirit. As he replayed Harsh's words in his mind once again he asked a question of him, "How will I land on the ground safely?"

Harsh produced a shrunken broom for him, "Marut told me you are fantastic flyer. Sure you can use your talents."

Grinning Harry pocketed the broom.

As Harsh disappeared, Harry heard an ear piercing screech and saw the two headed bird dive bombing him. As the bird came near him and went in a steep dive to grab him Harry waited until the last possible moment, then leapt to one side, grabbing the bird's wing and swinging himself on to its back. The strain nearly ripped Harry's arms from their shoulder sockets, but as the bird rose into the air again, it had a passenger. He wasted no time getting a firmer grip with both hands and getting his knees up behind the wing joints. All the wile, it was thrashing and trying to throw him off. As the bird went higher and higher, Harry started feeling the extreme cold and he laid himself closer to the bird's body, trying to use its heat to stave off the cold while cursing himself for not thinking to bring the leaves the Nagas had given him which would have kept him warm in any cold. The bird kept flying at high altitude for a long time until Harry thought he would become frozen to its back. The bird tried to unseat him all during this somersaulting mid flight, giving him jerks or going higher. As he kept clinging, suddenly the bird went into a steep dive making him shout at the top of his lungs enjoying the exhilaration of the flight. The bird kept trying to throw him off by all means but Harry could not be shaken loose.

Finally the bird stopped mid air after a steep upwards climb. He felt some shiver going through its body and it dropped a feather from its tail. Whipping the broom out of his pocket he immediately jumped down and grabbed the feather which was lazily floating down. As he clutched the feather, he threw the broom upwards and flexed his wrist bringing the wand concealed up his sleeve to his right hand. He cast a finite at the broom and it returned to its natural size. What Harry had not considered was that he had been in free-fall for several seconds now. He was only about one hundred feet away from the ground and the broom was not in his hand. Suddenly a spell hit him and he instantly slowed to a halt. Without losing a moment, he summoned the broom to him and mounting it he started flying towards the ground when he saw a blur flying alongside him. When Harry looked more carefully, a face appeared out of the mist. Harsh was grinning at him like mad while he flew like a blur and kept up with the pace of his broom.

As Harry landed, Harsh appeared before him, "Well done Harry. There has not been anyone who has voluntarily obtained a feather from a Ganda Berunda for almost 100 years now."

"You were flying!", Harry said, his face full of so many expressions that it was hard to decipher them all at once, "You have to teach me to do that. It would be cool to fly without a broom in Quidditch and win."

Harsh guffawed, "Harry, Harry. Did you not hear that you are not supposed to teach what I will teach to you? You are not supposed to show your talents so openly either."

"Why?", Harry asked, confused.

"We will continue this discussion when we have obtained sandalwood for you, Harry.", Harsh replied, "we have to finish gathering materials for your wand today. Shilpagya would be cross with you if you are inordinately delayed. I have never seen that old fossil so excited for years now."

"Where will we get sandalwood?", Harry asked, "I have heard it grows in warm climates."

"You are right, Harry. We are going south where there are sandalwood forests. But I must alert you that you will face another tribe of Nagas who are fierce than the ones you have met and they are very suspicious of anyone, parsel tongue or not. You will have to kill some snakes and may be a couple of Nagas before they will acquiesce to give you some sandalwood. This will be a power show."

Harry nodded and Harsh presented a stone to him, "Grab hold, Harry. I know you are still traumatised with the experience of Portkey but we have to take this portkey."

Harry was reluctant to but still touched the stone and he felt a sudden jerk behind his navel and was whisked away.

**Green Hues, London**

Neville had just returned home from Longbottom castle and was preparing to settle for the day when suddenly his elf Kitty appeared before him, "Master Kroaker bes calling you, Master."

Algernon Kroaker was his great uncle who, to hear Dowager Lady Longbottom, had some quirks in his personality and had never married in favour of his love for magical research. 50 years ago, he had joined the unspeakables and had soon become the chief unspeakable. He was one of the most powerful men in Avalon right now. Apart from his prowess with wand, he knew of such arcane magics that some of them weren't even available to ordinary wizards and witches. He had visited Neville several times over the years and tried to help him realise things. Neville was always interested in hearing what he had to tell him.

Neville sent the elf away and after getting dressed went down where Algernon Croaker was waiting in the Parlor. He had silver white hair and a long beard which reached to his chest and his face was full of wrinkles.

Seeing Neville he rose and embraced him warmly, "Neville, How are you child?"

Neville returned his affection with equal delight, "I am well, Great Uncle Algie. Is there any reason for the chief unspeakable to come at this time?", Neville asked.

"I am angry at you, boy", Kroaker growled, "I thought I would come and let my displeasure be known personally."

"Bu… But why?", Neville stuttered, "How did I offend you?", He was fearful of Kroaker's prowess and the creative ways in which he used to punish those found guilty of being a traitor to the department of Mysteries.

"My nephew and his wife return to the world of the living and nobody saw fit to inform me?", he growled, his wand twirling in his fingers emitting red sparks.

Neville knew he would be in trouble unless he came clean to the unspeakable. So, he began telling everything to him from the moment Harry Potter had returned to the school after the third task, the mystic's offer of the wand, his offer to treat Frank and Alice, treating them, taking Harry to India, his training with others and the story of the wand. As he finished his narration, the unspeakable's mouth was open in surprise and his eyes wide.

He sat contemplating over everything that was said and sat still for a long time. Finally after several minutes, he started to speak, "I can recall only one such person from my knowledge. If he appeared to you then it is clear that there is another war at hand. I believe Harry Potter's claim that you know who has returned from the dead. The war will be fierce and if he is taking an interest in Harry Potter then I believe that the clash will be of epic proportions. I wonder what Dumbledore has to say about this?"

Neville smirked, "Harry told me that Dumbledore has no problem with it. In fact Dumbledore has committed to using lethal force this time to curb our losses. I for one will not stay behind and neither will father once he is back on his feet."

"I know that, Neville", the unspeakable replied, "if you have pledged House Longbottom's support to Harry Potter then perhaps you need to be better prepared."

He produced the Longbottom Grimoire from inside of his robes, "Start reading this. We will begin our training a week from now. It's time that Heir Longbottom stands up and masters his family magic."

The grin that he gave to Neville made him cringe.

**Bones Manor**

Susan was getting bored. Except for the days that she had training, there was nothing for her to do and she had already finished reading all her books and Auntie was busy in the office for most of the day these days. Time was slow going for her and she had yet to call Hannah. She was going to wait for Harry Potter to return before she invited Hannah over. She was going to keep her word that she would not talk to Hannah if Harry did not forgive her.

She had been training hard and was still embarrassed with her performance. She had told Amelia all her experiences and was sufficiently chastised for being so amiss in combat like situations. Worse still, Amelia had decreed that every time she failed, she would be punished.

"Has the raven haired wizard left you bereft of your sense, Susie?", Amelia's voice cut into her thoughts and she found her aunt had just arrived.

"What occupies your thoughts, Susie?", she asked again.

"I am bored Auntie", she whined, "I haven't yet invited Hannah over this summer and her letters are short. I am eager to meet her but I have decided not to till Harry forgives her. Training happens every alternate day and I have finished reading all my books."

"Why are you talking like a muggle born, Susie?", Amelia asked, "You have a library at your disposal which I am sure you have not been into and you have not been able to open the family grimoire yet. May be you should try to see if you are ready to be the Bones heiress?"

Susan had not taken the heirship yet because she could not open the grimoire. It resisted her because she was scared of taking on the responsibility but she knew she had to take it soon if she was to count for something in the coming war.

"We are going to the library as soon as I can change into something comfortable.", Amelia said sternly, "we will see tonight if you can wield the mantle of the Bones Heiress.".

**Black Townhouse**

The Weasley's had been having a tough time with pranks going off at any time. Almost everyone had fallen victim to these pranks once or more.

The twins were the most frequent victims sometimes with bleeding noses that could not be stopped, sometimes they were nauseous and puking for hours on end and dry heaving, or sometimes some order member would turn into a canary or at any time an Order member's wand would be replaced with a fake wand which they would not realise until they went to use it and it turned into a rubber chicken or a fish.

The most epic had been one day when Dumbledore was visiting and as he took the chair at the head of table, chains emerged from the arm rest tying him up and then his hair and beard changed colors while his robes changed from their eccentric patterns and colors to plain white. While everyone else at the table was horrified the head master merely chuckled at this easing the tension around the place.

The most horrific prank happened to Arthur Weasley who had just taken a sip from his glass at dinner one day and the next second he was writhing on the ground and seconds later he changed into Alastor Moody and real Moody who was present at that moment looked ready to brawl. They all had tried to find the pranksters but had not been successful so far.

One day Hermione entered the library to spend the entire day holed up there but she ran away moments later bawling at the top of her voice. As she was pacified by Mrs. Weasley, she kept sobbing and between her tears told everyone that all the books in the library had been charmed and when she tried to read them, they began flying around the room. She tried to grab the books but they just danced out of her reach and kept teasing her. This had enraged Mrs. Weasley and she was vowing to put an end to this menace and to punish the perpetrator whenever she found him/her. The twins had been subjected to a thorough investigation by Alastor Moody who used Legilimency on them to make sure they were telling the truth. To his surprise, they were not the culprits… this time.

Remus who had been living in Grimmauld Place and pranked the twins every now and then relayed all the information to Sirius who had taken to living in the Cottage on the Hill. He cringed when he heard the response his pranks had generated. He resolved to avoid Grimmauld Place for the time being for the safety of his limbs.

In the meanwhile Sirius Black had been training hard in his family magics after he had achieved his fitness to be able to hold his own even against the trusted members of Voldemort's inner circle. He had been to visit Ripfang at Gringotts frequently where he had been making decisions on Harry's behalf. So far, he had made several investments which were giving him substantial returns and he had reopened a manor situated somewhere in Ireland which was unplottable and he was furnishing it for Harry Potter whenever he returned. He knew Harry preferred to live without being disturbed and they needed a safe place in case the war turned for the worse. Dumbledore had also instructed him to open several safe houses where the families of muggleborn students and the allies of House Potter could live unaffected by the war if things turned for the worse. He had used several non-descript properties belonging to House Black fortifying them with wards and every protection that he could manage.

One thing that was always on his mind was Harry Potter. He was concerned about his son and how he was doing as he had not received a word since Harry Potter had left for India. Perhaps he was too busy or he had forgotten about the mirror Remus gave him. He had asked Dumbledore but the old man merely shrugged and said that even he did not know how to contact the mystics but some wards that he had tied to Harry Potter kept him informed that Harry Potter was fine.

**The Burrow**

The Weasleys had been fortifying the burrow ever since the school year had ended. Bill Weasley who had been transferred to Avalon had been raising wards over the property the likes of which were seen only in the ancient tombs of Egypt. There were no wizards capable of getting through those protections in England unless one brought a ward device and those were rare in England. There were only a couple of them available and only in the oldest of families. Most of them kept their information secret from others and Bill hoped that none of the Death Eaters who had one would offer it to You-know-who.

He was living at the Burrow with the twins and Ronald who claimed that they missed flying and Grimmauld Place was too gloomy for them. Mrs. Weasley had not been receptive to the idea until Mr. Weasley convinced her with the condition that they would floo in twice a day for lunch and dinner and would not burn the house down.

Ron had come to the Burrow to escape Grimmauld place and to think upon his life so far. The last year had been hard on his friendship with Harry Potter and some mistakes he made in his jealousy were now coming back to bite him. He had given up on his friend when he needed him most and now he felt that he was losing his friend forever. Harry had forgiven him but the frostiness in their relationship had not escaped him. He decided to do whatever it took to gain his trust back. It will be a hard journey but Ron was resolved to never abandon Harry Potter again. His friendship was what he had treasured most and he would do anything to reclaim it.

He had also been reflecting on the path he had taken so far and was disappointed with what he saw. He had been a slacker and tended to avoid working hard despite knowing that he had to work hard to make his place in the world. Harry Potter had slacked off with him in studies, but he was Harry Potter, a Lord of four houses and had more money than all the Weasleys put together had ever seen. Ron was not jealous of him anymore with the hand that Harry Potter had been dealt by the fates but he had to work to make his own future.

To start on his path to become his own man, he had excused himself and come to the burrow. When he craved flying he used the twin's brooms. He spent most of his time studying the books from his last 4 years at school. It was hard going at the start. When Bill noticed him working hard, he offered his assistance in Ron's studies. Thus Bill was tutoring Ron on the days they were not practicing at the cottage on the hill. Bill was disappointed with Ron's choice of Divination and dug out his old text books to start teaching Ron runes. Runes were difficult as Hermione had once told them yet he was trying his hardest to persevere. So far he had studied the names of the runes in Elder Futhark and was learning to apply them.

He was also trying to improve his performance in potions. The twins had recruited his help in it by giving him some introductory books to read before he had to start brewing potions for their use. They could use even the simplest potions in their products and their uses had boggled his mind.

This was proving to be the hardest summer ever for him and he was not complaining. The sense of accomplishment and finally understanding what the teachers had been trying to give him made all the effort worth-while. Perhaps they were all doing their best to grow up before the war.

**South India**

Harry and Harsh appeared out of thin air and Harry promptly stumbled and fell on his knees. As Harsh took his hand and helped him to his feet, he muttered, "Ugh. I hate port keys."

Harsh smirked at him, "Of course. You can never end up on your feet. Do you, Harry?"

Harry just shrugged. Then he asked, "Where are we going Guruji?"

"Not me but you Harry. Follow the scent that you can smell and keep following until you run into Nagas. They are temperamental people and will not yield to you until you defeat them so I believe that you will be busy with them quite a bit. A word of advice if you will, Harry. They seldomly use wands and use staffs to conduct magic which makes it easier for them. If I were you, I would choose a one on one duel with the prize of wand wood."

Harry nodded and started following the scent of Nagas (it was actually Sandalwood which is preferred by snakes and so Nagas stock them in their residences) which he knew from his time in the other Naga village. He had noticed the scent when he arrived and now following it lead him deeper into the forest. As he went, the forest became so dense that there was no longer any trail visible. The forest canopy was thick enough that no sunlight penetrated to the forest floor. As Harry looked around in the gloom, even at mid-day, he realized that he was surrounded by trees he did not recognize. He did his best to step around obstacles as he encountered them and stayed on the scent.

The hair on the back of his head stood up and he ducked. This time, instead of a javelin or an arrow, a snake passed through the space where he had just been standing. He tried to stop the snake but it turned and attacked him. Harry had no option but to stun it. As the snake fell, scores of snakes attacked him from all sides and despite doing his best, he could not keep all of them at bay. By the time he was victorious against them, a few had buried their fangs in him and paid for their aggression by dying horribly as their bodies melted like wax.

As Harry stood taking stock of the situation, a man jumped in front of him from a nearby tree, "_you are not welcome here_", he hissed out.

"_I mean you no harm. I am sorry that your slithering friends have paid for their unprovoked attack with their lives. I am not looking for a fight_", Harry hissed back in reply.

"_Go away or we will kill you_", the Naga hissed again baring his teeth at him.

"_I challenge you to a duel. If I win you will give me wand wood and if I lose I will forfeit my life_", Harry hissed.

Without preamble, the Naga produced a small staff which he pointed at Harry and hissed something. A dark green spell flew at him which he dodged. Harry fired a stunner at the Naga who raised the earth with a stomp of his foot. As the stunner collided with the earthen wall, the Naga banished the wall at Harry who had to jump aside to avoid being swatted like a fly. As he jumped he fired a bombarda at the Naga who had fired a spell of his own. The spells collided in a blast and they were both thrown back.

As Harry jumped to his feet he used the Aguamenti at the Naga who lost his footing. In that moment he fired a curse at Harry as he fell and Harry instantly raised a shield to defend himself. The next instant he was forced to roll away because the Naga had summoned a boulder at him. As he stood he cast a banishing charm at the boulder forcing it to go awry and hit the Naga in the shoulder and the Naga dropped his staff. Immediately Harry followed up with a petrifying hex and incarcerous and the Naga was bound up before him.

As Harry approached the Naga and cancelled the hexes, the Naga said, _"I accept defeat. You are the winner. We will give you the wood you came for."_

An hour later, Harry left with an armful of wood from the Naga who simply escorted him to the place where they had duelled. As soon as the Naga disappeared, Harsh appeared before Harry. Grabbing Harry's shoulder, the two of them were gone.

**Headmaster's Office Hogwarts**

Dumbledore was sitting in his office trying to solve the woes of the school. Of course, the same two problems every year, those being the budget and finding a new DADA teacher. This year, however, were added to the pile finding a new history of magic teacher, a temporary care of magical creatures teacher and a Wizarding Etiquette teacher. He would place ads in all the usual publications, of course: The Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, The Quibbler, but it would be so nice if the answer to his teaching woes would just walk in through his office door. Just then, the gargoyle alerted him to a visitor. As the visitor came up the stairs, Dumbledore trained his wand at the door waiting for the visitor to enter.

The door opened and a man with ordinary features entered the office. He asked the stranger sternly, "What do you want?"

The stranger merely smirked at him, "Hello Mr. Dumbledore. I am Aparichit and Lord Harsh has told me that you were looking for a defense professor. I thought I would toss my hat in the ring with others."

Dumbledore said nothing but looked at the other man scrutinising him. He tried to probe the man's mind but he met solid walls which had no breach whatsoever at first sight. Albus knew that he could win in mental war against the other man but that would require open confrontation and he wanted to avoid that. He sensed a weakness in the man's defences and immediately moved through the breach. He was amazed with what he saw. Beyond the walls was a forest full of trees and mountains with a lot of magical creatures wandering through the mindscape. Some of the creatures he recognized from sightings during his trip to the Himalayas decades ago. As he stepped inside, a giant snake lunged at him forcing him to break the connection and the next second, he was in his office again.

The stranger said nothing but was smiling at him, "is that sufficient or you want me to duel you to prove that I can teach this subject?"

"You are hired", said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling, as he thought to himself, "That's one problem solved."

**Himalayas**

Harry fell to the ground as the portkey stopped pulling him. He noticed that this portkey did not give the usual nauseating feeling or revolved too much but was a much smoother ride.

As he was once again tumbled to the ground, Harsh laughed at him, "Still could not get the hang of it, Harry? Portkeys were developed as means of reinforcements arriving in middle of battle and if warriors handled portkey like you do, they would have been cut down before they took out their wand."

Harry retorted, "May be you can teach me to handle portkeys better then, Guruji. Or is it too pedestrian for mystics?"

Harsh mock glared at him, "Careful Harry or you will rue your outbursts. Now we are going to get a tail hair from a Thestral."

Harsh led him to a part of the woods which were dense and there was no living creature near by that Harry could sense. Harsh looked around for sometime before he wandlessly summoned a small animal out of a nearby bush and whipping out his wand, cast a severing charm then turned its carcass inside out.

"What did you do that for?", Harry asked flabbergasted.

Harsh looked at him like he had grown two heads, "Thestrals are attracted by the smell of blood and you can pluck a hair off its tail while it is feasting on the carcass of the dead animal or would you rather that it takes you for a ride while you are trying for a hair."

Harry said nothing but his jaws shut with an audible click and he started looking around. Soon he saw a winged animal approaching them. It descended before them and Harry surveyed it closely. It had a skeletal face and there was no flesh on its body but the skin was clinging to its bones. The same was true for the rest of its body where he could see the bones beneath its translucent skin with little fat in them and it had a long tail with a pointed end.

The beast approached Harry and nuzzled him with its head and cautiously Harry extended his hand to pet its head. The beast gave such a queer expression as if it was enjoying the petting. With Harsh's nudging, he fed the carcass to the Thestral and while it was doing so, Harry plucked a hair off its tail.

As they were returning, Harsh detailed other qualities of Thestrals to him like how they could fly over a large distance in little time, could turn invisible, were protective of members of its herd and very formidable to their enemies.

Bantering back and forth they approached Adrishpuram and reached the wand maker who snatched the things away from Harry, frowning at him, "Took you long enough, boy. If I knew what a slacker you are, I would rather have used the materials from my stores."

Harry's temper was about to erupt but he controlled his emotions and spoke with gritted teeth, "If you already had the materials, why was I sent all over India to collect them? Did you get your kicks by sending me off on a pointless and dangerous task?""

The wand maker gave him a toothy grin for a while before answering, "Of course boy! We had to test you and see if you deserve this wand. There are some more common materials which could be used for your wand but this is the best combination and I was not going to give such a weapon to just a boy I knew nothing about. How would I know if there is anything special about you than other mystics? These all wizards here are powerful and that is why they are mystics."

Harry listened to the chastisement of the wand maker but said nothing. The man had not said or done anything to merit any anger from Harry and in some convoluted way, his words made sense to him. One nagging doubt which was at the back of his mind was that he wondered if the mystics wanted him killed.

Before he could voice his question, the wand maker started again, "Do not think you were in real danger anytime except when you fought the Naga but that bloke is too hostile. The Thestrals are quite harmless to anyone who does not want to harm them in anyway. The bird is my familiar and the Yeti has been our friend for centuries. He was rather curious to see if you would run away crying but you stood your ground."

As the wand maker took the materials from him, he took a piece of wood which he sawed in the middle with a blade which was crafted like a miniature bow. He put the feather in between the two pieces of wood and tied the two pieces together with the Yeti hair and the Thestral hair in a double helical structure. All this while he was chanting something under his breath and the wood kept glowing. As he was finished, the wood glowed fiery red before returning to its normal color. Then he fashioned a sort of cover from another piece of the wood which was hollow inside. He fit the pieces he had sawn and then tied back with the hairs in the hollow piece of wood thus giving it the shape of a wand. He sealed the cover with some lacquer at the base. Then he proceeded to attach a handle to the wand so forged whilst chanting some long incantation which fused the handle with the rest of the wand. When he was done, he dropped the whole assembly into a bowl of water that he kept nearby.

Harry had thought that the wand would be handed over to him as soon as it was complete. he turned to the wand maker with a questioning look on his face.

The wand maker growled at him, "The wand is not ready yet. It will imbibe the properties of the magic in this water for the night before it is ready for use. See me at the first light of dawn tomorrow."

As they were returning, Harry asked Harsh, "Guruji, what is special about the water? I have seen you all drinking nothing but water and it has some energizing properties but that's all I know about it."

Harsh smiled at him, "It is magical water, Harry. The water is from River Ganga which flows through North India before meeting the sea in Bay of Bengal. It has magical properties and that is why no insects can breed into its waters. A bowl of Ganga jal (water) can be kept for years without it getting bad. The Muggles know of the properties of water but since they are unaware of magic now, they cannot point out the reasons."

As they reached the castle, Harsh led him into a study where he was given a seat and Harsh took the other one.

He looked at Harry for a few minutes as if reading his mind before he asked, "what have you understood yet of being a mystic, Harry?"

Harry thought of everything he had learned and gathered his thoughts for a few moments before he finally spoke, "A mystic is not just an ordinary wizard or witch but they are rather proficient at using magic and have access to arcane magic and rituals which have been forgotten by the modern world centuries ago. They are children of mother magic and are committed to serve her to the best of their abilities."

Harsh beamed at him, "That is very astute Harry but what you omitted or failed to observe is that we are warriors Harry. We fight the battles no one else does. We serve when no one else can. We are the weapon against evil and we are the shield when the times are dark."

Harry sat listening with rapt attention for moments before he spoke again, "what will you teach me?"

Harsh smirked, "I was wondering when you will ask me the question. I will teach you be in tandem with your magical core, how to increase your magical reserves, to read someone's mind and to fly."

Harry was elated at the last word but had many other questions running through his mind, "What about duelling? What about my family magic? What about other skills which are needed to win a war?"

Harsh was amused at his rant, "Harry, you will be taught everything that is there to know but you have to have a little patience. There is so much to learn that I have appointed teachers for you. They will teach you things that you will need to learn. I promise you that by the time we are done with you, nobody in Hogwarts would be able to connect you with the boy who walked in those corridors these last 4 years."

He produced a book for him, "I want you to read through this book tonight, Harry. This is a small handbook which is issued to all our recruits to help understand our ways. Tomorrow just before the break of dawn, Vari will be waking you up to begin your training. I have given permission to my five warriors to discipline you if they feel you are lacking in your performance and trust me, you will not like our discipline."

After a long, difficult day, Harry returned to his chamber. He opened his trunk to retrieve his pajamas. As he was rooting through his belongings, he found the package that Remus had given to him at the Port of London. After looking at it puzzled for a minute, he remembered that it was the communication mirror. He eagerly tore through the wrappings and fished out what looked like an ordinary mirror. As he inspected the mirror, it began to buzz and Sirius's voice was heard from it calling him, "Prongslet"

Harry grinned and tapped the mirror while uttering, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good", and Sirius's grinning face appeared in the mirror.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N-**** T**hank you Anarion & ObsessedwithHPFanFic for your encouraging words. Hypergym as always I loved reading your review. You read every chapter with attention as is reflected in your comments.

I hope you all like this chapter and do not roast me over something that you do not like in it.

Let's move onwards.

* * *

**India**

Harry was sleeping soundly. Yesterday had been a full day with his adventures gathering the materials to make his wand. He had flown on a bird, battled a Naga, befriended a Thestral and met a Yeti. He had ended the day on a high note after he and the Marauders had talked with each other for quite a while. Harry had told them everything he had learned so far. The marauders had been pleased with his progress. Harry told them that he did not see any major changes in himself. They assured him that he was already doing great and he should continue to work in this vein.

He sat up on his bed spluttering as someone doused him with a heavy jet of water. As he got his bearings, he found Vari grinning at him, his wand levelled towards Harry, "Good morning, Potter. It is time to wake up."

Groggily Harry looked out the window and saw that the sun had not risen yet. He muttered, "Its too early and too cold. Why would anyone go out at this hour?"

The mystic doused him again making him shiver to the core, "I will take no whining from you, Potter. Guruji has asked me to be heavy handed with you, if you are uncooperative with me. Now, you have 10 minutes to get up and join me outside before I come looking for you again."

As he levelled his wand to douse him once more, Harry got up from his bed and ran to the bathroom. After 10 minutes, he was ready for the day with a track suit that Dobby had bought for him and a Weasley jumper which he felt would be necessary in the weather outside and a good pair of running shoes from a renowned brand he had seen Dudley wear sometimes. It was as cold outside as Scotland was in early winter but mercifully it was not snowing. As he came out of his room, someone standing behind the door stunned him from behind.

Five minutes had passed with Harry unconscious before he was innervated. Vari growled at him, "First rule of a mystic, NEVER EVER DROP YOUR GUARD."

Harry sighed. He had been in a hurry to get ready for the mystic and was stunned. If this kept going then it was going to be a long summer. He merely nodded his head, "I will keep it in mind, Mr. Vari."

As he led him out of the castle, Harry saw that it was not even dawn yet but many of the mystics were up and going about their business. Vari took him to the lake he had seen the day he arrived. It was not as big as the black lake but it was big enough for swimming or walking around the lake.

"Start running, Potter", the mystic barked, "I want you to finish 2 rounds around the lake in 20 minutes. Most mystics can do it in 7 minutes but since you are new, I am being lenient with you."

Harry started running. After he had covered about a mile of the lakeshore, he slackened his pace for a second and was immediately rewarded with a stinger from the mystic which made his backside ache and put him into motion again. As Harry finished the second lap and slumped on the ground, the mystic again shot a stinger at him making him yelp and stand despite being exhausted.

The mystic it appeared was not done with him, "Down on your knees and hands, Potter. Start doing push-ups. Get those limbs into action."

After a gruelling hour of push-ups and sit-ups, he was allowed to go and clean up when dawn was close to breaking. When Harry had finished bathing and dressing, having removed all the outward traces of his morning workout, Vari accompanied him to the wand-maker who was sitting in meditating position. Harry kept looking at the ancient man who looked serene and peaceful in that moment with his face relaxed and not showing a trace of worry. 10 minutes later, the wand maker opened his eyes as the first light of the day touched the horizon and grinned seeing Harry there, "Can't wait to try your wand, boy? I suppose the enthusiasm is understandable. Where is your old wand?"

Harry produced the wand Harsh had given him. The mystic immediately discarded that one, "This is not your wand. I can hear it's alignment is slightly out of tune for you."

Harry started retelling the story of the wand Ollivanders had sold to him. How it contained a phoenix feather core and was a twin to Voldemort's wand. The ancient wand maker did not interrupt him but listened attentively all the while until Harry got to the part where his voice hitched telling about the wand being destroyed. He told of how another wand with the same core and wood did not fit him after he woke up.

The wand maker immediately assumed a scholarly demeanour that Harry had seen McGonagall take several times during the last 4 years, "Old Gerrick did not find a compatible wand, eh? That wand was never compatible to you, boy. It was attuned to the soul fragment which was latching itself to you all these years and therefore you could use that wand. When the fragment died, any wand with that core stopped being compatible to you. If you did not had an unwanted guest latching onto you all these years, no wand would have suited you but one."

Harry had been listening attentively to everything the old wand-maker was telling him. He knew a little of wandlore from what Ollivander had told him but this was entirely different and the way the wand maker called Ollivander by his first name made him think that they were on a first name basis with each other. The most astonishing piece was that his old wand never suited him but responded to Voldemort's soul fragment. But did not Shilpagya say something about a wand suiting him? He asked the wand-maker, "Which wand would have suited me?"

The wand maker smiled at the curiosity of the young wizard before him, "The wand of destiny, the elder wand, the death stick. It has many names and has passed through numerous wizards and wrecked havoc wherever it went. It was a Peverell heirloom which was taken from Cadmus Peverell and since then it has changed so many hands that it becomes hard to track it."

He pulled out the wand he had made for Harry and handed it to him. As Harry took it in his hands, his magic started singing to the wand and the air around him started rushing making the wand maker chuckle, "I am sure you will do great deeds with it, boy. Use this well because it is not an ordinary wand. There are only a few of this kind which exist and none of them are in Avalon. Old Gerrick would give his family vault to you to just get his hands on it."

Harry looked closely at the wand and there were runes through the body of the wand which he was sure were not there yesterday. Perhaps the old wand maker had etched them sometime during the night. On the handle of the wand, the animals of his houses were drawn in their order of importance starting with a Thestral followed by a Griffin followed by a Dragon followed by an Adder and lastly a Unicorn. There were a few more animals on the body of the wand with the stag in front then a doe which was in front of a shaggy black dog which was in front of a werewolf. He understood the significance of these animals except for the doe. They were the patroni of James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin except for the Doe which he could not recognise but he felt they stood for his family. The old wand maker shooed them away before he could ask anything else.

Vari led him to the practice range where he set up a practice dummy about 100 meters away. He told Harry to hit it's right toe nail. Harry was flabbergasted with such a demand. He was fairly accurate in hitting objects but he did not have such pin point precision.

He turned to the mystic, "Mr. Vari, I have never tried to do such a thing. What difference would it make anyway?"

The mystic sighed, "Mr. Potter, a warrior has to be perfect in his wand work so that there are no chances of error on his part. For example you are given one chance and you have to hit at a precise spot on your enemy's body where he is vulnerable, you have no other option but to hit that very spot. Unless you know how to do that, you cannot expect to fulfil the task thus making you fail. It is important to have such an aim that you can hit a moving target blind folded. If you can achieve this, you will be distinct from your peers and enemies. I have heard of you from Guruji and some of your exploits. While you are formidable for your age, you have unrefined talent and lot of raw power which you need to learn to channel properly. You are a warrior despite what others may say."

Harry had no answer to the mystic so he turned towards the dummy and started casting stinging hexes towards the dummy. Most of his hexes were off by a long margin and did not hit the target and some got close but never hit the desired spot. The wand felt comfortable in his hand even more than the holly wand and it felt like a part of his arm. After half an hour of casting, the mystic stopped him, "you are nowhere close, Mr. Potter. Let's change the target for simplicity. You have to hit it in the head for at least 10 times but do not put too much power in your hex. You are causing a dent in the dummy and no one does so with a stinger."

Harry sheepishly smiled, "How will we know if I am hitting the target?"

The mystic actually smiled, "then why don't you use a color spell which would paint it's head in red if you can make contact with it?"

Harry nodded and looking at the head of the dummy, incanted the spell and aimed for the head. In his next 20 attempts, all of his spells hit the mark and the mystic dismissed him after commending him for his aim and telling him to come down anytime in the day and practice his spell casting.

As Harry returned to the castle, Harsh summoned him to his personal chamber. As Harry took it in, he realized that this room had no tapestries or paintings. The bed was a simple straw pallet, similar to what he slept on when he stayed with the Nagas. The only concession to comfort was two simple wooden chairs and a table. As they sat, Harsh asked about his day. Harry wanted to grumble and complain but kept his silence vowing to not give any pleasure to the mystic from his misery.

"Harry." the mystic said, "what do you know of Lords in Avalon?"

Harry hesitated before saying anything. It was a topic which he had thought about a lot in the last few days and had questions to ask. He started, "Griphook told me that it was the hereditary position for a head of a house and every head of house became a lord upon his investment but he also said that there were true lords however he did not explain that. He said you were a lord though and that I should ask you", said Harry frowning.

Harsh began to explain with a calm demeanour, "The word Lord refers to two type of Lords in magic. One is what Griphook had explained to you but the second are those wizards who are extremely powerful and they have following of wizards and witches with them. They become lord for all of them who decide to follow that wizard/witch and the followers are vassals for the said Lord meaning there is a magical bond between them and it is beneficial to both of them. A bond can be formed when one does fealty to a lord or is taken as a willing follower by another with claiming the other's free will like Voldemort does with his followers by branding them like cattle. Whoever is a Lord has an order which is always ready to follow them and are extremely loyal to their lord to the exclusion of the world. The lords can demand a magical oath of allegiance from his vassals or can claim their magic if he feels that they are betraying him. This is as was decreed by mother magic. There are two lords in Avalon right now with their own order- Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and Tom Marvolo Riddle. The next lord who would arise and outshine both of them will be you."

Harry's mouth was open in surprise in a perfect "O", "but I am an ordinary wizard. I cannot be a Lord like that. It is better this way."

Harsh chuckled at his protests, "you are not ordinary wizard, Harry. You were never ordinary from the moment Voldemort marked you as his enemy. You have tried to be an ordinary wizard from time to time but you will not be ordinary. That is simply not your destiny. You have the destiny of a warrior and a warrior is always renowned. Maybe instead of trying to fit in with others you should use your fame for the betterment of the wizarding world. There is a lot that you can do."

Harry nodded in agreement while thinking of the words that Mr. Weasley had said to him before he had started to India.

"Harry, one of your duties is to learn the manners of purebloods in your country so that you will not appear as out of place when you appear in the Wizengamot since you can assume how people would critically analyze everything that you would do. To this end, I have secured the services of Rachael, who was a talented witch from the minor house of Higgs and has been a mystic for 50 years now. She was friends with your grandfather Charlus and your grandmother Dorea and is ecstatic at the chance of meeting you", Harsh said.

"But why do I have to learn these manners and customs?", Harry asked, "I do not want to be like Malfoy."

"Harry." Harsh said gently, "knowing your heritage would not make you Malfoy. He is too arrogant for his own good but he knows the wizarding manners and customs and it is not amiss to try to learn them. I believe your own mother was fascinated by these customs."

Harry acquiesced finally knowing he had no option but to agree. Harsh was right that there was no harm in learning his manners and customs. If he had grown up with his parents, they would have made him learn those. He should brush up on those manners so as not to make a fool of himself and give the wizarding world more fodder with which to tarnish his reputation.

As they were done with breakfast, Harsh took him to a dungeon within the castle which reminded Harry of the dungeons of Hogwarts. There were shelves full of potion ingredients and cauldrons were simmering and producing bubbles and steams. Harsh handed him over to a mystic who was an anomaly among them. While all the other mystics were warriors by their looks and conduct, this one had a pot belly, was of short height and balding.

"Harry, this is Prathiman, a potions master. He will teach you the fine arts of potion making which I feel has left a lot to be desired under the tutelage if Severus Snape." Harsh said and left the dungeons.

The other man snorted, "Snape? He is a teacher? He is a brilliant potions master and perhaps the youngest in centuries but he is not fit to be a teacher to students who are starting potions. He does not have the temperament for students who have never studied potion making. It requires extreme patience and lot of coaxing the students, gritting your teeth when they make a mistake and all your self control to not to shout at them when things go out of hand. Snape is fit for those who have obtained their OWLs but not young students. He would kill hopes of lots of students who wish to make it to Aurors or Healers due to not being able to brew perfect potions."

Harry said nothing but wondered how true the statement was. The first time Harry had attended the Potions class with Snape, he had done nothing but called his students Dunderheads and told them to start working on the potions without giving them any instructions. He wondered how different things would have been if Snape had taken the time to teach his students about basic steps to be taken before they started brewing potions.

Prathiman turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter, have you studied the Introduction to the delicate art of potion making?"

Harry had not even heard of the said book so he shook his head in reply and Prathiman produced a copy of the book and tossed it to him, "Before tomorrow I want you to finish this book and first five chapters of magical herbs and fungi. We cannot start this before you know what you are working with. Harry nodded and was about to leave when Prathiman said, "Since you are here and I have your charge for the next few hours, let's discuss your experiences in Potions so far. I sometimes crave company of people who would not just talk about battle or business. I have not taught in a school or untrained minds for years now."

Harry asked him, "Have you taught at a magical school, Mr. Prathiman?"

The mystic said, "Since we are going to be in contact with each other for weeks to come I will call you Harry and you can call me Sir?"

Harry nodded, "I would like that."

The mystic started again, "To answer your question I was a potion master at the Takshila School of magic. I taught there for years before one of the faculties turned out to be a dark lord who was after me to obtain a rare potion and I had to run away. The mystics saved me and brought me here. Since then I have not left."

Harry's curiosity was piqued, "Where is Takshshila School of magic? I have never heard of it."

The mystic's eyes had taken a gleam that Harry knew too well. It was the gleam which one had when they talked about something they loved. The mystic started telling, "the Takshshila School is situated on the other side of the Himalayas somewhere in North East direction. It is unplottable like Hogwarts and I am not going to disclose it to you. The students are collected by Flying Carriages for the school and they are allowed to let go home in a month at the end of year. We have a high population of wizards and we figure in the top five in terms of wizarding power index in the world. The average for India stands at 120 which is equal with Japan and slightly above China with the US leading with a little margin. Wizarding Britain was once among the top of the list but the inferior treatment of muggle borns and half bloods coupled with inbreeding has reduced its standing. It is a shame that the muggle borns are treated as inferior when they are nothing but children of squibs."

"What!." Harry gasped, "They are from wizarding families? But we surely would have been told about this. There is no way that they can keep it secret."

The mystic ruefully smiled at him, "This research is classified but has been proved to be impeccable with time and again. Any muggle born wizard or witch is child of a squib or squibs on both sides. After all, magic has to come from somewhere. But that does not mean that every muggleborn is half blood or pure-blood."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, confused.

The mystic started again, "A family is said to go extinct if all of its members die leaving no one to carry the name forward or there are no magical descendants left but squibs. Since squibs do not have magic, they cannot claim lordship of a house. But if a magical descendant appears in a family within 5 generations of the last magical descendant, then he or she can claim the lordship or ladyship of the house. If a wizard is more than 5 generations removed from the last magical ancestor, they are considered muggle born."

This gave Harry a lot to think about but before he could dwell on it any more the mystic interrupted again, "So, Harry humour me with the experience of your first potions class?"

Harry started telling him about the first class as to how Snape entered the dungeon sneering, cloak billowing behind him, lip curling as he called Harry's name off the register, and the questions that he had asked him. As he finished telling the story, the potions master looked at him curiously, "So, did you ever work out the message he gave you in those questions?"

"What message?" asked Harry, confusion showing on his face and in his demeanour.

"He asked you what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to infusion of wormwood which in itself is an innocuous question but in the Victorian flower language it means I bitterly regret Lily's death" the potions master replied, "Interest choice of words but nonetheless ingenious."

Harry's mind was reeling but he said nothing willing his expression to be neutral. He had started to try to be impassive in his expressions which he had seen many people do. He assumed it was some kind of mask that people adopted.

As they talked, the Potions master gave him many handy tips which made him regret that he had not brought a parchment with him to write it all down. After two hours, they were done and Harry went into search of Harsh who was at the practice field where the mystics were practicing sword play. As he arrived, one of the mystics handed him a sword which felt odd in his hand. It was a long sword and light but the length of the sword made it difficult for him to wield it. As he stood there clutching the sword in his hand, one mystic (he remembered he was named Anal) charged at him with a sword forcing him to raise his sword hastily to parry the shot which was aimed at his neck. As he stopped the blow, the mystic kicked him in the chest knocking him to the ground and immediately started to bring the sword down on him forcing him to roll away.

"Halt!" Harsh's deep voice rang out and Anal put the sword to his side and picked up Harry. "Have you no experience in sword play, Harry?" the mystic asked him.

He shook his head, his heart still thudding in his rib cage. The mystic had him at his mercy and would have injured him if Harsh had not stopped him.

"How did you kill Salazar's monster?" Harsh asked, "I distinctly remember Albus telling me that you had used Godric's sword to slay it."

As Harsh was talking, a murmur arose in the crowd which was gathered around and some of the mystics even gave him a respectful nod.

Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and replied, "I had a lot of luck on my side. Dumbledore's phoenix had blinded the basilisk and I drove the sword through its mouth killing it."

"Harry, none of your feats was pure luck. You have skill and power to perform those feats. You only needed a little help. I have told you that you should not sell yourself short." Harsh admonished him before he continued, "Anal is an expert in weaponry and he has the task to teach you to use sword, a bow, dagger and the rules of magical combat."

"Why would I need to learn sword play?", Harry asked.

"Because Harry sword play is something that helps your body to grow up at accelerated pace, not to mention you can channel your magic through these weapons and if for some reason you lose your wand in a duel then it can come handy. No death eater would expect you to know sword play", Harsh replied, "I remember Godric using that sword of his to dispatch many of his enemies in a battle where his wand had been taken from him."

Harry was fascinated to hear of the feats of a founder, "What kind of wizard was he? Was he noble as we all think him to be?"

Harsh chuckled, "He was a mage, Harry. He was a fighter who could fight all day long and yet remain standing. He was the fiercest of all the founders and it was primarily due to this reason that bravery is a trait often associated with him."

As Harry readied again to practice sword play Anal showed him how to properly grip the sword and the stance to take before beginning to parry with an adversary, "Keep some space between your feet Harry and the sword at your side clutched tight in your hand but not too rigidly and to swing it in a fluid motion. Today we will not spar with each other but you will practice the movements which I have just showed you."

So it was that Harry spent an hour slicing the air with his sword or tried to practice blocking strikes from an imaginary enemy. After an hour, his hand felt like lead and his legs were aching from being in battle stance for an hour. The mystics were brutal masters but he had no other option than to trust them.

As it neared lunch, Harsh led him to the kitchens where some mystics were preparing food by themselves. The kitchen was spacious and reminded him of the Hogwarts kitchen. There were no elves serving here. The mystics did the work.

"You like the kitchen, Harry?", Harsh asked.

"Yeah" Harry replied absent mindedly, "It's huge and warm. But why are we here?".

"Because we are going to take our lunch here", Harsh announced and sat at a table which was set for them.

As Harry sat, Harsh offered him some dish which he had never eaten before. Harry picked it up and as he took a bite, he turned into a canary and Harsh burst out laughing. After some time, the feathers all molted off of Harry. Harsh was guffawing at his expressions, Harry tried to look indignant but soon gave up. The mystic had not harmed him anyway but only pranked him.

"Has nothing registered into your brain yet, Harry?" Harsh asked him, "You are so willingly trusting of anyone that you immediately took the cream and ate it. Messer's Weasly & Weasley would be disappointed that you fell prey so easily. They had put a bet of 10 Galleons with me that you will realise that the cream was hexed and not eat it."

"You bet on me?" Harry gaped, "but why did you do that?"

"Two reasons." Harsh smirked, "first was that it gave me a chance to prank you and lighten your mood which was turning gloomy and second to beat it into your mind that you should not be so trusting unless you are extremely sure that the other person is who they claims to be."

He taught a rather simple detection spell to him which he could used to detect simplest of poisons or if anybody had tampered with his food or drink and bade him to use it every time he sat down to eat.

After lunch, Harsh gave him a journal which was made of parchment and had a mystic emblem on top of it, "This is a journal that we give to every mystic. You can use it to record everything that you think is worth knowing and it will never finish. It becomes a treasure for coming generations with the amount of knowledge contained within the pages."

"Guruji, why do we use parchment.", Harry asked, "the muggles use ordinary paper and it is much easier to write on and their pens are easier to use than quills."

Harsh just smiled for a moment, then said, "This is the difference between a muggle raise wizard and a wizard who has been brought up in wizarding family. The parchment can keep for years without getting damaged and it is easier to scribble on it with a quill. As the ink on the parchment fades, it can be renewed with a spell but ordinary pages like muggles use cannot hold when we use magic on them and tend to crumble or burn down."

Harry nodded his head. As he had thought, everything that the wizarding world did, they did for a good reason. He had tried to ask the question of a few others but no one else had been able to give a satisfactory answer. The mystic gave him answers which made sense to him and quenched his thirst for knowledge.

While he was no Hermione, he was a curious person. He tried to act like he did not care so that Hermione would not think that he was competing with her and Ron would not be jealous of him. Perhaps it was time that he should try to be his best rather than part of the crowd.

As they were talking, they arrived at a house which was tastefully decorated. The door was intricately carved with a snidget engraved on it. Harsh knocked on the snidget and a woman opened the door. The woman reminded him of someone though he was not sure who. She had blond hair, grey eyes, thin lips, and the lines around her eyes told him that she was used to laughing often. She looked like a happy version of McGonagall without the stern demeanour the transfiguration professor often had and much younger.

"Harry." she exclaimed and immediately hugged him, "oh you are so much like Dorea. You have Charlus's face with her features just like your father did."

"You knew my father?", Harry asked eagerly.

"Of course I did" she replied kindly, "I was with Dorea in Hogwarts and left Wizarding Britain around the time that Grindelwald arose. I went back once when your father was born but that was the last I saw of them. Soon you-know-who came along and my family sided with him. Being a mystic I could not be seen mixing with them. In fact they told me that I was not welcome if I was not supporting their dark lord."

"Your family?" Harry asked.

"The Higgs family", she spat, "my loving family who are all embroiled in dark arts. My nephew's grandson would have been in Hogwarts around your time."

Harry was reminded of the first Quidditch match when he had swallowed the snitch and the Slytherin seeker, Terrence Higgs. He muttered, "Yeah, I met him first year and defeated him in my first quidditch match."

She laughed and invited them in. As they entered Harsh addressed her, "Rachael, Harry here is a pureblood but was brought up by muggles. I want you to teach him the ways of wizards and by the time he is ready to leave, I want him to look like the perfect pureblood. This way, he would be able to take of some support from Voldemort's followers."

She nodded her head. "Harry would you please stand up?", she asked him sternly.

He stood nervous of the woman who had suddenly adopted a strict demeanour.

She looked at him critically noticing the flaws in his posture and shook her head, "we have a lot to do, Harry. Your grandfather Charlus was such an imposing presence in the wizarding world. You will need to work very hard to reach that level."

Harry sighed. Ever since he had come to the mystics they had been giving him more and more work to do. He would be lucky if he could leave within a month. He had started to miss Wizarding Britain and thought of how his friends would be having fun on their vacations. Ron would be at the Burrow playing quidditch and lazing around. The twins would be having fun inventing things and making things for the shop they had been planning forever. Hermione would be off on vacation with her parents. Susan would be at her manor having fun with her friends who would be coming over. Neville would be having a great time bonding with his parents and being showered with parental love that he never got.

**Cottage on the hill**

This morning as the students arrived, they were sent on their morning run by Alastor Moody who was visibly in a bad mood. As they ran, he shot stinging hexes at those who slackened their pace anytime during the run. All of them had welts by the time they finished three laps around the property line. As they sat panting, Moody started raining down hexes on them to get them on their feet and start doing push ups till they drop. After an hour when they were done with exercise everyone was cursing Moody under their breath for the Old Auror was venting his frustrations on them.

As they were done, he immediately put them in teams to duel him. As they all discussed strategy to win, he apparated away making them groan. They all scattered in twos to find him and subdue him.

The first pair to confront him was the twins who had found him near the property line. As they started firing hexes and curses at him. He immediately disillusioned himself and stunned one of them while the other started casting hexes in all directions for a few seconds before he realised that perhaps the grizzled old auror was gone. As he bent to revive his twin, he found himself dangling by one ankle and lost consciousness soon.

The second pair were Ron and Hermione who were behind the house on the property with their backs to each other, their wands out and spells ready to cast. While they looked, Moody suddenly appeared out of thin air before Hermione, shot a stunner at her which she took on her shield. He was gone again before she could react.

Then he appeared beside Ron who immediately shot a stunner at Moody which he barely dodged. In that moment Hermione started raining down on him while Neville, Susan and Ginny ran towards them. Moody was shielding more than dodging, his wooden leg restricting his movements somewhat. He transfigured a stone into a dog and animating it, set it on Ron. Ron had to defend himself against the animation and that distracted Hermione for a crucial moment. Moody cast a wide area stunner and took both of them out. He was gone again before the other three could reach him.

Neville immediately took charge and got the three of them standing with their backs to each other. Moody seemed to have read their strategy and did not appear as he had done with Hermione and Ron. Instead they felt the temperature was rising and they saw a wall of fire approaching them. This fire was different from ordinary fire in the sense that it was much hotter like an inferno and they could see a dragon in the fire which looked menacing with his fangs bared, thundering towards them. Susan tried to use Aguamenti but it proved futile because water evaporated before it fell on the fire and there was no other means to control it. As it advanced on them, suddenly a giant phoenix made of water charged towards the dragon from behind them and engaged the beast. The two creatures fought for minutes before the phoenix was able to subdue the dragon and it took a few more minutes before the dragon finally dissipated.

They turned to find Dumbledore with his wand out, his eyes cold and his face drawn into a murderous looking expression., "Alastor!", he roared, "Alastor, show yourself."

Alastor Moody appeared before them, looking tired and said gruffly, "Albus, whatever is the matter?"

"Alastor, why did you use fiendfyre on them? Do you not realise that they are school students who have no means to control it or counter it?", he asked coldly, his magic hugging him like a cloak, fierce red in color.

"Albus, they need to know what they are facing. A death eater would not shower them with stunners or stingers", he grumbled.

"That may very well be, Alastor," Albus said sternly, "but; you are forbidden from using dark spells against the students. This is where I am drawing the line for you."

Alastor grumbled but nodded in agreement. Minerva took over for the rest of the day asking them to start doing all the transfigurations that they had practiced in the last four years to get a handle on their understanding before she started to ask them how these could be used in battle.

**Ministry of Magic**

Cornelius Fudge was feeling miserable. In the last few days, Dolores Umbridge had taken it upon herself to investigate how Sirius Black had got his trial. She had the belief that Cornelius had made some sort of backdoor deal with Sirius Black even if there was no proof.

She had risen through the ranks very quickly for a talentless witch. Fudge knew that this was because she had dirt on everyone in the ministry. He had chosen her for the position as his senior under-secretary on the recommendations of some of his old friends who simply wanted her off their hands. While she was efficient in getting work done, she was a cruel witch who had no hesitation in resorting to illegal means to harm anyone. She also had some dirt on Fudge which was rather nasty and that was the chief reason that Fudge could not get rid of her no matter how much he wanted to do so.

When he had passed educational decree number 22 last week, he was sure that he could pawn Dolores off on Dumbledore as the new Hogwarts defense teacher and his spy. But that hope had been dashed when Dumbledore arrived this morning and gleefully told Fudge that he had found a replacement for the position of defense professor and that the ministry did not need to bother themselves with it. Cornelius could not do anything about it. The legislation was passed last week with a lot of arm twisting and favour calling from some old friends but now Amelia Bones and through her Dumbledore was calling the shots. He was sure that Amelia was working alongside Dumbledore behind the scenes. The way things were going, he feared his days as the minister were numbered.

Another concern of his was how the ministry was undergoing rapid changes. This morning all the department heads had issued directions to their departments. They were assessing the performance of all their subordinates, giving them promotions or demoting them as they deserved. While it looked all good, many muggle-born and half-blood were now in powerful positions in the ministry while purebloods were shifted to menial positions. Another pattern that he noticed was that all those who were shifted to menial positions were those whose families had ties with you-know-who in the last war. Perhaps he was being paranoid but he could feel that this was all Dumbledore's doing.

"Minister" his secretary called, "Madam Bones is here to see you."

He straightened in his chair before telling his secretary to let her enter. Amelia strode into his office looking like a thunder cloud, lightning and all, "Cornelius, did you send Dementors to muggle London?"

Cornelius gaped in shock and stuttered, "I... I didn't.. send Dementors. They are bound to Azkaban. Why would they go to muggle London?"

"Then explain to me how four dementors found their way to Little Whinging and that too the vicinity of Harry Potter's muggle relatives!", she roared at him.

He cowered in his seat, "Trust me Amelia, I had nothing to do with it". "Is Harry Potter safe?," he asked after a moment's silence knowing that if something happened to the boy-who-lived, the public would flay him alive.

"Harry Potter's relatives are out of the country somewhere and it is presumed that Harry Potter is enjoying his summer vacation with them but a dozen muggles lost their souls before the Wizarding patrol could drive away those abominations. The department of Magical accidents and catastrophes had to perform a lot of obliviations", she said tersely.

Finally he was able to calm himself down, "Amelia would you please investigate this incident and submit a report to me when you find out who is responsible for this outrage?"

She smirked, "I have already concluded the investigation Cornelius and I have a warrant for the arrest of Dolores Jane Umbridge for unauthorised use of Dementors. I just had to make sure that you had not authorized the attack before executing this warrant."

Cornelius could not have looked happier than he did in that moment when he happily signed the warrant authorising use of Veritaserum on Umbridge.

**Adrishpuram**

As Harry was released from Rachael's care, he was accosted by Pawan who asked him to accompany him to a room which reminded Harry of a Hogwarts classroom. There were many other recruits there who were grown up men and women which made it uncomfortable for him but he did not complain. As he took a seat, Pawan appeared in the teacher's position.

He surveyed Harry for a moment before he started teaching them about Runes. He asked Harry, "What are Runes, Mr. Potter?"

Harry stood, "they are magical symbols which are used in making wards."

The mystic smirked, "Runes are much more than that Mr. Potter. They are embodiment of the language of magic. They represent symbols which are used in place of enchantments generally to make them ever lasting or for other purposes such as making wards etc."

Harry nodded in agreement listening with rapt attention. The mystic was explaining about languages to them, "There are seven major languages in which runes are drawn however we employ another language to draw our runes. For the first month, we will deal with the seven languages."

He then went on to explain the languages to them for the rest of the lesson. As Harry was leaving, he asked him to find a copy of the runes introductory books in his trunk. Harry wondered just how many books had Sirius packed into his trunk. He found the book and read ahead for his lessons. The mystic was not going to ask him to submit essays but reading ahead would be helpful to grasp the subject.

Harry nodded and went on to find Harsh when he was cornered by Achala who was one of the two female instructors assigned to him. She took him to another class where he was the sole student.

"Mr. Potter", she began, "Are you interested in charms?"

"Harry please", he said, "Mr. Potter sounds so formal and makes me think that I am about to get detention. I like charms."

"Harry it is then", she replied, "which is the most powerful charm that you can perform?".

"The patronus charm", he replied confidently.

She smiled at him encouragingly, "That is quite some skill, Harry. Can I see it?"

Harry smiled and whipping his wand, he intoned, "Expecto Patronum!"

Immediately a four legged creature burst out of his wand. He was surprised to see that it was not the great stag. It was about as big as Prongs but it had claws instead of hoofs, whiskers like a cat and looked like a Leopard but Harry was sure it was not an ordinary leopard like he had seen in muggle primary books.

Achala exclaimed, "A snow leopard!"

"Sorry," he said, "what is a snow leopard?"

She explained to him, "A snow leopard is native to the Himalayas and they are considered to be the topmost predator. They are as big as a lion and equally ferocious however these days they are considered as endangered by the IUCN, a muggle organization which keeps watch on animals which are going extinct, endangered or vulnerable."

Harry was disappointed a bit and she noticed this, "what happened, Harry? Why are you disappointed?"

So it was that Harry explained to her how his patronus used to be Prongs which was his dad's animagus form and how seeing it changed was like he had lost a connection to his father.

As he finished telling, she started, "that is understandable Harry but may be this means that you are becoming your own man. Your parents are never gone from you Harry but they are in your heart. Whenever you will look for them in your heart, you will find them there."

Harry smiled but said nothing not trusting himself not to choke on his own words.

She continued, "You have power and skill Harry but you will have no use for a patronus here."

"What do you mean?", he asked.

"We do not use the patronus against dementors, Harry", she smirked, "we kill them. I can teach you to use your patronus to send messages though."

Harry was dumbfounded with this revelation. To be able to kill a dementor was a skill to have. He resolved to obtain that by whatever means possible. After a gruelling session in which he practiced every charm that he had ever learned, he was dismissed.

As he stepped out, he was grabbed by Ambar for transfigurations. She also had him demonstrate every transfiguration he had ever learned. When that was done, she had him read ahead in the same book which Professor McGonagall used in her classes.

By the time Harry left the last class, he was so tired that the corridor floor was starting to look like a nice, soft place to lay down and sleep. That was when Harsh summoned him to dinner.

Eating was not Harry's first priority. He could hear his bed calling him. When his food was served, he neglected to use the detection spells which Harsh had taught him at lunch. With the first morsel that he ate, his hands became led like and his body became so heavy that he could not move it. As he sat fuming at the mystic, Harsh was rolling on the floor clutching his stomach laughing.

After a few moments he picked himself up and administered an antidote to Harry, "You forgot a lesson I gave you just this noon. The twins are going to be so cross with you. The Galleons are weighing against them."

Harry said nothing but did the detection spell and found that only one of the items was hexed. Asking for it to be replaced, he ate in silence before Harsh dismissed him for the night with instructions to complete the work that he was given during the day.

By the time Harry made his way to his room, it was all he could do to fall on the bed, face first, and pass out.

**Bones Manor**

Susan arrived home tired and frightened from the ordeal of the day. Mad-eye must have been out of his head to show fiendfyre to them.

Last year when she heard that he had shown the three unforgivables to the Slytherins and Gryffindors, she had thought that he had lost his mind, but; that turned out to be an impostor. She knew Mad-eye had no hesitation in using any of the unforgivables but he drew the line at showing them to others who were not Aurors. Fiendfyre was a different matter altogether. She had been scared when the roaring wall of fire came towards them.

"Susie, are you alright?", Amelia asked her as she saw the faraway look in her niece's eyes.

"Yes Auntie", she replied.

"I brought your heir ring from the vault", Amelia said, "I want you to wear it."

Susan remembered that last night, Amelia wanted her to take the ring. They were not able to find the ring anywhere in the Manor. Amelia figured that they had returned the ring to the Bones vault when Edgar had taken on the mantel of Lord of House Bones. She had promised that she would bring the ring from the vaults when she returned from the ministry.

Amelia fished out the ring from inside of her robes. It was laid on a bed of soft silk in an ornately decorated wooden box. The ring was a Platinum band topped by an Opal with a common welsh green etched on it. Susan was apprehensive about being the heiress but she knew that she would have to take the seat. She picked up the ring and thought about everything that was going on in the world. Circumstances were dire, they all were in danger and everyday that passed made them more vulnerable. When the war came, there would be a lot of death, grief and strife. She needed to stay strong for Harry who would be in the centre of things and being his betrothed she would need to stand tall despite her own fears. Susan was sorted into Hufflepuff for a reason. The Hat had told her that loyalty was one of the qualities which was an endearing trait of the chosen ones of Helga and Susan was not about to abandon anyone now. If it required her to take on the mantel of heiress of Bones, she would do it.

As she took the ring and put it on her ring finger she felt her magic reacting to its presence, and the pressure on her body as the ring scanned her was tremendous. She gritted her teeth so that she would not pass out. After a few moments of agonizing pain the pressure receded and Amelia was smiling at her looking proudly on her. As Susan stood straight, she hugged her, "Congrats Susie. You did it."

**Longbottom Castle**

Frank and Alice were sitting in their chairs at the window gazing into the distance when Frank felt the wards flare suddenly. He knew that Augusta or Neville did not apparate to the property but floo in. He instructed his elf Marty to protect them if it turned out to be someone who had bad intentions toward them.

After they had waited for a few minutes, the door to the chamber opened and Algernon Kroaker walked in followed by Neville.

"Hello Uncle Algie" said Frank, smiling as Kroaker crossed the room at a run to embrace his nephew in a heartfelt embrace, "Oh Frankie, We missed you so much", the unspeakable murmured.

"Good to see you too, Algernon." said Alice, grinning at the unspeakable, "can you tell me why my son looks so morose and why he did not floo in as usual?"

Kroaker who had controlled his emotions by now, grinned, "that would be because I am teaching him to apparate. This was the first time that I took him by side along apparition with me. He is feeling nauseous from the first time effects."

"And exactly why are you teaching him that?", she narrowed her eyes, "my son still has time to learn it."

Kroaker cringed at her demeanour but held his ground, "There is a war coming Alice and we need to teach him everything to ensure his survival. In the last war, we had warriors on our side but this time around, there are not many followers."

"But uncle Algie,", Frank interrupted, "if you teach him all the fun stuff what will I do?"

Kroaker sighed, "you have enough to do as it is. Getting yourself back into top form is the most important thing followed by making alliances. We have had our warning and we will be better prepared this time."

"So exactly what have you already taught him?", Frank asked.

"I got my hands on this one just this morning", Kroaker said, "He was sleeping, completely oblivious, without even a basic alert ward to guard him."

Frank laughed, "Last I checked you were not Mad-eye, were you uncle? You are acting like him."

"Frankie, the wards at Green Hues would not hold for too long if someone employed a ward device and I remember the Lestranges had one. If they were to turn it over to You-know-who, his followers would enter without any hindrances", he finished gravely.

"But aren't the Lestranges in Azkaban?", asked Frank, "Mother told us that they were sentenced to life in the Azkaban Prison."

"That they are, but their father Rolondo escaped the Ministry last time and he is still posturing openly as a supporter of the Dark", Kroaker explained, "so I am teaching skills to survive and fight. Besides Apparition can be good in a duel if you know how to negate the wards set by someone."

Frank nodded, "Uncle Algie, would you answer my questions?", he asked, "Mother has been very strict in refusing me any answers."

Algernon just grinned, "I am not one to try and cross that old battle-axe, Frankie. I do not want her to come after me."

**India**

Harry again woke up to a cold shower, curtesy of Vari. Coughing and spluttering, he sat up and was met with a glaring mystic who had his wand levelled at him with water dripping from its tip., "Wake up, Potter. We have not got all day. Meet me outside within 10 minutes." he barked and Harry flew into action. He was not sure why but the mystic reminded him of Moody in a bad mood. As he exited his room, he was mindful of raising a shield as he remembered the incident from yesterday and did not want to be on the wrong end of his wand again.

After 10 minutes, he was running around the lake, this time being encouraged to be faster with all the stinging hexes that the mystic was firing at him. As he was done running, he dropped on all fours and started doing push-ups until he fell from exhaustion. As he proceeded to the training range, his muscles aching from the exertion of the last two days, weary from not getting enough sleep, he was walking zombie-like when the hair on the back of his head stood up. He ducked hoping to avoid the curse he knew was coming. Too late! He realised his mistake too late as a stunner knocked him out.

He was enervated after a few minutes with the mystic grinning at him, "I knew the trick you would do, Potter. I have heard how sensitive you are to magic and the default reaction you have in those situations. You will have to do better Potter."

Harry snapped, "I would do better if I were allowed to get enough rest."

The mystic smirked at him, "I told you yesterday and I am warning you for the final time today, Potter. I will not keep up with your whining. You may be a hero to the wizarding Britain but here you are just another wizard to like us and you will live by our rules."

Harry said nothing knowing another spat with the mystic may lead him into some trouble but he decided to raise the issue with Harsh later.

As they reached the training range, the mystic conjured two dummies, "they will be firing low powered bone breakers at you, Potter. You will not use any shield but dodge those curses. It will continue until an hour has passed or you are unable to continue."

Harry grimaced but had no chance to protest before the dummies started raining down on him and he was forced to dodge. It was as if the dummies could read his mind and while he would dodge one, the other would fire in the direction he was going. This kept him thinking and running around continuously while trying to evade the curses. After about 15 minutes when his aching muscles finally had enough, he stumbled for a moment and a bone breaker hit him in the leg. Then he fell down clutching the leg.

The mystic who had been standing at the side, stopped the dummies. He started working his wand and casting healing spells at Harry which he recognised from spending years under Madam Pomphrey's care. The only strange thing was that the mystic was using a language which Harry did not know but recognised as Hindi or rather some ancient form of it. As the mystic finished repairing the bones, hepulled a vial of potion and forced it down Harry's throat. A few minutes later, Harry Potter fell asleep.

**REVIEWS**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N-**** T**hank you Anarion & ObsessedwithHPFanFic for your encouraging words.

Hypergym I loved your review. This was extremely detailed you made some good observations. Vari will have the tables turned on him soon. Don't worry.

I want you all to give suggestions as to a name for Harry- the snow leopard Potter. I would choose the one best suited to him. In this chapter I am dropping little hints for a character we love. I would like to see if anyone can make an intelligent guess.

I hope you all like this chapter and do not roast me over something that you do not like in it.

Let's move onwards.

* * *

**India**

Harry woke up in his bed, his body stiff and Harsh sitting at his bedside, looking amused for some reason. Harry tried to remember what had happened and winced remembering the bone breaker that had broken his leg.

Harsh grinned at him, "It is good to see you up again, Harry."

"How long was I out?", he asked.

"Only two hours", Harsh replied, "I thought you would use this as excuse to have the whole day off."

Harry smiled sheepishly, "Believe me. If I had thought I could get away with it, I would still be sleeping." He remembered he had some complaints to make, "Guruji, why do I have to wake up before dawn?"

Harsh laughed, "It did not take you long to make that complaint, eh? I suppose it is understandable because you do not exert your body so much ordinarily."

Harry smiled shyly but said nothing.

"Harry, you are being trained in things that will take years for others to learn and most of them would never get to learn as much as you do. As it is, we have little time on our hands, therefore we have to make the most of it. Besides I have to train you like you are a muggle-born for all purposes."

"But what does being raised by muggles have to do with this?", he whined.

"You realise that you are important to the wizarding world, Harry?", he asked, "you are expected to act in a certain way that would befit your station. Also, there is a megalomaniac dark lord after you braying for your blood. To win a war you need to have to be better than that to cut off his support base. Besides your social standing is such that you have to learn these things in order to not let anyone make fun of you or your family's reputation. If you were raised by your parents, you would have learned these things ever since you could walk."

"But still why does Vari wake me up before the crack of dawn, making me run and do all the exercises?", he said, "I have not had proper sleep for the last few days."

"That is to stop you from having any nightmares", he said simply, "if you are too tired to even stand on your legs, you can't get lost in the realm of Morpheus where he would make you have nightmares constantly. That always happens to those who are sensitive to blood and gore or have been through too much trauma. I have seen my mystics being troubled with such problems till they learn to obtain tranquillity."

"Tranquillity?", he asked, "What does that mean?"

"Have you seen any of us in meditation?", Harsh asked.

Harry nodded, "I did. When you treated Neville's mum and dad, you were sitting in such a position."

"Right", Harsh replied, "In that position, we often can detach our conscious from our body. When you are able to do it, you will be able to have complete control over your mind. This is a useful skill to have but it takes time, therefore, I asked your instructors to make you as tired as they can. This has the added benefit that the additional exercise help your body to get stronger and your magical core gets stronger the more you put stress on it. However I will ask Shilpagya to teach you the tricks to relax your body even with little sleep as possible."

Harry nodded but he was feeling frustrated. This was not something he had thought he would be doing. He had thought that the mystics would teach him something which would take care of Voldemort once and for all without being subjected to such discomforts.

Harsh sensed his discomfort and smiled serenely, "Harry, while we know of arcane magics, we cannot teach it all to you at once. You have to learn it slowly, taking in account everything that we have to teach to you. Whatever we are teaching you will be useful to you when it is time for your final confrontation. Please be patient with everything."

Harry nodded his head albeit reluctantly. The mystic always seemed to know what was going on.

"Now I believe that Prathiman is waiting for you", Harsh replied, "He has been very enthusiastic to teach a student again."

Harry groaned. He had read the book the potions master had given him. Although he now understood many things which he didn't know before, he still had not come to love the subject. But he supposed there was no harm in learning a thing or two.

When he arrived at the dungeons, the potions master gave him a recipe for a simple pepper up potion but there was something different from the instructions that he remembered. As he looked, he found that the potions master had changed one or two of the components. He looked to the potions master, with a puzzled expression on his face.

The potions master smirked, "I take it you are wondering about the changed ingredients. While you prepare the ingredients, tell me the properties of each and how they are expected to react with each other and which of them can be replaced with another ingredient to give me a better result."

As he left Harry to work on his own, Harry delved into his work and found it easy to work when Snape was not breathing down his neck or sneering at him that he was like his father. He was nothing like his father. For the sake of Merlin, his father had been an animagus and he was nowhere close. As he progressed with his potion, Prathiman kept asking him questions and he answered. Whenever he failed to do so, Prathiman did not berate him but patiently explained. He found that he was coming to like the subject. May be when he returned to Hogwarts this year, he would be able to astonish Snape.

When the Potion was done, the potion master happily clapped his hands, "Well done, Harry. You have the talent to be a prodigious potioneer. By the time I am done with you I hope you will be able to alter ingredients in potions by your own and still obtain the same results. Not that I am surprised considering that Potion is a part of your family magic."

"Family Magic?", Harry asked, astonished.

"My dear boy, do not tell me that you do not know that your family had some extraordinary potioneers. Your grandfather had invented the Sleekeazy's Potion which is easily the most selling potion for hairs. It is heavily used by witches and wizards alike for getting shiny hairs", the mystic told him, "and one of your ancestors had invented the Skele Gro which still brings in hefty royalty to your house since the patent over it has never been sold. There have been few more dangerous potions which they invented."

Harry was surprised to say the least, "But I thought my family was all warriors. That my family magic was related to battle magic."

Prathiman chortled, "The Peverells were mages, Harry and they had battle magic as family magic which became a part of Potter family magic but Potters were more than warriors. They have been Potioneers, Aurors and one or two of them have been minister of magic in their day."

"Can you tell me more about my family magic?", Harry asked eagerly.

The mystic shook his head, "I do not know all about it Harry. I know about the potion thing because your ancestors have portraits in the halls of the Potions guild of the ICW which is the highest authority for Potioneers in the world. Guruji informed us to teach you these subjects which would help you when you delve into your Family Grimoires. I sincerely hope that one day you will invent a potion of your own."

As Harry left, his mind was buzzing with the information the mystic had given him but he was determined to do well. He finally had found something to strive for other than to fight for survival against Voldemort and he was going to do his best. Next up was sword instruction.

Anal had him repeat the exercises of the previous day until he could treat his sword as an extension of his arm. He practised swinging for about 30 minutes when Anal declared him to be satisfactory and started teaching him the principles of sparring.

"Whenever you are in a sword fight, remember to keep the blade away from your body and keep moving so that your enemy is not able to guess what you would do. If you have to clash sword with him, do not clash the edge of your sword with his but the flat of the blade for this will prevent your sword edge from denting. Goblin made sword is hard to dent but there is no harm being cautious. Never grip your sword too rigid but do not hold it so loosely that it would slip from your hands. If your opponent is ready to strike, parry his strikes till you can see your opening. Never drop your guard and don't be oblivious to your surroundings", the mystic said patiently while Harry decided that he would never again call Professor McGonagall long winded after hearing the mystic go on and on.

After sword practice, Harry made his way to the kitchen. When he arrived, he sat down next to Harsh. Remembering the incident from yesterday, he sat cautiously and cast the detection spell before he picked up his goblet to drink. As he put it to his lips, he felt the air rush around him but paid no heed to it. As he took his first sip of water, his skin had adopted a greenish tinge and his hair was growing at an alarming rate.

He looked at Harsh who was laughing and sighed, "Guruji, what was this?"

In between his laughter, Harsh said, "Sorry Harry. I could not avoid pranking you. I distinctly remember that I had promised to make a prankster out of you. I was elated that you checked the food and drink but as you drank, I simply enchanted the goblet."

Harry grimaced as he remembered how Harsh has accepted Sirius's challenge. This was going to be a very long summer indeed. As Harsh dispelled the jinx, Harry dug into his lunch with gusto.

After lunch, he was due for Rachael who said that she was not pleased with his choice of clothes. While muggle clothes were good and comfortable, to be a Lord and to maintain that persona, he should wear his robes and a cloak. She even directed him to dress up whenever he came up to visit her.

She also took an issue with his chicken scratch handwriting. She gave him some quills and calligraphy book and told him to practice his writing.

"A Lord should not write as if he is barely literate", she admonished him.

She told him about the duties of a Lord and how he should behave in certain circumstances. Worse still, she ordered him to practice his manners whenever he came to visit her.

When he entered the runes classroom, he found that he was the only student there. When he asked the mystic, he was informed that Harsh had told him to keep his classes separate from others. The mystic followed orders without questioning.

As he sat, the mystic started asking him questions about the Elder Futhark, showing him runes and asking its uses. Harry had read ahead and with little difficulty was able to recall everything that he had read. But he still had to work to remember everything. His respect for Hermione grew who was able to store so much information into her head with apparent ease.

As the class progressed, the mystic showed him the seven languages which were ordinarily taught at Hogwarts and asked him to study them in his own time. Harry was fine with that except that the mystic wanted him to learn the Brahmi symbols which Harry remembered was the language in which Harsh had drawn the runes in Longbottom Castle. While he found those symbols to be strange and hard to learn, he delved into it wholeheartedly while deciding to study the other six languages as soon as he could.

He felt that he should have taken Runes as his elective with Care of Magical Creatures. Runes would have been a better use of his time and he would not have to put up with Sybill Trelawey predicting his death every time he stepped into her class.

"Harry, do you know how much difference a language can make?", the mystic Pawan asked him

Harry said, "I think it makes a lot of difference because even if we speak English, we use Latin to cast our spells."

The mystic beamed at him, "Your basic understanding is good Harry. The magical the language, the powerful the spell is. When you cast spell in some different language altogether, it becomes extra ordinarily powerful. Even a simple incendio in parsel-tongue would be like fiendfyre. Similarly, Sanskrit is a language where a different word can cast something more sinister. For example, you can cast incendio with pavasm, fiendfyre with davanalam and hellfire with narkagni."

"Um what is hellfire?", he asked hesitantly.

"It is a fire which is equal to molten lava in hotness, cannot be fought with and devours anything whether mundane or magical. There is no protection available against it and only those with extreme control over their magic should ever try to cast it because it will bring ultimate destruction if it ever gets out of control.", the mystic explained grimly, "it usually devours the caster first because only he can have some degree of control over it. With the caster removed, think of it as a beast left to run amok to maim or injure people and there is no one who can subdue the beast. However, I must caution you that no one except you or anyone nearly as powerful as you can cast this spell, therefore keep this to yourself."

Harry visibly shuddered and nodded in agreement knowing the mystic made sense since he himself was uncomfortable to know of the spell. This was the first time that he heard of something which was fascinating yet deadly. In that moment he appreciated that the mystics had erased such knowledge from the general world or people such as Malfoy would have burned it down twice over.

"Here", the mystic tossed a book to him, "this is a book of some deadly spells which only we know of and now you do. These spells are in Sanskrit so you would have to learn the language to be able to perform them but after you become proficient in wandless magic, I believe language would not be bar to you. But for the sake of Merlin, do not share that book with anyone. There was a mystic once who sought to run with it and rule the world as a dark lord."

"What happened to him?", Harry asked curiously.

"You do not want to know", the mystic said cryptically, "just be assured that things did not turn out well for him when 100 mystics were hunting him down. After we were done with him, no part of his body was left whole."

So it was that Harry asked the mystic to teach him the runes of Brahmi and the basics of the Sanskrit language. While this was not mandatory, Harry thought he could do with learning the said language which would benefit him in the long run.

When he was dismissed from the Runes class, he went into the Transfiguration class. He found Ambar in a jovial mood which immediately put him on his guard. In all his experience, a jovial teacher usually meant trouble for him. She taught him vanishing objects which was hard at first but with a little appreciation from her and some concentration, he was able to do it on his fifth try. A little of the chair remained which he was supposed to be vanishing. Pronouncing herself satisfied, she asked him to practice it on his own.

She started to teach him conjuration which was hard for him. Even after 30 minutes, he was not able to finish it and she ordered him to practice it when he had time so that he could perform it when he next saw her.

As he was leaving, she gave him a potion and told him to drink it just before he went to bed for the night. She said that this potion will help him quite a bit in the coming war. She told him with a wink that it would be fun too.

As part of the class, Ambar set him the task of learning some charms, obscure charms which he was sure that Professor Flitwick did not teach as part of the education curriculum at Hogwarts. She made him practice the flame freezing charm, the weather charm which could be used to alter weather over a fixed area and as they were done, she promised to teach him the Fidelius Charm in the next class.

When Harry returned to his room a mystic informed him that Harsh had bid him to stay in his room for the rest of the day and take enough rest to soothe his frayed nerves and overcome his exhaustion. After a quick dinner which was served in his quarters, he drank the vial of potion and went to sleep.

**Longbottom Castle**

Neville was regretting that he had agreed to this insane plan of Croaker 's. The unspeakable had him apparate to different parts of the country to give him the feeling of it and it left him dizzy. When Croaker asked Neville to do it on his own, he had been unable to do it.

Frank who had been watching Neville struggle with apparition from his window, beckoned him over, "Son, there is nothing special about apparition", he said, "all there is to it is the need to be someplace. When you are apparating, visualise the place that you want to be clearly in your mind. Keeping in mind the image you have so created, will your magic out of you to move you to that place. Keep doing it until your magic responds to the situation."

Neville did as his father had suggested. After a few more attempts, he succeeded, at apparating, his arm about a foot away from the rest of his body. Laughing, Croaker reattached the arm to his torso. Croaker told Neville that he thought that would be quite enough apparition practice for today.

They went on to duelling practice. As soon as they took their stances, Croaker started pelting Neville with a variety of hexes. Neville responded by shielding. they both kept it up for the first 15 minutes. Then Croaker told his nephew to try and hit him. Neville started firing back with every hex and curse he knew while Croaker either dodged or shielded and a few times, sent Neville's own spells sizzling back at him. This last maneuver nearly catching Neville by surprise, he narrowly managed to dodge them. They kept this up for another 15 minutes.

Finally, Croaker called a halt to their duelling practice. He told Neville to practice his shielding with the practice dummies he provided. Croaker's practice dummies were not just roughly man-shaped blocks of wood. They were animated and fired off spells at a fairly impressive rate. Neville had to dodge or shield just as he would against a live opponent.

Later, he was making his way back to Frank and Alice, battered and bruised, when he saw a regal looking owl winging its way toward him. When the owl landed on his out-stretched left arm, Neville found that it was carrying a scented parchment. While he was mystified as to why anyone would send a letter on scented parchment, Alice giggled and Frank smiled knowingly.

The contents of the letter were nothing more than a friendly letter from Hannah Abbott asking about his holidays, what he was up to and other related things. While he saw nothing overt in the letter, his parents' reaction said otherwise. Neville tried to understand what he was missing. He would have to ask Susan what her best friend was up to.

**The Burrow**

Ronald Weasley was having the most tiring summer of his life. He was studying without Hermione being there to pester him or to help him for that matter. So far, he had learnt a little of potions, practiced most of his transfiguration work, was about to finish his charms and had been learning some spells from Bill which he knew not everyone would know. Bill was also teaching him runes and he was sure that he would be able to learn enough to obtain an OWL at the end of fifth year. It was likely that he would have to ask Hermione for help but didn't he always end up doing that? Bill had laid into him that he needed to take his studies seriously and not look for easy grades which made him change his mind and he was now trying for Runes.

When he was not studying, he worried about Harry. Harry had not written him a word and he did not know where his best mate was. He only hoped that Harry Potter was safe wherever he was. He had abandoned Harry once; he would not do so again.

**Bones Manor**

Susan Bones was in agony from all the hexes she had to endure at the hands of Amelia. Her Auntie was being worse to her than the most brutal drill sergeant, and had been subjecting her to brutal exercises which she was sure was part of the standard Auror training. She had yet to touch the Bones family Grimoire. Auntie had made it clear that the family magic would have to wait until after Amelia was sure that Susan was ready.

When she was not training with her aunt, she was camping in her family library from the time that she had taken heirship and was learning a lot more than was usually taught at Hogwarts. Hogwarts did not teach them the more lethal spells and the books in her library were full of defensive magic. Susan's mind was reeling from everything that she had been learning. Her Auntie had pointed out a few books to her. She was to read and learn the spells in those books and have them committed to memory in the next 4 days.

When she was teaching her, Amelia did not appear as her jovial auntie when she taught her but as the head of the DMLE who had been a decorated Auror in the first war, one who had lost everything in the line of duty. Amelia had also asked her to read some dark magic spell books. when Susan enquired why, her aunt responded by saying that it is easier to defend when one knows what they are defending against. It was sound advice and Susan agreed with her. If she knew what was being cast at her, the chances of her survival increased that much. She will be ready when the war comes.

**Black town house**

Hermione Granger was furious. The pranks had been escalating everyday and no one was spared from them. This morning as she had entered the library and opened a book for reading, she found that the book was empty. She picked up another and found that the words from that book were running away.

As she followed the trail, she found that the words littered the ceiling and were dancing in patterns. Cursing the prankster she left the library to find Moony. He was able to undo the prank after some serious spell casting.

With the words back in the books where they belonged, she happily grabbed a book on transfiguration which she had never read and got to work, learning the spells. Ginny joined her, eager to learn and asking Hermione to teach her. Hermione invited Ginny to pull up a chair and the two of them worked on learning everything the books contained.

Voldemort was always on about mudbloods and blood traitors. When the war comes, Ginny and her family would be just as much at risk as Hermione. There would be nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. So, when the war does come, they would be ready so that running and hiding would not be necessary.

**Adrishpuram**

Harry was dreaming a vivid dream where he was standing on the edge of a mountain and looking into the valley below. The view was simply amazing but the ground beneath his feet seemed closer to him than usual. Had he become a dwarf sometime during the night? As he was pondering over the thought, he nudged his right paw with his head.

wait! Paw? he did not have paws and certainly he had no fur on his body. As he looked, he found that instead of his hands, he had two limbs which belonged to a cat.

Freaking out, he started running around and all the other animals ran away from him. He was some kind of predator that was for sure. As he reached a pool of water, he looked at his reflection and instead of his face he found two emerald eyes looking at him from the head of a beast, perhaps a leopard.

There were even black whiskers like his hair. He suddenly felt the urge to roar and what a mighty roar he had. His voice seemed to reverberate and echo back from his surroundings and was magnified tenfold making animals run and birds fly away in confusion. He again saw the distinct owl which locked eyes with him and showed him the visions, which he had seen before.

Panicked, Harry started running away and suddenly he felt someone shaking him.

Harry woke up and saw the sun shining through the windows on his face. As he sat up, he found that it was quite late in the morning and Vari had not come to wake him up today. Taking this as a blessing he tucked in to sleep again but the pain from his body made it hard for him to sleep. His muscles were aching and his head was throbbing and he remembered the dream vividly.

As he became aware of his surroundings, he found the grey eyed Ambar looking at him with excitement and amusement etched on her face.

"Good morning, Harry", she said happily, "I take it you had some interesting dreams."

"How did you know?", he asked suspiciously.

"Of course I know. It happens with everyone who has the capability to become an animagus. It was the mystic version of the Animagus Potion. Your routine will be different for the next week from the usual. You are not to practice magic but to read whatever is assigned to you and follow some exercises which will help you transform at will", she said excitedly, "now get your lazy self up and freshen up before we start on today's routine."

As he reached the bathroom, he found that the bath was already drawn for him. This saved him the necessity of doing it by magic and he liked the feeling of it before reminding himself that this would not mean that the mystics would go easy on him. The kind of taskmasters that they were, it was not possible that they could go a day without tormenting him.

Half an hour later, he was entering the dining hall.

He found Harsh already sitting at the table with a stack of books at his side. He cringed inwardly thinking of all the reading that he would be made to do.

"Harry!", the mystic said enthusiastically, "A snow leopard! That is quite an achievement. Such unusual forms are very rare."

Harry smiled in reply. Harsh tossed a book to him which was about the snow leopard.

"I want you to study this book and understand everything about its anatomy so that the transformation may be easier. While the traditional method of animagus transformation is long but easy, ours will be very hard. For this transformation, you will need to learn legilimency and occlumency. This will help you to keep your emotions in control and to connect with your magical core", the mystic said.

Harry said nothing but was thinking furiously. He thought of everything he had ever heard or learnt but came up with nothing.

"Umm… guruji, what is legilimency and occlumency ?", he asked.

"Occlumency is the art of protecting one's mind from external intrusions that is to prevent others from reading your mind. Legilimency is the ability to read other's minds. Mind magics are very powerful branch of magic but are prohibited in Wizarding Britain", the mystic explained.

"But why? It sounds like a useful skill. Why would it be banned?", Harry asked flabbergasted.

"You see Harry, if someone was accomplished Occlumens they could protect any secret within their mind and no one could know it while a legilimens could find information by simply reading other's mind", the mystic explained, "Fearing for security of the ministry and confidential information, the British Wizengamot outlawed it about 270 years ago. However, I know of at least three wizards in wizarding Britain who are master legilimens…", the mystic explained while leaving the sentence unfinished to see if Harry would rise to the bait and Harry did not disappoint him.

"Who?", he asked curiously.

"Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape and Voldemort", the mystic said while watching Harry's face intently which seemed to be changing expressions at a fast pace.

Harry was thinking of those instances where Snape would accost him whenever they were up to something and he had even thought once that perhaps Snape had the ability to read minds. How right he had been.

"The heirs of pureblood families were taught occlumency,", Harsh continued, "so that the family magics could not be stolen from their minds and are still taught to that effect by their head of houses but it has been outlawed for the general public. You would not find a single book on mind magic anywhere save for libraries of old families. I believe you have one such tome in your library and I want you to study through the first three chapters before we meet in evening to start your instruction in it."

"What about other classes?", he asked.

"You will continue attending Runes as usual because Pawan does not require you to use magic yet however, practical classes for transfiguration, charms and defense will be suspended for a week. You will still continue your physical exercises and your sword play and attend Rachael's instructions in evenings and do all she ask of you", the mystic said in a voice which brooked no argument.

"Guruji, when I was coming to find Adrishpuram from the plains, I met a peculiar owl which showed me some rather disconcerting visions. I experienced a repeat of that encounter during my dream last night." Harry recounted the experiences with the owl to the mystic who looked deep in thought.

"That was a Pravira karna owl, Harry and I believe it showed you glimpses of future.", the mystic said, "perhaps it is time for you to visit Varah Mihir who is rather anxious to meet you."

"Varah Mihir?", Harry asked, "you mean your seer?"

"Yes.", Harsh raised his eyes, "Is there a problem?"

Harry shook his head but he was apprehensive. He was wary of Divination after putting up with two years of Trelawney predicting his death every time she saw him and he had been freaked out when she went into one of her trances and gave the prophecy about the Dark Lord's servant returning to him, which could have been Sirius, but turned out to be Wormtail. He apprehended that since she was half seer as Harsh had told him and was mad, Varah Mihir who was a seer would be more so.

Harsh led him out of the settlement and directed their steps toward the peak of a nearby mountain. As they kept walking, Harry could not help but ask, "Guruji, where are we going?"

"Varah Mihir is a recluse, Harry. Seers often stay away from the general population because it overwhelms their inner eye. They often feel disoriented if they live in populated areas. I believe Sybill Trelawney lives in that class of hers all the year around so that nothing would cloud her inner eye", Harsh explained, "Seers prefer as little company as they can manage. Varah Mihir would go insane if he were to live in Adirshpuram, so he lives in the mountains away from us. Very rarely he comes down but when he does, it is matter of utter importance like when he told me to offer our assistance to you."

Harry nodded his head and kept walking in silence trying to picture the seer in his mind.

After around an hour they reached a cottage that looked like it was on the verge of falling down, situated in a copse of dense trees.

At Harsh's insistence, he entered first and almost fainted as he crossed the threshold. This place was overwhelming on his magical senses. Perhaps this was like drinking in power for a house elf, he mused. The seer was seated on a blanket spread on the ground, his legs crossed and wearing just a piece of cloth around his lower body as he had seen many of the mystics do. He was impossibly ancient with wrinkles crisscrossing his face to such a degree that it was hard to make out his individual features. His honey brown eyes were twinkling with such intensity that he would have made Dumbledore jealous and he had a dense beard white as the snow but not as long as Dumbledore's.

"Harry Potter.", the seer said in a firm voice which surprised him, "we meet at last. I had seen a long time ago that you would come to see me."

"Umm.", Harry was not sure what to say until Harsh prostrated himself before the seer touching his feet in reverence and the seer touched his head fondly and muttered, "Ayushman Bhav (may you live long.")

Not knowing the protocol, Harry followed suit and when the seer touched his head, he felt like a warm surge of magic had passed through him. This was not uncomfortable in any way but it was a curious sensation. He shelved the question to ask later. The seer directed them to sit on the mats kept around him on the floor and Harry sat like the mystics did.

Harsh turned to the seer, "Guruji, Harry here had a peculiar dream today and he already had a brush in with a Pravirakarna Owl. The owl showed him some visions which have him worried and he wanted to ask their meaning."

The seer smiled serenely, "That is understandable. Our thirst to know our future and to do things that would benefit us is human nature. What do you remember Mr. Potter?"

Harry kept silent for a minute recalling all the details of the flash he had where he was flying on his hippogriff to battle, the Quidditch pitch on fire, him holding a girl in his arms and crying, him hugging Susan, he and Susan standing in a clearing with their wrists joined by tendrils of magic, him holding two wands in his hands, Harry standing over the dead body of Voldemort, Harry hugging Sirius who looked beaten with cuts and gashes on his arms but smiling, Neville smiling and embracing him like a brother.

The seer sat in contemplation for a minute, "The owl showed you the future, Mr. Potter. The flashes were of some incidents that would come to pass in your life in near future or may be distant future. The people that you saw in those flashes will be instrumental to your life soon."

"But what do they mean?", Harry asked eagerly.

"I cannot tell you that Mr. Potter", the seer smiled ruefully, "these events are the future and anything you do cannot change them. The future has myriad of ways of coming to pass."

"But…", Harry tried to protest when Harsh nudged him to keep quiet.

"I can understand your desperation, Mr. Potter but despite doing everything we cannot change the future, can we?", the seer asked him, "When Sybill Trelawney gave you the prophecy, did she not prophesise that Voldemort's servant would escape that night and he did despite your best efforts."

"How do you know about that?", Harry asked surprised.

The seer chuckled, "Mr. Potter, I have been keeping a watch over your life ever since Voldemort marked you as his equal. I had to because I knew of the prophecy about you and him."

Harry sat quietly while he digested the information being given to him. As he did he remembered something Harsh had told him when they were visiting Longbottom Castle. He turned to the mystic, "You said there are seers at Hogwarts with the Patil twins being two of them and there is a third one. You did not tell me who the third one is."

Harsh smirked, "No one is privileged to information just because it exists. You will have to work for it."

Harry pouted but the mystic did not budge.

As they took their leave and were some distance away, he asked the question he had shelved for later, "Guruji, when he touched me with his hand, I felt a warm rush of magic in me. What was that?"

Harsh smiled, "when he touched you, he showered his blessing on you which are positive energies so your magic reacted in the same way giving you a warm rush. However if it was a hostile touch, you would have felt pain which would tenfold in intensity than the pain from Cruciatus", Harry shuddered, having firsthand experience of Voldemort using that very curse on him on the night of his return, "there is energy flowing in body every time and when we touch someone's feet, we transfer some of that energy into us by willingly doing so", Harsh ended his explanation.

As they entered the settlement, Harsh just disappeared leaving Harry wary. Cautiously he strode towards his room when he had to suddenly jump aside as a stunner flew past him. He looked around and 4 mystics were starting to surround him. He flexed his wrist to take out his wand and to his horror he found that his wand was not in his sleeve. He remembered that he was not allowed to use magic for a week.

As he tried to dodge their curses, they just kept coming. They fired all kinds of curses at him stunners, petrification hexes, stingers, disarming hexes and some he did not know. He was too busy trying to get away to safety when he failed to notice a bludgeoning hex which hit him in his ribs, making him growl. As he was reeling from the effects of the hex, several more connected with him. Harry was angry now, his magic oozing out of him and forming a dark aura around him. He tried to do some accidental magic but failed.

As some more hexes hit him, he let out a huge leonine roar and started writhing on the ground. He felt his hands elongating and thickening into paws, fur growing on his body, his body morphing into an animal he vividly remembered from his dream. As his transformation finished and Harry Potter was replaced by a snow leopard, each mystic cast a different spell and immediately petrified him binding him in chains before he was hit with a spell which started to calm him down and a stunner knocked him out cold.

**Greengrass Manor**

Cyrus Greengrass was in his study going over some of his plans for his business when his house elf popped in, "Head Master Dumbledore is here, master'.

"Take him to the parlor, Moppy. Tell him I will be along shortly", he said and collecting Roxanne and Daphne he went to the parlor where Dumbledore was sitting with a sombre expression on his face.

As Cyrus entered, Dumbledore stood and shook hands with him, "Lord Greengrass", Next he pretended to kiss Roxanne's knuckles and gave a respectful nod to Daphne.

"Chief Warlock, how may the Ancient and Most Noble House of Greengrass serve you?", he asked in his formal manner.

"I am not here as Chief Warlock today, Lord Greengrass,", Dumbledore said, "but as the leader of the Order of the Phoenix.".

"And how can we help the order, Head Master?", asked Roxanne.

"This year things will be tough at Hogwarts with Voldemort (everyone save him shuddered) back and the children of death eaters in Slytherin house will try to divide the school. I wished to enlist Miss Greengrass's (he pointed to Daphne) help to ensure that no such division happens", he informed them.

"No, Head Master. I will not risk my daughter's life", Cyrus retorted, "We are supporting you in the war but I am not involving my children in the war."

Roxanne put a hand on his shoulder, calming him down.

"I do not want you to do that, Lord Greengrass. I just want her to spread the word to like-minded House mates that the light side will protect those who are willing to come to this side", Dumbledore explained.

Daphne was thinking about everything that was being said. It was true that bigotry ran rampant in the house and it could do with a change of leadership but no one would listen to her. Perhaps, if Harry Potter was willing to endorse her words, they may find some support. This was a plan that would require a lot of time and planning.

Cyrus who had been thinking turned to Dumbledore, "I believe that is possible but I will not speak for her."

**Adrishpuram**

The snow leopard came back to consciousness and saw that Ambar was looking at him excitedly, examining all his features and making notes on a pad she carried.

"Harry.", Harsh addressed him, "I want you to remain calm and I will change you back."

Harry was still petrified and could do nothing but roll his eyes. After a minute, the snow leopard had morphed back into Harry Potter who immediately went ballistic on Harsh, "why did they attack me when they knew that I am not allowed to use magic?"

"Relax Harry", Harsh chided him, "They were only trying to force your animagus out. The next week is going to teach you to control your animagus and to make you able to turn at will. We had to see if the animagus is active or dormant in you. While you still have not become a full animagus, we have shown you what it will be like. You will have to force your magic to help you to transform again. By no means have you become a full fledged animagus yet but you will become one eventually."

"Huh?", Harry said, confusion written on his face.

"I mean we had to see if your accidental magic would force out your animagus form to defend you as you are not allowed to carry a wand", Harsh explained, "Since we found that it is active, we will teach your exercises so that you can get used to it and can learn to will your magic to help you transform. However with all the help that we can give and despite all the exercises that we can teach you, you will need better part of a year before you can transform at will."

As Harsh dismissed him, he was accosted by Rachael who bid him to get ready and come to her house within 10 minutes or face her ire which made him run. Before his ten minutes had expired he was sitting in her house and she was standing in front of him with her hands on her hips, eyeing him critically. As she did not say anything, Harry assumed that he had done okay by her.

She was quiet for several minutes before she asked him, "what do you know of Betrothal Contracts, Harry?"

"Betro... what?", he asked making her giggle.

"They are also called marriage contracts and almost every pureblood family makes a contract for marriage of their children. There are generally two types of betrothal contracts one which is made for joining of two houses and some conditions are set in that contract. When the conditions are met, the contract activates and the parties are bound by magic to perform it. The other is where a betrothal is agreed for two persons who are named in the contract and they are bound to be married to each other."

"But that is barbaric!", Harry protested, "What about their choice of love? If they do not want to marry the other person, what can they do?", he spluttered.

"That is why such contracts are not entered into anymore except in emergencies, Harry. Like in the last war, several families made such contracts so that the children named in the contract would not be without a family in case something happens", she explained kindly, "Besides, every pureblood house enters into such a contract when a marriage is fixed and all the terms and conditions of the marriage are fixed. Your mother Lily too had a contract made when she was married to James Potter."

"Blimey!", he exclaimed, "I knew nothing about that. Why would mum agree to it?"

"Harry, she thought she was a muggle born and as such when she married into a pureblood family, she had to bring something to the marriage from her side. James had a long history of family magic behind him and she had nothing. The magic of the contract made her a part of the House of Potter and she could have some claim to the Potter family magic however she could never become the head of the house", she said.

It all made sense to him considering all that he had learned in the last few days and he was interested to know more. However, he secretly hoped that there was no contract waiting for him somewhere. Little did he know.

**REVIEWS PLEASE**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N-** Thanks your ObsessedwithHPFanFics for your reviews.

Scenics- I am Indian. The name Harsh Vardhan is inspired from a King who was brave, charity loving and benevolent while Varah Mihir is considered the God of Astrology in Hindu Mythology. Thanks for your review.

Hypergym- thanks for your precious comment and your help.

I have enlisted assistance of a muse namely Hypergym who is benevolent enough to look over and edit the chapters for me, making them look more beautiful and praiseworthy.

**Adrishpuram**

After Harry finished Rachael's thorough session of gentlemanly manners and the ways of Lords, it was late in the evening and the sun was about to set inthe west. The entire sky was tinted with orange coupled with streaks of and the green of the woods just made the scene more picturesque. Harry wished he had his broom with him so that he could have flown towards the mountains and seen the sun set remembering all the situations he had faced so far, he thought better of it. Giving a sigh, he turned to go to his room when a female mystic approached him.

"Mr. Potter, a minute please."

Harry gave a slight bow to her, "yes my lady, what can I do for you this fine evening?"

"You have to do nothing for me yet, however that might change if you can flirt as good as you handle your wand", she smiled suggestively and Harry blushed. "Guruji told me 15 minutes ago that he wishes to see you in 20 minutes. So you have 5 minutes to change and go to his room."

"But that's just not fair! It's not my fault", he protested.

"No but I could not find you. Now stop your whining and run.", she smirked. Harry turned and dashed off towards Harsh's quarters and arrived there in 3 minutes without breaking a sweat. As he entered, Harsh glared at him,"Did I not expressly instruct you to change before coming?".

"Guruji, the one who was sent to fetch me just told me 5 minutes ago that you wish to see me.", Harry whined,"It's not my fault that she couldn't find me while I was attending Rachael's lessons.".

"No, it is not your fault Harry.", Harsh said,"but you must keep track of your time. You were supposed to be done with Rachael about 30 minutes ago. You will need a lesson to remember the value of time.".

Harry cringed at his tone but only shook his head,"I will accept your decision, Guruji.".

Harsh whipped his wand out and after a few casual flicks Harry was dressed in clothes like the mystics. He raised an eye brow towards the mystic,"Why do I need to be dressed like this, Guruji?".

"Harry, there is no dress code but I often feel that I can concentrate more when I am feeling at ease. I think my definition of ease is different from yours.". He raised his wand again and a few seconds later, he was wearing a heavy woollen robe which was quite comfortable to him.

He directed Harry to sit on a mat nearby, "Take a seat, Harry. Now sit crossing your legs and your hands resting on your knees with palm facing upwards. Close your eyes and concentrate on one thing to exclusion of everything. It can be anything, irrespective of whether is real or not. However, it should be something pleasant, something which soothes you. Keep attention on it and keep thinking about it.".

Harry did as instructed and in a few seconds, he was concentrating on the scene he had seen just before he woke from his coma, the cottage at Godric's Hollow. His family together and waving to him, the faces lit with smiles and their eyes shining. Harry thought about his father who was one of the most talented wizards of his generation, who had helped his friends to become Animagi without any help, one who had gone toe to toe with Voldemort three times and lived to tell the tale, who had given his life to protect his wife and son. He thought of his mother who had died shielding her son from an enemy, who was the brightest witch of her age, who had performed a feat unimaginable. He thought of the strict looking man his grandfather was who looked every inch the warrior he was touted to be. His thoughts strayed to his grandmother who was kind yet fierce as per the accounts that Rachael told him.

As Harry was wandering, he felt some kind of void in front of him beyond which he could not see. As he stepped into the void, Harsh's voice came to him 'Come back, Harry. This is enough for today.'

As Harry opened his eyes, he found that he was mentally drained. "How long were we doing that?", he asked.

"Just over an hour.", Harsh replied,"What did you see?".

"I was in Godric's hollow with my family and was thinking of them when I felt a kind of void in front of me. I felt like it was pulling me towards it.", Harry said,"I was afraid to enter it yet I not turn away. I just had to know, had to feel what was in that place.".

Harsh smiled,"very good Harry. That void as you say is your mindscape. It is nothing right now but you will have to build something over there like I have this castle as my mindscape.".

"What would be good, Guruji?", he asked,"something that would be secure.".

"You have just answered it for yourself Harry.", Harsh said,"something that would be secure."

"Umm... what about Hogwarts Castle?", Harry asked hesitantly.

Harsh laughed,"you are really Voldemort's equal. His mindscape is the Hogwarts castle with the chamber of secrets and a few undiscovered rooms. I would rather choose different mindscape so he would not have run of the place if he succeeds in entering your mind", Harsh said, "Now Harry, you are to do this exercise before you go to sleep and with different thought. May be some idea would come to you about your mindscape. If it does, I want you to describe it with great detail in your Mystic Journal so that you can make your mindscape just like that.".

Harry nodded and was about to leave before Harsh started again, "As soon as you are done with your dinner, you will report to Pashupati in the stables. He has some job for you as your punishment. This was the first chance and it was not intentional, I am going easy on you and letting you escape with minimum punishment."

Harry nodded his head in agreement and left for his room. After half an hour, he was standing in the stables where Pashupati was waiting for him 'First you are to untether your hippogriff and take it to a ride. After you are done with that, you will help me find some wand wood in the woods.' He tossed an ordinary wooden staff to him 'Keep it when you are up in the air. Who knows what you would find?".

Harry untethered his hippogriff and he brought him out and was petting it when Pashupati growled "Who would put the tack, Harry? You intend to ride bare back?".

Shrugging Harry went to the store room which was at the side and took out the tack he remembered using earlier and set to work. After 10 minutes, the beast was saddled and Harry mounted it. As he petted its side, Black storm extended his mighty wings and ran outside. In a few minutes, Harry was soaring in the sky, exhilarated by the rush of air through his hair when he noticed a squadron of winged horses flying towards him.

They all had men with swords mounted on them and when they neared him, they moved to the attack. Harry dived hard and as he was levelling the hippogriff, he found that the attackers too had dived with him. Knowing no way out, he started manoeuvring the hippogriff in mid air, making it fly in unpredictable patterns while he tried to make it to the ground, however his pursuers seemed to know his mind and they kept blocking him at every turn. It frustrated Harry because he knew that if he was allowed to do magic that he could have escaped easily. He remembered that the staff which Pashupati had given him was strapped at his back. He loosed the staff then wielded it as he had learned to wield a two-handed sword. The staff was a little longer than his practice sword, light weight wood and was sturdy. As the first attacker came into range, he swung the staff with all his might and clipped one wing of his opponent's horse, forcing him to descend. The other attackers immediately started keeping their distance from him, but; not allowing him to escape. As he was getting tired, one of his opponents suddenly attacked him and it was only with the quick reflexes of his hippogriff that the attack was rendered futile.

While his opponent was readying a new attack after the failed one, Harry swung his staff and heard the distinct sound of bone breaking then he was left with two opponents. They decided to attack him together and soon, he was facing dual attacks. What was making it harder was that they were cloaked in dark hooded robes which, against the night sky, made it nearly impossible to see them. Too soon, he heard rushing wings and tried to dodge away from the incoming animal when he felt a weight fall on the hippogriff. An opponent had leapt on his hippogriff from his horse, hit Harry on the head with the flat of his blade making him almost faint and jumped to the ground. Before he lost consciousness, he willed his hippogriff to return to the ground and passed out.

He was enervated by Pashupati who looked kind of disappointed,"I thought you would do better than that, Harry. You should have felt the moment he jumped from his horse.".

Harry who was feeling angry for all the times that he was used as a whetstone by the mystics, snapped, "Four on one, in the dark, complete surprise and no magic. I had a great time I'm sure! Is that your idea of fun?".

Pashupati gave him an evil smirk,"It was not but how would you be prepared if you did not know what you can face. They were only trying to teach you.".

"And just what Am I supposed to learn from being knocked out of the air?", Harry asked sarcastically.

"They will teach you aerial warfare. They were just taking stock of your abilities. They think you can be a great fighter' Pashupati said 'and they also said that your familiar bond is rather weak.' 'I want you here every day in the morning to look after your familiar and you will do everything to make this bond strong", he said in a stern voice and Harry could only nod in agreement.

After that he took Harry with him to the woods in the settlement where they were going to search for wand wood. He asked Harry how would they find wand wood and Harry was stumped for an answer till he remembered a certain creature he had read in Fantastic Beasts.

"I will look for bow truckles in the trees.", he said confidently,"Bowtruckles or tree guardians as they are called live in trees which have wood fit for wand making. When I find one, I will try to offer it wood lice, its preferred food or fairy eggs which it loves and ask for wand wood. A wand wood given voluntarily by a tree guardian is better for a wand than one forcefully taken.".

Pashupati beamed at him,"It looks like you have a way with beasts, Harry. Did Hagrid teach you about these wonderful beasts?".

Harry snorted,"His definition of wonderful is a bit different from mine. Beasts that I would avoid because they are huge, scary or flat out dangerous, he thinks they're cute and cuddly and wants to take them home and adopt them as pets.".

Pashupati laughed,"Still he has a heart of gold and his knowledge of beasts is second to none except famous magizoologist Newt Scammander who I believe wrote a book on fascinating beasts he found during his travels.".

Harry nodded,"His book is popular with the students and the public in general and his brother was a decorated Auror. I read that he fought in the Grindelwald wars.".

"You are right Harry", the mystic said "Newt, his brother and few of his friends aided in the war effort. By the way, how many fascinating beasts have you seen in real?"

Harry smiled to himself,"more than I would like to see. Most of them were looking to kill me or maim me at the least. In my first year at Hogwarts, I watched a dragon hatch from an egg and then I fought a three headed dog at the end of the year. In second year, my friend Ron and I were carried off by Acromantulas then at the end of year I faced a thousand year old Basilisk and had to kill it. In third year, Hagrid showed us Hippogriffs. In fourth year, I was introduced to blast ended skrewts which were some monstrosity Hagrid had bred, then I faced a dragon and I had to steal a treasure from it, then I had to face merpeople to rescue what I would miss most and in the maze, I faced a blast ended skrewt, an acromantula and a sphinx. Here I have seen a Yeti, a Ganda Berunda, made a familiar bond with a hippogriff, saw a thestral and now we are trying to find a bow truckle in the dead of night with nothing to help us to see in this darkness."

Pashupati chuckled,"You had quite the experience with the beasts, Harry. Perhaps you should write all your encounters with the beasts in the journal.".

The mystic produced two glass vials which looked ordinary till he lighted the bluebell flames in them and handed one to Harry,"Now you can see in the dark. I want you to find a bow truckle.", He produced a pouch from his clothes."Here, take this batch of doxy eggs and offer them to the bow truckles and appease them to give you wand wood.".

An hour later, Harry had an armful of wand wood and he returned to the camp with the mystic who promptly dismissed him. As Harry returned to his chamber and lay on his bed, he started thinking of a suitable his concentration wavered and he went into his library to find a book which might help him a little. He found a curious little book about mindscapes which was hand written by Archibald Potter titled Mind Magics- the magic you should be afraid of_._

There was a chapter in the book which discussed was even a detailed description by the author of his own mindscape."_my mindscape is the Potter Castle which used to belong to the Peverells before the line was merged together. The castle is easily the size of Hogwarts though not as grand. It is three stories tall and sprawls over an hundred acre field. There are also the adjoining grounds and the is situated somewhere in a valley in the highlands in Scotland. The castle is surrounded by every kind of ward available and sits on 4 ley lines which keep the wards charged at full power. The woods are as dense as the Forbidden Forest and all kinds of creatures live in it. The most delightful thing is the river that flows through the property and is a home to a tribe of merpeople..."._

Harry kept reading the description till he fell didn't take long. He was mentaly and physicaly exhausted from all the lessons and activity of the day.

**Ministry of Magic**

Amelia was in her office doing some paperwork when her secretary came in."Mr. Black is here to see you, Ma'am."

"Send him in.", she said wearily, having been tired of the ordeal that the day had been.

Earlier in the day, the wizengamot, in an emergency session convened at her behest, tried Dolores Jane Umbridge on the charges of unauthorised use of dementors, muggle baiting, possession of Class B non- tradable artefacts in the form of a handful of blood quills and for some other crimes that she had confessed under the effects of the entire wizengamot seemed to despise her for some reason and with the minister leading the mob demanding her head on a platter, she was sentenced to the dementor's kiss.

Sirius Black entered the office, looking every bit the regal man that he was, adorned in expensive robes which screamed wealth, a cloak billowing out behind him and a smile gracing his face.

"Amelia.", he said, taking a seat across from her place at her desk.

"Sirius,", she replied with a nod,"how can I help you?".

"I have come to request that you have my wand brought up from the archives", he said, "The one I am currently using did not choose me and I find it hard to use it while doing some intricate magic."

Amelia sighed, "I am sorry Sirius but your wand was destroyed. I spent several days scouring the archives, looking for it, before. Proudfoot informed me that Cornelius had it snapped when you escaped Azkaban."

Sirius's reaction of shock and rage was plain to see, but; he reined it in before he spoke, "I see. Perhaps I will have to pay a little visit to a friend afterall."

He left Amelia to go down to the atrium when he collided with someone who snapped at him, "Watch where you're going!"

As Sirius looked up, he found himself face to face with one Percy Weasley who had an air of haughtiness about him, but when he realized who he had just snapped at, he quickly deflated, "Mr. Black", he nodded, "Pardon me. I was not paying attention." Percy then fled as quickly as he could manage without actually breaking into a run.

As Sirius was getting down to the Atrium, he was accosted by Moody,"What are you doing here, Black?".

As Sirius recounted everything that had happened, concluding with how his wand was destroyed, Moody listened sympathetically, then paused to consider before advising, "you'll want to stay clear of Ollivanders. You're not a school boy and you'll want something better than an off-the-shelf wand. Get one custom made. That'll do you right."

Sirius nodded and disapparated as soon as he was in the atrium.

**Cottage on the hill**

Filius Flitwick was having fun for the first time in decades. This morning he had decided that he wanted to test the students. He put them in teams and duelled each team in turn. The rules were simple, charms only. As he suspected, none of them had any idea of how to use charms in a battle. So, he was enjoying himself at their expense.

First up were Fred and George. Their opening gambit was ganged banishing charms which he casually flicked aside while grinning at them. One of them managed to get a summoning charm in under his guard, but as the tiny professor hurtled through the air towards them, first, one of the twins found himself dangling in the air, held up by one ankle. Next he used Aguamenti to blast the other twin in the face with a jet of water followed up with Tarantallegra and for a finishing touch, used a sticking charm and stuck his wildly tap-dancing victim to the wall.

Next up were Susan and Hermione who wildly fired off all the charms they could remember from their charms professor merely dodged them all with apparent ease clearly demonstrating what a nine times international duelling champion can do. When their barrage of spells let up for the briefest instant, he sent Hermione flying with an overpowered banishing charm, who landed on her bottom some distance away. He followed up by dousing her with a jet of water then freezing it, encasing her in ice and trapping her where she sat. Then turning his full attention to Susan, hit her with ascendio, sending her soaring high into the air. She started to fall back to earth, but before she hit the ground, a cushioning charm saved her from any real harm.

For the finale, he faced Ginny, Neville and Ron together. Ginny immediately went on the offensive forcing him to raise a shield. Ron also went on the attack, trying to flank him. Neville just stood there, his wand raised, but doing nothing else. He started by firing a locomotor charm at Neville which sent him gliding across the room until his head hit the wall, knocking him unconscious. Keeping his shield to Ginny, he duelled with Ron for some time, who dodged his spells until he connected with Petrificus Totalus stopping him, then banished him to a cabinet in the room and followed up by locking it with a final flick. Taking his shield down, he then turned to Ginny, dodging her charms as she cast everything she knew. She was able to keep him occupied for some time until he connected with a well timed deep sleep charm and Ginny slumped to the floor.

An hour later, the students were sitting in the classroom looking at the charms professor who was grinning at them."None of you seem to know how to use charms effectively in combat. Do you suppose that only hexes, jinxes and curses are any use in a fight? Today, all of you have experienced first-hand exactly what charms can do and you must learn to use that for your own advantage."

**Headmaster's office, Hogwarts**

Albus Dumbledore was having to work pretty hard considering it was supposed to be the summer break.

Generally he used this time to attend the annual ICW convention. This year, however, he sent his regrets for being unable to attend to the conference committee in Greece.

Aparichit, whose real name he did not know, had taken up residence in the castle and was busy remodelling some unused class rooms for his purposes. When Dumbledore had expressed his astonishment, he merely told him that the rooms would be used to teach or train his classes. He had put some of those rooms under the strongest privacy wards which Albus had never seen before. He was actively searching the entire castle discovering ways in and out and other entrances which nobody stranger did not share everything that he found with Dumbledore but he knew that Harry James Potter would be told everything and that was sufficient for him.

Ever since Harry's departure with the man who had masqueraded as a healer trainee, Albus's thoughts were with the boy he had come to love as he would his own grandson.

When Harry arrived at the castle to start his first year, Albus wanted to start giving him private lessons, but delayed his hand, telling himself that he was giving Harry the time to have the childhood that he never had at number 4 Privet Drive. Each year, he considered his decision again and each year he told himself that the boy was still too young. Finally, at the end of third year, he decided to start Harry's training at the beginning of fourth year. After driving off a hundred dementors single-handed, boy or not, he certainly had enough power to be Albus's apprentice. Then the Triwizard tournament came to Hogwarts, forcing another change in plan and Harry's training was delayed again.

The mystic had come as a blessingand a relief to him. They would be able to teach Harry more than he ever could.

He supposed that after Harry had become his equal in versatile and arcane magics that he was unlikely to become his apprentice. He would have to choose another for that honor.

He had thought long and hard about all the promising young witches and wizards he knew and narrowed down the options. The select few that came to the top of the list were, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Susan Bones and Neville Longbottom. Hermione Granger was an extremely capable witch. Selecting her as his apprentice would send a strong message to the wizarding world. But, as brilliant as she was, she had her limitations. First, she was too quick to judge, and her muggle upbringing meant that she judged things by muggle standards. Her narrow minded attitude and ignorance of deep and ancient wizarding ways meant that she could offend and even cause harm in the name of what she thought is justice. She could be taught. Other muggle borns had overcome their own prejudice, learned about the wizarding world thoroughly and embraced it whole heartedly. Some were even the heads of cadet lines and welcome in pure-blood the problem that could not be overcome was that she simply lacked sufficient power to learn much of what Albus wanted to pass on.

Ronald Weasley was ineligible for a lot of reasons. He was a pureblood but could not rise above the bias of house colours. He had a deep-seated belief since childhood that Slytherins were evil. Albus had met many Slytherins in his life who were anything but evil. His friend Horace Slughorn who had been one of the most popular teachers of Hogwarts was a Slytherin and head of house of Snakes for decades. Alastor Moody was a Slytherin during his time at Hogwarts and so was Andromeda Black. Even Cedrella Weasley nee Black had been a Slytherin and she was his grandmother. He was also very lacklustre in his studies and tended to avoid working hard. It was a surprise considering his siblings had made their fame by working hard for it. William had been a head boy for his impressive academic record and became a curse breaker at Gringotts. Perhaps one of the best that they had and his warding abilities were superior to most. Charlie was an extremely talented quidditch player who had become captain in his day and could have played for the National team but went on to become a dragon handler, an ambitious career. Percival was the most ambitious of them and knew about how to exploit his advantage. He was a top student and became a head boy in his day. The twins while were not into academics but they were brilliant inventors. Albus personally liked their pranks and kept a diligent watch on them. If they kept up the pace, they would have their own brand of family magic soon. Young Ronald had disappointed him so far with his work ethic. He could not be an apprentice if he did not rise above his bias and did nothing to become more studious and hard he had not yet shown that he was powerful enough to be eligible for the position.

Susan Bones was a powerful and resourceful witch but he did not think that Amelia would allow her to become his apprentice. Besides he did not know much about her abilities or anything else about her other than her being Amelia's niece.

Neville Longbottom was everything he needed in an apprentice. He was well versed in the ways of the wizarding world, came from a family of powerful wizards, had a long magical ancestry behind him and was as powerful as Voldemort if not more so. Albus felt that he had focussed his attention on Harry for too long at Neville's He deserved equal attention because he could, just as easily have been the child of the prophesy.

Neville Longbottom was easily as powerful as Voldemort; but all those years of living under the care of a grandmother who was disappointed that he wasn't his father and trying to use his father's wand had hampered his growth and undermined his confidence. He will need a mentor to guide and support him as he grows into and refines his powers and becomes his own man. Neville would make an excellent apprentice should he choose to accept his offer. Albus just hoped that Harry would not resent him for this choice.

Looking out of his office window, Albus could see that the day had passed on into evening. It was likely that the students were done with their lessons and drills for the day. It had been too long since he last visited Green Hues. Now would be a good time to remedy that oversight. He whistled for Fawkes and the red and gold plumed phoenix appeared before him. No sooner had Albus grasped his tail feathers than they both disappeared in a flash of red and gold flames.

**Green Hues**

Neville was sitting in the study with Croaker who was teaching him some magical theory when his personal elf, Sippy popped in, "A Mr. Dumblydore is on the ward line, Master. He be wishing to come in and has a fire bird."

"Firebird?", Neville said, confused.

"He means Phoenix.", said Croaker smiling, "Albus may have tried to fire travel into the house, but; when I was erecting the wards after the attack on your parents, I added an anti-phoenix ward just for the fun of it".

Neville laughed at this. Turning to his elf he said, "take him to the sitting room, Sippy. I will be along in a minute".

The elf bowed and popped away. Neville turned to Croaker,"A visit from the headmaster. Why do you think he came?"

"The only person who understands Albus Dumbledore is Albus Dumbledore.", Croaker said, "whatever he asks, do not commit to it too quickly. For once keep your Griffindor trait in control."

Neville shrugged and stepped towards the parlour and when he reached it, Dumbledore was sitting in a poufy chinse chair which Neville was sure did not belong to Green Hues. Seeing Neville he rose up, "Good evening Heir Longbottom and Croaker. Did I come at a good time?".

Croaker smirked at him,"Don't play your games on me Albus. You never go anywhere without a definite purpose. May be you can come to the point instead of beating around the bush."

"Harsh, but straight to the point as usual, my old friend" Albus said, amusement dancing in his eyes,"I had hoped that you would treat me with more courtesy.".

Croaker sighed,"Keep your secrets then."

"Not at all, old friend.", he said jovially,"I came here to make an offer to Mr. Longbottom."

"What offer?", said Neville, immediately suspicious. While the Head Master was a great wizard he never had much to do with Neville. Everyone at Hogwarts knew that he doted over Harry Potter. So, why the sudden interest in Neville Longbottom?

Albus faced him,"I will not remain young forever. (Croaker snorted) And one day, I shall depart on the next great is certain knowledge that I wish to pass on. I have to find someone who is worthy, willing and able to bemy apprentice. I have carefully considered my options and you,", he paused, "are my best choice for this role, if you will accept it. So, what say you to my offer, Mr. Longbottom?".

Neville was dumbstruck. He just stood there for a time with his mouth hanging open before speech found him again. Then he turned to Albus and began, "But why me, Head Master? I don't remember you seeking me out for anything. I would be willing to bet that I haven't crossed your mind more than ten times in your entire life."

Albus had the good grace to look properly embarrassed as he replied, "It is true that I have dwelt much more upon the welfare of Harry potter than your own. While Harry Potter's destiny could have been yours and vice versa, still, I followed him more closely because he has a certain knack for being in the thick of things when there is trouble. You have always had your grandmother and Croker, but Harry had no one until he came to Hogwarts. I paid attention to him forgetting you in the process. But when it came to choosing an apprentice, there were only ever two real possibilities, - you and Harry Potter.".

Croaker who was silent all this while, said,"what exactly is this destiny? Is it about one of the things which falls under my dominion and belongs exclusively to Harry Potter?"

Dumbledore understood the reference to the prophecy and nodded in agreement, "Voldemort's (Neville shuddered) decision to choose Harry changed the path of the future. If he had not acted, it would still be open for either of them but now it is irrevocably sealed with his name."

Then Croaker asked the question that Neville was already thinking, "Why didn't you make this offer to Harry Potter?"

"Young Master Potter's training is already being seen to by certain guardians of ancient magics. When they are done, there will be very little left that I could teach him but I realised lately that I also have a duty towards Neville who is equally important.", Dumbledore explained "Besides, one day I will have bragging rights that I was the master to such a worthy apprentice as him.".

These 'guardians'? Just who might they be?", asked Croaker with an eye brow raised.

"Someone who can enter and leave your department at anytimewithout you ever knowing. ", Dumbledore smirked at him, "they are a rather obscure bunchand more mysterious than unspeakables. Your lot would look like children and amateurs in comparison with them.".

Croaker frowned,"So, what I heard is true. They have made an appearance again.".

Dumbledore nodded his head,"they have. I would imagine that you would like to get your hands on one of them.".

"Why not offer it to Hermione or Ron?", Neville interjected.

"Excellent question Mr. Longbottom. I did consider them among others. Since you ask, Hermione Granger would be an excellent choice for an apprentice as a witch with ordinary power. She has an extraordinary thirst for knowledge and a mind which absorbs it readily. Although she is very capable, she lacks the power to use much of what I could teach her. She is also stuck in between the muggle and the wizarding world. She does not understand the intricacies of our world, its traditions, rules and customs. She does not realise that she cannot live in both worlds at the same time. Neither can she condemn thousands of years of traditions without even trying to understand why they exist. Finally, if she has a belief, she will not be deterred from it whether she is right or wrong. Ronald Weasley has issues with immaturity, insecurity and jealousy. He has a lot of growing up to do before he could possibly be a worthy apprentice. While he was brought up in our traditions and understands our customs, he frowns upon everything that his parents call 'ways of pureblood tripe'. Besides he is not so overtly powerful as you are" Dumbledore finished his reasoning while Neville sat quietly and listened.

"Head Master I am honoured by your generous offer. I request that you grant me time to consider it. In any event, I shall not be able to begin training with you until term starts. Great uncle has just started to teach me my family magics and that has priority over everything else for the present. Besides, I feel like this summer may be the last time that I will be able to enjoy my childhood. The coming war will take our innocence away", Neville said after thinking for some time.

"I understand, my boy", Dumbledore said sounding relieved, "I will await your decision however for my sake, I hope you will agree." He vanished the chair he was sitting in before taking his leave of them.

As Dumbledore left, Croaker turned to Neville, "I believe, that you, will accept his offer?"

Neville's face looked like he was deep in thought, "Only a fool would refuse such an offer. However, I had no idea that he would come to me with it. I never had any sort of help from him before. This is very sudden", Neville concluded.

Then after a short pause, with a puzzled expression he asked, "Uncle, what did you mean by 'it belongs exclusively to Harry?'"

"That, Neville, is Harry Potter's secret", Croaker smirked, "It is his to divulge, or not. Maybe he will tell you. But remember that it is such a secret that it could cost you your life if anyone else knew that you know.".

**Adrishpuram**

Harry Potter woke up in his room with someone calling his name. As he opened his eyes, he saw Anal standing there frowning at him,"Get up, Potter. Dawn is about to break. I want you on the track in 10 minutes.".

As the mystic left, Harry rolled out of bed, grumbling about the unearthly hours of the mystics.

He dressed for physical training and reached the track with 1 minute remaining. As soon as the mystic saw him, he brandished his wand at him and growled,"Start running till you drop and I feel that you are slowing down for a minute, I will pepper you with bone breakers.'".

Harry did not need to be told twice. He headed off around the lake at a dead run and did not slow down until he completed a lap. He quickly picked up the pace again when a bone breaker struck the ground where his foot had been a split second before. He finished four laps of the lake, narrowly avoiding several encounters with the bone breakers before he collapsed to the ground panting.

The mystic started raining down stingers on him without saying anything. Harry got the hint and started push ups and kept doing them until he dropped from exhaustion. An hour from the time he had arrived at the lake, he was spent. The mystic apparently was not done with him and barked,"You will report to Ambar who is waiting for you in her class room."

Grumbling, he went to Ambar who wanted to discuss the anatomy of the leopard with him. He had read some of the chapters of the book and she questioned him extensively on them. When she was done questioning, she asked him to try to change his features. When he asked how to do that, she explained that he was to will his magic to do that for him i.e. coax his magic into doing his bidding. As he sat trying for sometime but it did not happen, she relieved him and asked to keep trying it whenever he had time.

The Potions master was in a chipper mood when Harry arrived in the dungeons, "Hello Harry, we thought we should do something today", the potions master said.

"What?", Harry asked feeling apprehensiveabout what task the potions master would set for him.

"I looked into my stores and found that I am running low on some of my most exotic ingredients. Since we usually collect in the forests there is a trip in order. We are going on a little trip but do not worry, we will come back by the evening."

Harry nodded and the potions master sent him off to wear something more fitting for the cold temperature outside. He wore one of the Weasley Jumpers over a robe which was made of some sturdy material, dragon hide boots and a cloak that Harsh had transfigured into a heavy woollen one.

As they came out, the potions master took his hand and Disapparated. Harry felt like he was being forced into a hose and pressure was constricting him but soon the pressure eased up and he found that they were in a heavily wooded section of the forest.

As Harry appeared out of the air, he stumbled on his feet. "What was that?", he asked, feeling nauseous from the experience.

The potions master smiled,"This is called apparition, Harry. It is one of the methods of magical travel but it seems that you do not agree with it."

"But I apparated with Guruji before and it was nothing like this", He said in confusion since apparition with Harsh had been painless and it felt like dissolving into nothingness, but this was like his body was being compressed through a hose and being squeezed out at the other end.

"That is not apparition, Harry", the potions master told him,"that is our own method of travelling which predates apparition and it cannot be hindered by any wards but Apparition can be limited by placing an anti-apparition ward around a place.".

Harry nodded his head. Now he understood how they could travel beyond wards and the wards would not be able to stop them.

"Now Harry, I want you to find these ingredients in the forest", the potions master said, handing him a list, "after you are done finding the ingredients, we will see to your instructions in potions further."

Harry scanned the list and found many familiar plants on the list which he had used over the years in Potions and had never thought where they came from. He had studied about many of them in Herbology class, but; that was the limit of his interaction with plants. As he thought about the connection between Herbology and potions, he had a thought which he wanted to confirm with the potions master,"Sir, can someone who is an expertat herbology be equally good at potions?"

"Yes Harry", the potions master said,"a person with good knowledge of plants and their properties can be prodigious talent in the field of potions because he would know of the basic things- property of the materials he is using."

Harry's thoughts went to Neville for a minute who was a prodigy student at Herbology but dismal at potions, but; then considering Snape's treatment of him, that was not unexpected. If Snape was not breathing down his neck, perhaps Neville would have been good at potions.

So, Harry started to gather the ingredients for the potions but for the first time outside the security of the greenhouses of Hogwarts. He worked extremely carefully in gathering all the required ingredients for a few hours when it happened. As he touched a plant, his entire arm went numb and the plant was poised straight, ready to strike him again. This was a plant he had never seen before and mistook it for another plant. His arm was paralysed and numb from the venom and he had no option but to go back and find the potions master who introduced the plant to him,"this is a magical version of an extremely common plant 'mimosa pudica'. While the mimosa plant shies away from touch, this one attacks the one who touches it. it in-built defence mechanism give it the ability to shoot venom at its target and touching it bare hand is certain death."

"What is the use of this plant?", Harry asked, disgusted.

"This plant is used in making poison. A poison which is of our own making and even a whiff of it can kill a grown man", the potions master explained, "sometimes we use to kill dark wizards who are better prepared and in heavy security or those we cannot kill without exposing our world."

Harry nodded in agreement but skirted away from the plant while the potions master simply uprooted the plant putting a stasis charm on it and slipped it in his robes.

"Are you immune to its poison?", Harry asked curiously.

"No Harry, I stunned it before I approached it", the mystic smirked, "in stunned state, its mechanism goes inert."

Harry could think of a lot of uses for the plant and he was planning to ask for a sapling for the greenhouses. As he made his request, the potions master nodded, "Good idea Harry. You can take any plant you wish but before that you have to write a composition about its general qualities, its features so that I know it would not die due to lack of care."

Harry groaned from all the reading they were making him do. So far he had started Runes, was reading ahead for Potions, Transfigurations, Charms and had many other books for Defence, and yet more were being foisted on him.

"So Harry, Guruji has told me that you are learning Occlumency and Legilimency", the mystic was continuing,"have you had any success so far?"

Harry shook his head, 'I just started last night and he tasked me with finding a suitable mindscape. I was reading a book on mind magics by one of my own ancestors where he was describing Potter Castle but I did not get far before I fell asleep. He gave a good description of the surroundings of the castle but nothing more in the book."

"And now you wish to know more?", the mystic asked,"so that you can see if you can make it your mindscape?"

Harry nodded in agreement.

"Harry, while I would not claim to have seen Potter Castle but as you have a good description of the surrounding around it, maybe you should add other feature to it by yourself. A mindscape is unique to a wizard and I do not think you want to have one similar to another?"

Harry could see his point and conceded so.

"Now Harry I want you to take the position as Guruji told you and start meditating. As you come to the black void, delve into and it and try to imagine a castle starting to build from it. Make the foundations as you want them to be and then add all other features you want in it.".

Harry sat in meditation as had been taught by Harsh and after 15 minutes of trying to concentrate, he reached the void. It was pitch black and he could not even see his hands in front of him. He walked further and it felt like walking on air since there was nothing beneath his feet. With every step he felt like his heart would jump to his mouth. He kept walking forward gingerly and sometimes he felt like he would simply fall off. Suddenly he felt a jerk behind his navel and found himself sprawled on the ground. As he rose to his feet, he found that it was not dark anymore but more like a night full of stars where he could see everything. As he looked around, he felt his legs turning to jelly, too horrified to think how he got in front of him was the grave stone marked Tom Riddle. Somehow he had reached the grave yard. As he turned around, he saw Wormtail performing the ritual to bring Voldemort back who then subdued Harry again and started torturing him under the Cruciatus Curse. As he was shaking violently, suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and the words of the mystic in his ear, "Come back, Harry. You can get out of there. You are more powerful than him. Fight him and come back."

Harry used all his might to throw off Voldemort and ran to where he was sure was the way out.

Then he was in the clearing, his body drenched in sweat and the mystic looking at him with concern. "What happened, Harry? What did you see?", the mystic asked, his voice trembling,"You were doing fine till you started shaking violently."

Harry looked down feeling ashamed of himself, "I was in the graveyard."

The mystic flinched, "I should have known. I am sorry Harry. Do you have nightmares often?"

"No.", Harry shook his head, "I was plagued with them while I was at Hogwarts but when I returned to London, I have been so tired everyday that I don't have dreams of any sort, never mind nightmares."

"You will need to see Charak." the mystic said, "he is our healer and he would be able to help you. You should have seen a mind healer immediately after the incident."

Harry wanted to refuse but could not since he knew that the mystic had a point and there was no reason to have unnecessary pain and nightmares when one could avoid it.

"Now Harry, since we cannot get to construct your mindscape right now, perhaps we should use this time to teach you something else?", the mystic said.

"Teach me what?", Harry asked.

"Apparition, Harry.",the mystic said,"that will be useful to you. I have heard you make quite spectacular exits out of the floo, so maybe you would be able to avoid all the embarrassment."

Harry rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue to the mystic who mock huffed.

"I guess I can learn Apparition.", Harry said,"it would be useful in making hasty get-aways."

So, it was that the mystic sat teaching him Apparition which he found to be hard. The first thing was three D's which he could not understand at all. He knew what the three D's stood for: Destination, Determination and Deliberation, but; he had no idea how that would help him apparate.

After an hour of fruitless effort, without Harry apparating so much as a toenail, the mystic, who seemed quite fed up said, "Forget everything I said Harry. Just follow these steps and it may work you easy."

He nodded his head. The mystic pointed him to a cluster of trees in the distance 'Keep that place in your mind, commit to your memory'. As Harry did so, the mystic said further,"Now, order your magic to propel you towards it while do not move your body at all. Keep willing your magic to take you there with a sense of urgency."

Harry started to try summoning his magic and after a few moments he could feel his magic responding to him, surging within in waves. As he saw the destination in his mind, he willed his magic to take him there quickly. With a loud pop, Harry Potter appeared at his destination and almost fell over his own feet.

The mystic was already standing there beaming at him, "Congratulations, you did it!"

Harry took a moment to look around himself not sure that he had really done it, but; after some time there was a little smile at the corner of his lips, "I did it!"

"Now you know how to apparate, Harry.", the mystic said,"but there are limits to this. An ordinary wizard can apparate upto 100 kilometres without any real trouble however beyond that there is a risk of them getting splinched and that is not something you want to witness. Second the powerful the wizard, the longer distance he can apparate. Thirdly you can take someone side along but it is not a good idea to take more than two people at once because it taxes your magic", The mystic continued after pausing a moment,"Now I want you to practice apparating all around this place and try not to use too much magic into apparating. The more magic you use, the louder the pop. If you can achieve silent apparition, it would be helpful in battle or in making escape if you are surrounded."

For the next hour, Harry apparated all over the place trying to use less energy than he had used before. After an hour of continuous apparition, the mystic asked him to stop and they returned to Adrishpuram.

**Azkaban**

Peter Pettigrew was in bad shape. He had been captured by the boy when he was trying to get the jump on him and taken to Hogwarts and that had been the start of his nightmares. Amelia Bones had wasted no time to dose him with Veritaserum. When he started ranting about his rights, she had grinned ferally telling him that dead men had no rights. Since he had been declared dead on the night when he had framed Sirius Black, his rights had ceased to exist.

After being dosed, he sang like a canary, telling of everything that he had done in the service of the dark lord, and how he had ratted out many of the prominent members of the order to him including Edgar and Ellie Bones. Amelia had wanted to murder him then and there but had gritted her teeth and interrogated him about everything he had done or knew.

Sometime during the investigation, the hand the dark lord had given him rose to strangle him for betraying the dark lord when Amelia had hastily severed it from his arm and set it on fire. She cauterised his arm and gave him to the care of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-eye. They had taken him to a safe house where Mad-Eye tortured him to his heart's content. Mad-eye showed him why he had a well-earned reputation for breaking even the most hardened death eaters when he had cursed him with a lot of dark curses making him writhe around in agony but did not allow him to die. Every day that he was frustrated about something or someone offended him, Mad-eye tortured him. This went on for a few days before Amelia had come to order all torture to cease and he was patched up and presented before the Wizengamot. From there, he had been brought here where Dementors made him relive all his horrible memories. He had been placed in the maximum security wing in one of the top-most cells of the prisonwhere he was subjected to dementors almost daily. While Sirius was not a known animagus and was able to use it to keep his sanity, Wormtail's ability was well known and so, his prison cell was warded with an anti-animagus spell which did not allow him to change.

As he lay in his bed waiting for the Dementors to come and feed off his memories, he heard footsteps coming down the hall and a few seconds later, the door to his cell was opened and the warden entered followed by two men he had never wished to meet again.

'Hello Peter' said Remus Lupin, who eyes were flickering to amber from his usual brown 'I thought we should be good friends to you and pay a visit.'

Peter squealed like the rat he was as Sirius lunged at him, beating him to the earth with his kicks. As Wormtail laid whimpering, Sirius kept right on kicking him and Remus just stood aside, watching grimly.

After sometime, Wormtail was half dead from all the beating, Remus stopped him with a maniacal glint in his eyes,"Control yourself, Padfoot. Now let me have some fun with our wayward friend here."

Remus picked him up by his robes and growled at him, "You thought that you could escape us, Wormtail? You thought that this dreary place could protect you? You betrayed James who considered you more than a brother. You betrayed Lily who was unfailingly kind to you. You even betrayed Harry who had saved your you think, for even one second, that we would not come for our revenge? From the moment that I knew that you had betrayed my brother James, your fate was sealed, we have no more use for you. This is the end of you Wormtail."

As Remus drew a goblin made sword, the warden caught his arm, "Please gentlemen, not here. I like the prison cell as it is without any blood or gore. You want to settle your score with him, feel free to take him. I will keep the news from getting out that he has escaped and after a few days, I will just inform the ministry that a dementor has unfortunately kissed our dear resident."

Remus grinned, "you make an excellent suggestion, kind sir.' As they started to drag him out, the warden placed some magic suppression cuffs on wormtail (so that he cannot make an escape, he told them) and they kicked him down to the ground level from where he was unceremoniously dumped into a boat which an Auror (who was Tonks) was rowing. Mid-way from the prison to the shore, Sirius pulled Wormtail towards him and disappeared via a portkey.

The next day was the full moon and during the day, they tortured him every way they could think ofmaking him scream for mercy where there was none. As Pettigrew was getting thrashed, he could see James Potter with Lily and others he had ratted out, waiting for him in the afterlife and yet wanted the torture to end even if it meant his death. As it was nearing mid- night and there was a full moon, Sirius slapped a portkey on him which took him into the forest of Blackmoor dropping directly in front of a pack of werewolves who were in the middle of changing. We will not describe the details of Wormtail's grizzly demise. Sufficient to say that there was a chase, and the pack played with their food.

Serious Black and Remus Lupin found what was left of the man who had spent 12 years as a rat the next day. Without ceremony, they torched what there was left and that was the end of the infamous Peter Pettigrew.

The next morning the Daily Prophet announced that Peter Pettigrew had died in Azkaban. The article went on to say that during a transfer from one cell to another he broke away from his guards and tried to make a run for it. In subduing him, one of the dementors lost control and gave him the dementor's kiss. His soulless body died shortly afterwards.

**WAITING FOR REVIEWS**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N- **I received some pretty awesome reviews for the last chapter. Thank you ObsessedwithHPFanFic. He is not being hazed but there is no time for them to teach him everything the easy way. If he had a lot of time, they may have taken the long and easy way with them but as we know, time is short. Thank you Marilyn. I am obliged that you chose to comment about the end of the rat. Thank you for the review God of all and Anarion. Hypergym thank you. **Chapter 18****Adrishpuram**

Harry Potter sat in meditation, trying to find the void that he knew was there, however; the recurrent flashes of the graveyard kept haunting him. He could see Cedric falling, his lifeless eyes, the demon baby thing turning being dumped into the potion, Voldemort emerging, the pain that he experienced when Voldemort touched his scar and the taunting that Voldemort gave him when he was tied to the gravestone. Since Harry had come to Adrishpuram, he felt pretty good and there were no nightmares and he felt safe in a way he had never felt before, but; now he was feeling morose and his broodiness had returned after the events of the day. He did not know why the memory had come suddenly to the forefront. There had been no nightmares for the previous few days, but; this memory was a reminder of what he had to face out there. He was given a reminder about what he was fighting for and what waited for him.

"Harry.", Harsh'svoice brought him out of his musings. He opened his eyes to see the mystic standing before him, concern in his eyes, "Prathimaan said there were some problems today and you need to see Charak. What happened?".

Harry recounted the entire experience to him and Harsh winced, "I should have remembered that sooner. We will go see Charak now."

Harsh led him to the northern part of the settlement where there was a big building not unlike the castle. Harry asked him, "What exactly is this place, Guruji?"

"Adrishpuram was once seat of a powerful kingdom in the ancient time which had this castle built like Arthur had Camelot. This castle was taken over by the mystics after the king fell and with time, this castle is nothing but ancient history. The main castle is where the king used to live while he had a hospital of sorts built for his subjects and it was funded by the treasury. There was also an armory which exists to this day, and barracks for army to live in", he explained.

"Army?", Harry said in astonishment.

"Yes Harry, we are perhaps the only magical tribe left in the world which has its own army. You see when the International Statute of Secrecy was adopted and wizards and witches went into hiding, it was chosen that no nation would have its standing magical army. While they have Aurors but they are not soldiers. Hit wizards are more like special operation soldiers but there is no nation which has a magical army. That is why it is easy for a dark lord to have a free hand in European Nations" Harsh explained "we often intervene but never in our full force. The last time that we aided against a dark lord was the war against Grindelwald but not at the forefront because we knew we could be recognized. We also had another objective to fulfil there- recovering a Peverell Heirloom."

"What heirloom?", Harry asked.

"It is part of three most famous heirlooms of the three brothers.", Harsh said,"you have a children story book in your library titled Tales of Beedle the Bard. Pursue the story of three brothers and you would understand."

Harry nodded but thought hard about these heirlooms. Ever since he had known about his heritage, his thirst to know had grown. Any snippets of information about his heritage excited him. He vowed to pursue the said chapter before he went to bed that day.

While they were talking, they had reached the building he had called a hospital. The building was grand and pristine, the surfaces shone, there were wards like St. Mungo's and private rooms for cases which required confidentiality and healers were milling about. Harsh led him to the second floor where they stopped before an ornate door which had a wand drawn on it hovering above a mortar and pestle with a name outside the door "Charak". The room was spacious with two large windows on opposite sides of the room showing the forests on one side and the snow-capped mountains on the other. The rest of the walls were lined with bookcases which were full of books some of which looked fairly new while others looked very ancient as if they would disintegrate froma mere touch. There was a big table like the Headmaster's in Hogwarts in the middle of the room which was laden with reams of parchment, vials of potions, and a large comfortable looking chair was behind the desk on which sat a wizard in plain black robes with his face buried in a book.

"Charak.", Harsh called him and he raised his head and Harry saw that he looked younger than Harsh and had a round face with big black eyes. He was of Harry's height but muscled, his hair brown with a sharp nose. He rose from his table and bowed "Guruji, how can I serve you?"

Harsh explained everything to him about how Harry had been entered into the Triwizard tournament and had to suffer the exposure to the Cruciatus curse, had gone into a magical coma and was suffering from the trauma he endured from the event. The healer kept listening intently to everything that was said and when Harsh was done narrating, he frowned,"he should have been seen by a healer directly after he gained consciousness. It being untreated for so long could have resulted in scarring of his mind."

"This is why we are here", Harsh said and turned to go. "I leave him in your care however I beseech you to be patient with him. He has seen his fair share of hospital bed in 4 years at Hogwarts.", the mystic said winking at Harry.

"A stubborn patient, hmm…" the healer mused, "well it looks like I have quite the task before me. Remain assured I know how to make them agree to my demands."

He turned to give an evil smirk to Harry, "You do not plan to give me hard time, do you Mr. Potter?" Harry said nothing but shuddered.

The healer whipped his wand in an intricate motion and hit him with a number of detection spells and a quill kept recording everything that was revealed. After he was done, he conjured a Unicorn patronus, murmured something to it then it flew out of the door.

Minutes later, Harsh entered the room "what did you find that was so important?"

The healer showed the results to him and his eyebrows arched high as his body grew tense. As he finished reading, he closed his eyes for a few seconds, taking deep breaths then visibly relaxed,"we will have to conduct Kayakalp ritual."

The healer nodded and handed a potion to Harry which he immediately recognized, "why are you giving me the draught of living death?"

It was Harsh who replied, "Harry you have had a long history of injuries and several of your bones are broken, many of your organs were damaged by various injuries in the past and while your magic healed most of them, they were not properly done. We will have to undo everything and to remake it. This will be quite painful for you therefore we are giving you draught of living death. You will not feel a thing and after we are done, you will notice the changes in your body."

Harry drank the potion and dozed healers went to work on the ritual immediately. It was a long ritual which involved 5 healers, two rune masters and lasted the whole night. The first issue was that there were a number of bones that they had to make anew and while they could use skele-gro but that would take longer and would have to be done in stages. This method of treatment would also fail to purge the traces of the soul piece which were left behind. The Kayakalp ritual remade the entire body a person as good as new. The basement of the hospital contained a ritual room, which was as big as the Slytherin Common Room he had seen once, was made of the same stones as the rest of the hospital and there were ever-burning fires present in the scones on the walls keeping the room lit all the hours of the day and night. There were windows on the walls which would allow sunlight to come into the basement during the day. There were several tapestries hung on the walls detailing all the healers who had been mystics or scenes of famous battles. The mystics were drawing a ward scheme in the shape of a star whose purpose was to keep the process from being disturbed. In the middle of the star was a shallow basin of stone which was more like a tub and was already full of a potion. Several potions were lined alongside the stone basin already. As they vanished each of his clothes down to the last one, they laid him into the basin thus effectively submerging is body in it. The healers took their positions at the points of the star while Harsh sat on a stool beside Harry. A number of mystics were standing near the master runes to make sure that the ward scheme was working the entire time and anytime the rune's color faded from Blood red, they would recharge it.

As one, the mystics led by Harsh started chanting the incantations that were required while Harsh kept bathing Harry with the potions that had been lined along the basin. With each vial being emptied, Harry's body would glow silver and then return to its original color. It happened five times while the mystics kept chanting for 5 hours without a break. In these 5 hours, Harry's body eventually reconstructed itself, his bones reformed with none of them out of alignment or haphazardly cured and the residual magic of his scar was gone leaving behind only a faint line as it had been ever since he returned from the graveyard. Healers remarked to Harsh that the years of malnutrition had affected him and so he would have to be subjected to nutrient potions for a week which coupled with the effects of the ritual would work wonders on his anatomy. When they were done, he was carried into a bed and administered the Wiggenweld potion and he eventually came to when the potion took effect.

As he opened his eyes, he found himself in a hospital bed, yet again and groaned. He felt stiff and numb all over, not being able to move, but; he also felt renewed in every muscle, limb and joint.

Harsh was sitting in front of him with a cheerful expression on his face "Harry, I am glad to tell you that you are recovering at an advanced pace and by morning tomorrow, you will be good as new. I am also happy to inform you that we cleaned off any traces of foul magic lingering on your person due to that abomination."

"What will be the effects, Guruji?", he asked,"Will I notice some distinct changes?"

"Your magic will not be tainted anymore, you will find it little easy to cast and you would feel changes physically soon", Harsh said, handing him another potion,"this is a sleep potion. Take it and sleep. I will see you when you wake up tomorrow morning."

Harry quietly drank the potion and went back to sleep.

**Hogwarts**

Dumbledore was sitting in his office in his preferred chair with a bowl full of lemon drops before him on one side of the table and the mystic sat on the other side.

"Have you found where those abominations can be, head master?", the mystic asked.

Dumbledore shook his head,"I have no idea, but; I am looking for leads in that direction. The frustrating thing is that he has covered his tracks so well that there are not many people alive who can claim to have known Tom Riddle. Most of the people from that generation are either dead or missing and presumed dead. The few who are still alive never had any kind of interaction with him. I have tried to scour the DMLE archives but there is nothing there except an old arrest record and a trial transcript when Marvolo Gaunt and Morfin Gaunt were sent to Azkaban for various and sundry charges but that is the one and only record available for his family. I have no idea what they can be either."

The mystic sighed, "You would do well to hurry on and find where those abominations are, Albus. The longer it takes us to track down them, the longer the war will extend."

"Have you had any news from Harry? I have been very worried about him these last few days." Dumbledore asked curiously.

"Yes, Guruji had sent me a message that young Potter has taken to his training like fish takes to water. While he has some difficulty in performing his best, he is trying very hard and has shown his prowess with a wand, his resourcefulness and his bravery" the mystic said "He is one very remarkable wizard who would go down as one of the greatest."

"What have you planned for my students in your classes?", Albus asked him.

"Nothing special, Albus.", the mystic said,"First I have to take a stock of their position as to how much they already know or how much they were taught in previous years. After I have a grasp on it, I will teach them things which would help them survive and mostly things which are in the books apart from dueling. You have to remember that for your students I am nothing more than a random wizard and mystic or not, I am not one of opinion to let children fight in battles."

Albus nodded his head in agreement, "And why have you really been placed here? Apart from teaching defense I mean?"

The mystic smirked, "I have to guide young Potter on the way to leadership. Whenever the war comes, he needs to have some trusted people around him who would defend him in any condition or who would be ready to take a curse for him as he would do for them."

Albus sighed,"This war will be costly for all of us."

The mystic nodded gravely, "This war will make a man out of these children no matter they are on this side or other. But that is war for you. It does not benefit anyone but we have to fight to bring peace."

Albus was content with the mystic as the new professor for Defense against the Dark Arts and he believed that this year the students would be taught things that would help them to survive through the coming war. He personally was not in favor of students fighting in the war and he had decided to forbid those not of age from participating in the war. He had started to look into the archives to find the secrets to the castle which even he himself did not know about. He wanted to look for exits which could be used for escape of students en masse. Something in his old bones told him that the coming days would be changing the future of the magical world and when it did, Albus wanted no nasty surprises from anyone.

On the side he had started working on securing muggleborn students and their families. He had contacted several prominent muggleborn and their families and intimated them about the dangers that they would face and gave portkeys to them for safe houses spread across the country which would help them get away from danger in case they were threatened. Some of the prominent ones such as the Grangers had been given more protection and their home had been warded against all threats with wards to restrict people from coming in through apparition or by portkeys. The redirection wards were set in a way that the incoming person would be bounced to a pond situated far from their home. Some others had made their own arrangements if things turned for the worse. He had also started to send messages to wizards in other countries to find some allies of his own, however; such attempts were being rebuked due to the fear that they might earn Voldemort's ire. He had not been very successful in his endeavor and knew that it was futile to approach ICW before Voldemort came out in public, but;by then, it would be too late.

Severus had reported that the dark lord already had around 60 death eaters with him and the numbers would only increase as time passed. He also had sent emissaries to the Giants and word had it that Greyback was seen recruiting on the continent and in other countries. Amaelia was trying to rein in Greyback by asking help from other ministries to hunt him down but he kept eluding the Aurors or Hitwizards. If things kept going at this rate, they would need an army by the time Voldemort moved into the open. While he was in hiding he could not openly recruit, but; when he comes out, he will be a big surprise to the magical government which had buried its head in the sand.

Amelia had been working hard to purge death eaters and their sympathizers from the ministry. While she could not ask people to show their arms, she had put people to spy on suspected ministry workers. She was trying to get Cornelius to agree to increase the funding for DMLE and allow recruitment of Aurors but she was not very successful despite all the leverage she had on Fudge. Therefore Albus and by extension The Order of the Phoenix had decided that they would wait him out rather than play their hand early and would use the time to make their preparations. They would use the minister for all that he was worth about and then they would pull the rug from beneath his feet.

He had also met Croaker and they had decided to take the prophecy as soon as Harry Potter returned from India. The death eaters had been keeping an eye on the entrance of the Department of Mysteries and they would know if Harry went in there to claim the prophecy but they could enter unseen. Removing the prophecy was important because Albus did not wish for anyone to die over it. They would remove the real prophecy and keep a fake likeness there which they would use to lure Voldemort into a trap. It was also discussed that if Harry Potter did not concern himself with the prophecy, then Croaker would find a way to destroy it on its shelf.

The training of students at the Cottage on the Hill was going well and they all had mastered the most common spells which could be used effectively for self defense or attack and the teachers were going to teach them the more exotic applications of their subjects. It seemed that every student was trying their best to learn as much as they could. They all were very loyal to Harry and Dumbledore could see a new order forming before his eyes. He also knew that the students of Hogwarts in general admired Harry Potter especially after he outflew a dragon. When Tom comes out in the open, they would obviously flock to the one who could offer them the most.

**Cottage on the hill**

Minerva McGonagall had her turn today for training the students. As she had arrived she set them to learn Vanishment which was harder than vanishing which they had mastered save for Ronald who was having a bit of a tough time, but; the boy had been showing more determination and hard work since the end of the school term. She had full faith in him that he would be able to master it in the next few days. The way he was applying himself, it was sure that he will come into his own for the next school year. Minerva herself did not wish for children to fight in the war but she knew of the loyalty that Harry inspired in them and there was no way that they would stay behind and let Harry fight alone in the war.

"Today, we are going to study conjuration which means producing objects out of thin air. This is a branch of transfiguration which is very hard and it requires extreme concentration and hard work. It is supposed to be hard because it causes drain on your magic. The more complex the object, the harder it is to conjure it and the more complex the conjuration the more draining it is on your magic.", she explained."for instance it is easy and practically no drain for one to conjure a stick out of thin air but if you were to conjure something more complex, it would require more energy from you. It is useful in dealing with dark creatures and creating obstacles in the path of incoming curses which cannot be dodged or shielded.", she explained. "There are a few limitations to its application with the first one being, being- YOU CANNOT PRODUCE FOOD FROM THIN AIR.".

After an hour, only Hermione, Susan and Neville had been able to conjure a marble slab out of nothing. While Miss Granger had been the first to conjure it, Neville was a close second and his conjured slab was substantially bigger than the one conjured by Hermione and Susan was third to conjure it. Ron and Ginny had some trouble and she decided to attend to them separately. The twins had not even bothered to try conjuring and when she called them on it, one of them lazily conjured a perfect specimen of a chair that she preferred which the other changed into a sofa followed by a cow followed by a marble block which was vanished by McGonagall.

She left them to keep practicing conjuring inanimate objects for the rest of the lesson. The students were learning at a great speed and McGonagall was wishing to give the animagus practical training to those who showed promise but there was a problem with it. It had some esoteric requirements which needed to be met with like the one who wanted to become an animagus actually had to have the capability, could go through having to keep the mandrake leaf in their mouth for a month without swallowing it or spitting it out, capable of casting a spell inaudibly for this duration, not opening their mouth too much or risk spitting the leaf out which means that they would have to start again, preparing the potion among other complex requirements and then had patience to wait for the form to develop. Perhaps she should offer it in private to those who met her requirements. She was interested to know what procedure the marauders had employed. She still chuckled at the thought that James Potter had simply strode in the practical for transfiguration NEWTs, brandished his wand and transformed making them believe that he had achieved the delicate arte of self human transfigurations for the extra credit which was awarded to only James Potter that year.

She had been skeptical when Albus wished for her to teach Transfiguration to the students before her for the summer but when he had given his reasons, she had assented with the condition that she could discipline the slackers however she had been pleased with the progress of the students before her. They all worked hard and were able to finish the five years course by now and reaching towards sixth year and doing very well. She knew that sometime she would have to teach them advanced transfiguration but not all of them would be interested in advanced knowledge. She still winced when she heard that Neville had been using his father's wand for the last 4 years. This was a heavy burden for her as she felt that she had let her lion down. She did not try to find the problem but berated him for every time he failed to do better. She had decided to be more attentive to her students in the future.

Instructing the students to keep practicing and to try and conjure a wall like the slab they had conjured, she dismissed the classes while asking Ron and Ginny to stay back.

"What is the problem, Mr. Weasley and Miss Weasley?", she asked.

"Professor, I did not understand the theory behind the concept properly.", Ron said and Ginny nodded in agreement.

So it was McGonagall explained the intent behind the spell, the working and the amount of power required and other little details that she generally overlooked and asked them to try again. This time they both were able to do it after 4 times and she dismissed them too after asking them to keep practicing.

**Adrishpuram**

Harry woke up early, before dawn broke and found a healer sitting at his bedside. As he opened his eyes, Charak was summoned who ran some diagnostic charms over him and was apparently satisfied with what he found. As they sat talking, it eventually turned to the real reason for which he had come to see the healer- nightmares.

"Mr. Potter" he said "can you describe your nightmare for me?".

Harry recounted the entire nightmare to him and when he was done, his eyes were glistening with tears and he was hardly able to choke down the sob in his throat. The guilt was still too much for him and he was not sure he would be over it anytime soon but as he talked, he felt like a knot was being unraveled in his chest, taking a load off him which he didn't know existed.

Talking about it soothed him to a great degree and when he looked at the healer, he was smiling at him. "I could suggest a number of potions for you, Harry but in the end your nightmares will stop haunting you when you would talk about them, when you would let go of the past which is hindering you. Guilt is something which we can take easily and it is not easy to shed it off but by talking about it, letting go of what you cannot change are some of the ways that guilt can be lessened. Cedric was participating in the tournament on his own volition and was ready for whatever may come. He did not die at your hands but by Peter Pettigrew at the orders of Tom Riddle. You are not to be blamed for this. Instead Cedric would be happy that you brought his body back from the graveyard so that his parents could say good-bye properly." Harry nodded in agreement.

The healer continued,"Now is there anything more that is further troubling you or giving you nightmares?".

Harry talked at length about his life till now. Everything that he had gone through, the treatment of the Dursleys, 10 years at Privet Drive, his four years at Hogwarts. He had a lot of secrets and not many people that he could share them with. The healer just sat and listened to everything patiently and after 3 hours when he was done with everything that had ever troubled him, the healer ushered him out of the bed telling him to return once every week to him. As Harry was leaving, the healer told him that Rachael wanted him at her place for breakfast which made Harry get going.

After an hour, Harry was at Rachael's place where she was setting the table for him. As he looked on her in confusion, she shrugged "sometimes I miss all the food that I used to eat there and since I have no one to keep company with here, I generally do it alone. However, I realized this morning that you would need to learn the table manners of a Lord so I sent a missive to Guruji and here we are.".

Harry's mouth was watering seeing the dishes on the table. While he had no trouble with the food being served to him by the mystics, he kind of missed what he was used to. As they sat, Rachael started making idle chat with him,"Do you celebrate our festivals, Harry?".

"Our festivals?", he asked in confusion,"do you mean Halloween, Christmas?".

"No", she rolled her eyes,"These are muggle festivals Harry. Wizard festivals fall around the same dates but have different names and different celebrations. All the old families practice these traditions."

"You mean dark families?". he asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "If you think that the Potters were a dark family then yes. Do you know anything about the festivals celebrated by dark families?"

Harry raised his hands in surrender, "I do not know anything about these traditions. Are they the same as they celebrate at Hogwarts?"

"No Harry, Hogwarts celebrate these festivals now so that the muggle borns will not feel left out, but; these are not wizarding festivals."

"But that does not make sense", Harry complained.

Rachael looked grim and started in a monotonous voice "in the middle ages when the muggles started hunting wizards and witches, killing them, hanging them, beheading them or burning them alive, we had to go underground and the statute of secrecy was enacted. Their religion called us evil and called for our extermination because we had magic, we were different, we celebrated our own festivals but they could not see beyond their noses. We kept our traditions alive and still most of the families follow the old ways. Your family also did the same and I remember going to several of those celebrations at Potter Manor on Charlus and Dorea's invitation. You should have been told about this since your childhood. I personally have no problem with you celebrating any festival but I am only trying to tell you about your roots, your traditions. Our festivals are very much connected with magic as you can think."

Harry sat thinking and realized that she had a point. He had never been to visit a Wizarding family home other than the Weasley's and therefore he did not know the traditions or customs of them. Pureblooded they may be but they were not so insistent on traditions and customs so he knew nothing about wizarding celebrations. While he had nothing against anyone, maybe he should try to know the traditions which his family had followed. He turned to Rachael, "What are the old ways?"

She smiled and delved into narrating the Wizarding traditions and the wizarding festivals which they considered sacred for themselves. She told him about Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Beltane, the day of solstices, their significances for wizards and the celebrations associated with them. Harry found the conversation to be intriguing and kept asking her more questions upon the answers received till Rachael had to strictly remind him that Prathiman was waiting for him. Sighing Harry ran to the dungeons where Prathiman had ingredients assembled on a work station. As Harry entered, he muttered, "You are late.".

Harry sighed. This was his second mistake and deliberate. Harsh had warned him to keep track of his time and he had failed. Prathimaan was looking at him sharply and noticed the change in his countenance, "you do not need to be so morose. You will need to report to Pashupati in the evening for your punishment but there is no need for you to worry. He does not usually give stern punishment."

Harry nodded. The mystic started again, "Harry, I received a letter from the healers who wanted me to brew some nutrient potions for you but seeing your growing interest in the subject, I have decided to hand the assignment to you. There instructions are before you and you have required ingredients. If you fail, the potion would be useless and result in punishments. If you cannot understand something feel free to ask me."

Harry nodded and set to work and the mystic immediately stopped him from going further, "Harry, do you just prepare potion on the fly? Do you not make necessary preparations before you start working? Like readying the ingredients, making sure that they are in required amount, that all your equipment is clean and safe to brew? That none of your ingredient is defective?"

Harry shook his head looking embarrassed of himself. He began to make the preparations necessary for brewing as was instructed in the Introduction to the delicate art of potion making. The book had been extremely useful for him to fill in the gaps in his potions making instruction. While he did not hate the greasy dungeon bat, he did resent him for making people dislike this subject which was necessary for so many important careers. He had no malice towards the potions professor but he did not feel any kind of love towards him either.

After an hour and a lot of admonishment, chastisement and rebukes from Prathimaan, Harry was able to finish the first dose of the nutrient potion. Prathimaan smiled at him, "well done Harry. You can come down here anytime of the day and brew this for yourself or for others. You can try other potions too but not those which are too complicated. Anything you cannot understand or you require my help in brewing; you are free to come in."

As he left Potion and reached Ambar, she told him to sit and practice transfiguring his body parts. He kept trying the leopard in its entirety and as such, he could not make any headway into it. Ambar sat silently watching him. After he tried a lot of times and he was not successful Ambar beckoned him towards her, "Harry, what are your thoughts exactly when you are trying to transform?"

Harry explained how he was visualizing him morphing into a leopard as his magic did his bidding and she shook her head. "You are going the wrong way about it. You cannot transform suddenly at this stage without some external threats to you like mortal peril. You have to imagine that your body is changing into a leopard. Like first you imagine that you have a skin like it. Keep imagining that your skin is changing color and become leopard like. This may take a long time but when you have been able to do it, turn your focus on other parts like your limbs changing into paws, your eyes changing to a leopard's taking its qualities, growing claws like a leopard in place of your fingers and so on. You will be able to achieve the skin change in the next week and after that you will need to work for your parts which will take atleast 6 months before you can do it without any difficulty. While normal animagus transformation process is painless but it requires lot of time and patience and our process would be easy and time-saving however it goes without saying that you cannot impart this knowledge to anyone."

Harry nodded his head. The mystics had been teaching him a lot of things which they did not want the world to know and he perfectly understood the reasons. Their process of Animagus transformation was significantly different than the ordinary process but all the same it was useful.

He focused on changing his skin colour, but; other thoughts kept interrupting his concentration process. At the end Ambar dismissed him telling him to keep trying and to keep reading the theory work in transfiguration.

Harsh joined him for lunch in the kitchens. Harsh was looking cheerful as always which immediately put him on guard, "Umm… Guruji, you are not going to prank me, are you?"

"I am not supposed to answer that, Harry.", the mystic said in his same cheery tone. As Harry was served the lunch, Harsh asked him if he was missing something to which he raised an eye brow and received a powerful stinger to his hindquarter making him yelp.

"What was that for?", he questioned angrily.

"That was to refresh your memory, Harry.", the mystic smiled,"you are going to eat lunch. Did not your healer tell you something?".

Shrugging Harry pulled out the vial of nutrient potion out of his pocket and downed one of them. it tasted foul and he made a face, "Why do they have to make it so disgusting?"

Harsh guffawed, "You have brewed this one, Harry. Nutrient Potions as a rule are not made tasty so that others would not get addicted to them as you can see one of the ingredients can cause addiction to the user. Over usage of nutrient potions can sometimes be fatal."

As they talked, Harsh asked if he had contacted Sirius or Remus or his friends since he had arrived. Harry sheepishly explained that he had talked once to Sirius and Remus but not with his friends and he was not sure where they were. Harsh admonished him for his callous attitude towards everyone with strict instructions to keep track of everyone and goings-on in their life.

After he had suitably admonished him, Harsh asked him, "What is the quality of a leader Harry?"

Harry has had the time to study the guidebook of a mystic and it had a long chapter on this. There were a few things which were elaborately mentioned in the book. He collected his thoughts before speaking "A leader is one who leads his team or people, who ensures their safety, who places the interests of others before his own and who is capable of overcoming any form of adversity that they may face. He has to appear unfazed no matter what happens. He should be able to keep his calm even in the heat of battle and not break under pressure."

The mystic beamed at him, "Very good Harry. You have learned the lessons. Now, tell me about the personal qualities of a leader."

Harry sat thinking for a moment. He had seen a lot of leaders like Dumbledore, Fudge etcetera, but; while they both had some good qualities, they were equally flawed. As he thought hard, an answer began to form "A leader can never be seen as an ordinary person. Even if the entire world is crumbling around him, he has to stand tall and present an example to his peers. He should never go around giving secrets that would cause destruction in other hands. He should not blindly trust anyone. He should be seen among his peers, mixing with them, treating them with respect, let them know how important they are, appreciate all that they do for him and try to keep everyone content with their lot."

Harsh sighed, "A rather large list of qualities, Harry. Personally I would say that he should keep his secrets, never treat his friends or followers with scorn or disrespect and honour their wishes. A leader should never break down especially in front of his peers. If he want something done, he should lead by example."

Harry nodded his head and Harsh frowned at him,"Will you be able to remember all I am telling you, Harry?"

Harry thought for a moment and shook his head. Harsh kindly said to him,"Don't worry. I will give you a pensieve and teach you to use it. You can always pull the memories and see them. You know how to use a pensieve?"

"I have seen a Pensieve and have seen memories in it in Headmaster's office at Hogwarts but I do not know how to pull out a memory or how to operate the pensieve", Harry said.

As they were done with lunch, Harry arrived at the sword practice ring where Anal was waiting for him. As Harry stood before him he eyed him critically, "Mr. Potter, the Kayakalp has done wonders to you."

"It did?", Harry asked in disbelief. He had been feeling rejuvenated and energized but he had not paid mind to it before this moment.

As they practiced, he noticed that the sword did not feel awkward in his hand anymore, nor did its weight bothered him anymore as it did before. He could easily swing his sword and the speed with which he could do so was astonishing. Each time he swung the sword, he swore he could feel its faint humming in the air.

"Harry, we are going to duel today", Anal told him "Take your stance."

Harry got in the stance as he was taught with his sword in front of him, poised to move into action at a moment's notice. He waited for Anal to make a move who stood almost lazily, his sword at his side like he was inviting Harry to make the first strike but Harry had realized in the last few days that a mystic was never off guard. Anal started to circle around him and Harry followed his movement. Suddenly Anal lunged at him bringing his sword down with all his might and at the last second, Harry thrust his sword between them and a loud CLANGG resonated telling him that he had parried the blow. The mystic retreated almost immediately going into his defensive position. Without hesitation, Harry started raining down blows on him and all his strokes were getting parried by the mystic easily. The mystic did not even use his sword to stop his blows but merely dodged. His body was flexible like a dancer and he weaved in and out of the way of his blows so gracefully that Harry was impressed. Suddenly the mystic stooped low and took a swipe at Harry's legs and Harry jumped in order to dodge the strike. As he landed again, the mystic caught his sword and with a jerk, he had thrown Harry on the ground with a sword at his throat, a smirk on his face, "Yield Potter."

As he helped Harry back to his feet he asked, "Where did you go wrong?"

"I think I lost when I jumped, but; if I had not you could have injured me", Harry said.

The mystic smiled, "Harry, we are magical. You can use your magic to get leverage when you jump or run. When I was taking a swipe, you could have stepped past me and got out of the way."

Harry nodded, "I will keep this in mind."

"Good, now we will see if the message has sunk in" the mystic said "Ready yourself for round two."

After an hour and three rounds later, Harry was tired and had lost 4 times to the mystic, but; with each round he was becoming more adept at sword play. While he was not as agile and light footed as Anal, he was still making progress. A couple of times he had been close to defeating the mystic, but; the mystic would pull some trick and pin him down forcing him to yield. By the time they were done, his body was sore and he was cursing Anal inwardly for all the beatings.

After that he sat in his room reading the runes book. He had finished reading the seven languages and was sure that he could identify them if presented with the challenge however he knew he would require time to memorise them. Sanskrit was a bit hard because he had never studied the language or had any idea about the origins of it however he had come up with an easy solution. He had found a mystic who was ready to teach him the language and this was the only class where he was not forced to do his best but the mystic taught him patiently and reminded him sometimes how important it was to know the correct pronunciation, the meaning of the word he was using since any magical word, if uttered wrongly could cause destruction.

He had started to enjoy everything that he was being taught but frustrated because he did not think that he was making much progress however Sirius and Remus seemed to think that he had learnt a lot already. Thinking of the marauders, he remembered the chastisement he had got at hands of Harsh about not contacting them more.

He picked up the mirror and spoke into it "Padfoot" and sometime later, Sirius Black appeared in the mirror in a location that he could not recognize. In the background, he could see spell fire being traded.

"Hey pup.", said Sirius,"missing me too soon?"

"In your dreams, Sirius.", Harry said cheekily "I am rather enjoying being pummeled every day, getting pranked, riding hippogriff, learning sword play, languages and to brew potions much better than Snape ever taught me. Not to mention Rachael forces me to act lordly everyday and do not address me as anything except HaroldJames."

"Rachael? Did you get a bird, Prongslet?", Sirius said "Miss Bones would be quite upset to know that she has not enticed you with her charms. May be, I will tell Amelia and she can convey this to her."

Harry immediately retorted,"No, Rachael is not a girl but a lady and don't you dare say anything to Susan or I'll…".

"Or you'll what, pup?" Sirius guffawed, "Stutter at me?"

"No, I will prank the hell out of you," he said "I will not let you have a moment of peace again."

"Promises, promises, son.", Sirius said,"We will see how much of a marauder you are."

As Harry started to say something, the mirror shook and he could see that Sirius fell down. Remus came into the mirror a minute later,"Padfoot has taken a leave of absence Harry. In the meanwhile I will try to act in his stead."

"But what has happened to him?", Harry asked,"Is he OK?"

Remus grinned,"I got the jump on him and nothing more. We were practicing dueling and he hid here to talk to you. I have only knocked him out."

"I see you have the situation under control, Moony. I will leave you to tend to him then.", saying this, Harry slashed his hand in front of the mirror breaking the connection.

After dinner he went to Pashupati who was waiting for him impatiently, "Twice in a row Harry? This is some form of record."

Harry smiled sheepishly,"Everything happens for the first time, Pashupati. What do you need me to do today?"

"Right, your punishment today is to tend to your Hippogriff and the other horses", the mystic told him, "make sure they are cared for before you retire for the night."

An hour later, sweat drenched, foul smelling and thoroughly licked Harry Potter returned to his room where he gathered enough courage to take a bath before crashing for the night. After the bath, he remembered the meditation and groaned.

As he sat and began meditation again he found the void easily. He concentrated hard and soon he found himself staggering and gritting his teeth, he started thinking of his parents and all the people who cared for him. Sirius and all he had done for him, Remus and his love towards the teen, Hermione who had been with him through some tough spots, Neville who was loyal to him, Susan who had been a great friend to him through everything. Soon, he again found himself staring into the void and began to imagine that a large forest was starting to bloom out of the void. The forest was more like the forbidden forest but there was no sinister feeling to it, a large river was flowing through it with a group of mermen merrily playing just under the surface but if anyone approached them, they brandished pointed weapons as he remembered them from the second task, the trees in the forest were not as he had found in the forbidden forest but there were varieties of plants, many of them that he had seen on his travels recently. There were clusters of the plant which had numbed his arm, while there were rows of those which he had seen on the first day of beginning of his trek. There were snakes slithering through the forest which would take command from no one but him and some of them could fly like he had seen them. A few of the trees had bow truckles in them which attacked anyone who came near them. Just for the heck of it, he placed a Hungarian Horntail in the forest which would burn down anyone without asking questions. The forest was situated between two very tall mountains which were capped with snow and a Ganda Berunda was flying in the sky with a Hippogriff not far behind. In the middle of the forest stood a castle which was quite tall but not as much as the Hogwarts castle. At the gates of the castle was a large stable where a number of flying horses were milling about and attacked who would try to tame them.

The gates to the castle were flanked by statues of two big thestrals who had their wings spread as if ready for a flight. There was a lot of empty space between the castle and the gates and there were a variety of creatures roaming about. There was a Yeti sitting on the grounds with an axe at his side, ready to cut down anyone who tried to come through. There was a quidditch pitch like Hogwarts where some brooms could be seen flying, bludgers chasing each other and a snitch darting all around. The great doors into the castle were guarded by a pair of sphinx who would give a riddle and if someone gave the wrong answer, they would claw their eyes out. On the right side of the door, a set of stairs went into well lit dungeons, with shining shelves which gleamed, rows of potion making ingredients, cupboards full of cauldrons and whatnot, some cauldrons sat on fires, simmering and working by themselves. One of those cauldrons was simmering the draught of living death, another had some other potions, a third was stirring a mud like substance that was in the cauldron which was Polyjuice, another cauldron contained what he identified as Veritaserum from when Snape had threatened him with it.

As Harry sat meditating and putting details into his mindscape, he felt a presence in his mind and Harsh spoke, "Quite an accomplishment, Harry. You have already done a lot. But now it's time to come back."

Harry opened his eyes and Harsh was standing before him, beaming at him "You have accomplished major feat today, Harry. You can finish putting fine tuning the details tomorrow and we will then start to sort your memories."

Harry said nothing but promptly his bed and oblivious to the world.

**Greengrass Manor**

Daphne had been planning for the year ahead. She knew that the coming year would be a defining one for the wizarding world and since her family had decided to let go of their neutrality for the light, she was making preparations. Then there was Harry Potter, the enigma of her life. When she was a child, her father had told her stories of the boy-who-lived as every other child of their age was told. She had read those idiotic fiction books which filled everyone's head with ideas about the boy-who-lived. She had initially believed them until her father had set her straight telling her that since he was a boy of her age, how could he be doing all that was written in those books?

She had been interested in meeting Harry Potter in the first year but when he had arrived looking malnourished, so small for his age, dressed in rags and apparently not knowing anything about their world, she had quickly lost interest in him. Not to mention, Malfoy kept badmouthing him all year, calling him talentless, blood traitor and what not and it started to grate on everyone's nerves. Then there were rumours at the end of the year that he had killed Professor Quirell with his bare hands. This news coupled with the fact that Quirell had disappeared had attracted her attention.

The next year, he appeared again as a malnourished kid and had arrived at the castle in a flying car. Professor Snape and Malfoy could not stop moaning about it for days. Then the attacks started and people started to call him the heir of Slytherin and he did nothing to stop the rumours. At the end of that year, she again heard rumours that he had found the chamber of secrets and some even went to say that he had slain a Basilisk, as if someone could do that. Some even claimed that he killed it with his bare hands. This definitely got her attention seeing how Dumbledore had given 200 points apiece to him and Weasley and awards for Services to the School.

She had decided to become his friend the next year but the next year, it seemed that the enmity between their houses worsened and with the dementors, an escaped criminal breaking into the school threatening to kill students made her keep her distance from him. At the end of the year, she heard that he had fought a werewolf, killed a dementor and single handedly captured Sirius Black after Black had injured one of his friends.

The fourth year was when she had decided to befriend him but again her courage failed her when the entire school lined up against him. She refused to wear the badges which Malfoy was distributing around but could not talk to him for the fear of persecution by her house. However, when he had arrived comatose at the end of the third task, she could not control herself anymore and sneaked in one day when no one was in the hospital wing but had to make her escape when she heard someone approaching.

Now, she was tasked by her father to make his acquaintance. She had a long task ahead of her since she did not even know if he hated Slytherins on sight considering her house mates had only given him grief over the years. She also did not know anything about the boy HaroldJames Potter who was not the boy who lived but the boy who studied alongside her for the last four years. She knew that he was powerful and strong at defense but that was all she knew about him.

She had thought hard about this and when she could not find a way to approach him, she had flooed her best friend Tracy Davis for her help. Right now, she was sitting in her parlor and waiting for her friend to arrive.

She heard the floo roaring and someone stumbled out, cursing all the time. Grinning she stood to greet her best friend who perked up seeing her, "Hey Daph."

"Tracy, where have you been? You did not reply to my owl.", Daphne complained.

"Hold on, girl. I told you that I was going for a vacation to Italy and I just returned this morning.", Tracy said. "Perhaps you didn't hear me when I was telling you this because you were lost in dreams of a certain raven haired lion", she wiggled her eye brows at Daphne.

"I do not think about idiotic fool hardy Lions", Daphne huffed.

"So, what have you been upto?", Tracy asked. "Don't tell me that you decided to do a Granger and were studying ahead", she glared at her friend."

Daphne snorted, "I don't need to do that, Tracy. I read a little but not more than necessary in vacations and I'm pretty good with a wand so I don't need to worry about it too much. I have been watching the shift in Wizarding Britain while you were off traipsing in Italy."

"Meaning?", Tracy arched an eye brow at her,"Did you-know-who come calling or did Malfoy succeed in pestering your father to a betrothal contract?"

Daphne shuddered, "No, he did not. Thank Merlin father did not agree to his demands."

"Then what has got your pants in a twist?", Tracy asked.

"Harold James Potter.", Daphne breathed the name with fondness.

"Huh?", Tracy said "Since when is his name Harold James?".

"Since he claimed his lordships", Daphne smirked knowing Tracy was about to go berserk.

"Just what's so special about Lordships. Hang on… lordships? You mean, he is lord of more than one house? How? Which houses?", Tracy did not disappoint her friend.

So, Daphne told her what she had been permitted by her mother, "His real name is Harold James Potter, Lord of Peverell, Potter, Black, Rosier and Weber."

"How is he related to Black and Rosier? Also what is Weber?", she asked, confusion writtenhugely on her face.

Daphne was openly smirking now at her friend's inquisitiveness, "His mother was not a muggle-born but she was a pureblood. Her mother's father was Vincent Rosier and mother from the House of Weber, a pureblood family from Germany. Since there are no members to these houses alive, being the last scion, he has ascended to lordship of these houses. Also, he is the magically adopted son of Sirius Black who was the blood heir of Black and therefore, he is Lord Black.

Tracy's mouth was open in shock. After the shock wore off she began laughing, "This is rich. I cannot wait to see Malfoy's face when the ferret realizes that he is not the heir of Black anymore. He has bragged so much about it that he cannot hide his face anywhere now."

Daphne told her about the task that her parents had set before her, her family's changed stance in the war and the head master's task for them, Tracy was astonished, to say the least.

"So in the last few days, Harry Potter has turned out to be a pure blood, lord of four houses and you have to befriend him", said Tracy, "I do not envy you, Daph. It will be hard.".

"I know. That is why I told you all this. Do you have any suggestions How I can go about befriending him?", Daphne asked.

"May be you can drag him to some empty class room and snog him senseless? I am sure he will be eating out of your hand after that", Tracy said cheekily.

"Oh Merlin, you are incorrigible", Daphne said rolling her eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

**One Week Later, Longbottom Castle**

Frank and Alice had been recovering fast. In the last week alone, they had started to move around their room without any assistance. They were still experiencing some weakness, but the healer was optimistic that, in time, they would make a full recovery. The catalyst for their rapid recovery was their desire to stand by their son who was progressing quickly. They felt apprehension that things were not well in the wizarding world and they wanted answers. They had been planning to put their foot down and ask Augusta to answer all their questions. They were tired of the one week routine and even Croaker agreed that they at least should be up and about. He had procured some obscure potions which were vitalising and had sped up the recovery process. The healer was confident that they would recover within a few weeks. Neville spent time with them whenever he could. Each time they saw him, he was exhausted or sporting some injury. When they asked him about it, he shrugged and said that he was learning their family magic. Frank felt morose that he was not teaching Neville himself, but Croaker reminded him that he would need to be in prime condition before he could help with the training.

This morning they had risked coming out to take a walk around the grounds of the castle while their elves were nearby, ready to catch them if they fell. As they were walking, taking in the smell of the woods and the scenic beauty of the lands around the castle, they heard spell fire being traded back and forth. Frank whipped his wand out and with it firmly in his grasp; he followed the sound of the spell fire. He found Neville engaged in a duel where Croaker was teaching him the art of fending off three at once. This was a difficult maneuver which Frank remembered was one of the family secrets of House Longbottom. To be able to do this, one had to be able to cast at a fast pace. It consisted of a spell chain of a few spells which could be classified as dark by the ministry. The first spell in the chain was called, "breath of death" which was fatal to those who inhaled it. Second was rotter's kiss and whoever was hit with it would die writhing in agony while his body would turn into a rotting mess. Third was an obscure curse could kill everyone within 20 metres of the area of impact. Frank knew about this spell chain because he had tried to learn it but had to give up when he realised that he was not powerful enough to use this curse. Using this once or twice in a duel was enough to exhaust him. There were a few other curses which were equally lethal but highly taxing on magic.

"Frankie " Croaker said who had notice them by now, "How are you, my boy? Are the potions helping you to recover?"

"Yes Uncle Algie, the potions are very useful", Frank replied with a smile.

"Uncle Algie, can you please tell me why my son is learning spells which are dark and dangerous?", asked Alice, gritting her teeth.

Croaker raised his hands as if in surrender, "I am not making your son a dark wizard. These are your family spells and I am teaching them to him so that he can make his escape in case he is out-numbered by enemies."

"Uncle Algie, I want some answers now" said Frank, his face determined. Croaker nodded.

"What is going on in the wizarding world? Why are you teaching battle magic to my son? Why are you taking interest in his school studies? What has happened in the last 13 years that children are training as if for war?", Frank asked, his voice authoritative and his magic enveloping him like a cloak.

"I don't think I am the right person to answer that Frankie", said Croaker, "Augusta has bound me with a vow by her position as Regent of House Longbottom and as such I cannot say anything which she has forbidden. It would be better if you ask these things of her."

Frank started in an authoritative tone to Croaker, "Uncle Algie, I, Frank Jeremy Longbottom, Lord of the House of Longbottom release you of the vows put upon you by Lady Regent Augusta Longbottom and command you to answer all the questions asked by me."

Croaker straightened and looked him in the eyes and was apparently satisfied with what he saw because he nodded and started narrating everything that had happened in the last 13 years from Harry Potter being placed with muggles, Neville's upbringing with Augusta, the events at Hogwarts that he had heard about, his speculations that Voldemort had not died the first time around, his resurrection and Dumbledore's attempts to raise a resistance against Voldemort while trying to fight with the ministry at the same time. By the time he ended, Frank was enraged but kept his control.

"Why did you think it was a good idea to keep us ignorant of these goings on in the wizarding world?", he tersely asked Croaker.

"We did it because you are not in any condition to fight yet, my son. The war may be here but there is still time and I wanted you to use that time to ready yourself for what lies ahead. Not to mention that Mr. Harsh Vardhana had forbidden that we should tell you anything before you were sufficiently recovered, for fear that the strain of such news may be too much for you in your weakened state", came Augusta's voice who had come up on them sometime during the conversation.

"But you at least should have told me that the wizarding world is in even worse shape than it was 13 years ago, mother", he said, "From what Uncle Algie told me, we will need to work on many fronts at once. We need to work on the Wizengamot and the ministry's forces so that they will be in position to respond when the war breaks out."

"It will be done Frankie. We are all readying ourselves for everything that is to come", said Croaker.

**Adrishpuram**

Harry Potter woke up instantly as he felt the tingle on his skin which was now all too familiar to him. Before Vari could drench him, he was out of bed and lunging for him. In a second he had tackled the mystic to the ground and kicked the wand out of his hand.

The mystic growled, "I am impressed Potter. Now get up and meet me at the racing track in 10 minutes. You will use magic for everything you do now."

Excited Harry rushed to the bathroom where he whipped out his wand to use the aguamenti charm and fill the tub. In the last week he had been so focused on learning Sanskrit that the incantation came into his mind in Sanskrit. When the spell left his lips, a jet of water he had not imagined left his wand and the tub was filled in seconds. He realised that using a magical language had put more power behind his spell than was ordinarily required. He was told that he would need to learn to control his power. Immediately he tried to imagine the water flow as it used to be before he had achieved some success with unifying himself with his magical core i. e. he was able to use most of his magic without faltering due to exhaustion and even if he used high powered spells, he would last a lot longer than ordinary wizards. A thinner jet of water flowed from his wand and he practiced a couple of times so he could get the hang of it. This was one of the exercises that he had been told to do by Harsh so that he could control the amount of power he put in his spells almost without thinking about it.

As he looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror he could see the differences that the ritual and nutrient potions had brought to him. The emaciated malnourished kid was gone and was replaced by a Harry who was heavily muscled. His physique told of him spending hours on physical training. He was tall, sturdy and heavily built now. The only feature which remained the same was his Avada Kedavara green eyes which twinkled brightly like Dumbledore and the mop of black hair on top of his head. He was sure that no one would be able to identify him at the first look because he was so different now. A perfect pureblood lord, as Rachael was fond of saying.

Rachael had taught him everything that she could about being a lord which even included table manners not that Harry needed lessons with those. She taught him about how he was to behave in certain conditions, the forms of address and other little things that he would not have known otherwise. She had taught him about a lot of things which were part of pureblood society and if he disliked something, she would talk with him about it, told him why the practice existed and encouraged him to get a practice put out of use it if he found it irrational when he had the power to bring those changes. She also inspired him to be confident in his approach and master the subtle ways of manipulation. While he was not willing to commit to manipulation, he paid attention to them all the same. He knew the importance of manipulation as he had been faced with it since he came to Hogwarts. When she was done with her part in his education, she had just asked one favour of him. She wanted him to seek out Terrence Higgs and bring him to the side of light before he took the stupid mark. While he did not promise anything, he was willing to try.

As he reached the track, Vari had his wand in his hand and a grin on his face which made him shudder. , "Potter, as I see you have achieved significant improvement with running I thought I should make it a bit interesting for you. From now, while you are running I will keep shooting random hexes at you. You can shield them or dodge them but you will not stop running." the mystic told him grinning evilly.

Harry started the course and pretty soon he was being hexed from all sides by more than one mystic. He kept a shield up to block what he could while he ran with all his strength. At times he was hit with a stinger or a bludgeoner would brush his skin or he would stumble to a tripping hex. As he finished his last lap, he was panting and had welts all over his body from being subjected to all the hexes which he had failed to avoid.

"I am impressed, Potter", Vari said, "You have made some good improvement but all the hexes that you missed could have been death of you. You would continue this practice run for the rest of your stay and with improvement that we see, we will take it up a level further."

As Harry finished the exercises for the day, Vari commanded him to accompany him out of the settlement where he produced two brooms and handed one to him, "Potter, you are to accompany me. I have been told you are a prodigious flier. Let's see your skill."

As they took off into the skies, Vari kept flying to a higher altitude forcing Harry to do the same. When they were flying high enough, Vari motioned for Harry to follow his actions and jumped down from his broom while holding the broom with one hand. After a second, the mystic disappeared into thin air. Harry tried to do the same, but; then hesitated and kept hovering in the sky. The mystic re-joined him after some time and asked, Did you not hear me Potter? Follow me. Concentrate upon the ground, jump and apparate.".

Harry tried to imagine the ground from where he had taken flight and concentrating on it, he jumped. As he was falling, he apparated clutching his broom hard and appeared on the ground falling down promptly. The mystic raised him from the ground and muttered, "Whenever you are travelling by Apparition or Port key, start walking as soon as your feet are about to touch the ground. You would never fall. Same goes for floo travel."

They practiced apparating from their broomsticks several more times before the mystic was satisfied that Harry could do it without difficulty. As the practice session ended, the mystic asked him to take him by side along apparition to the gates of Adrishpuram. As they parted company, the mystic asked Harry to join him in the evening for some defence lessons and sent him to Anal.

Anal's most recent lessons had been dagger fighting. The mystic enjoyed tormenting him in duels between them but doted on him equally. He often told Harry that he was his finest student in sword play. He had taught him to use the sword and now was teaching him to use daggers and even fashioned him a belt of Thestral hide which could hold a dozen daggers. For today's lesson, Anal handed him a sword and a dagger asking him to get ready.

"But Anal, I have not used both together", he complained, "How can I compete with you in this then?"

The mystic only smirked (Harry had started to hate that smirk because it meant he was about to be pummeled. The mystic took his stance against Harry and pointed for him to start attacking. As Harry relentlessly attacked the mystic, he kept fending off all the strikes with the dagger in his left hand while he held the right hand at his side. As Harry got careless, the mystic parried the blow with his dagger and kicked him away. As Harry was getting up to his feet, the mystic was upon him and his sword was at his throat.

He had taught him a lot of manoeuvres in the last few weeks. His favourite trick was that when Harry was attacking him relentlessly, he would step aside allowing Harry to be carried forward by his own momentum, kick him in the back on the way by and then make him yield. Harry had fallen victim to that trick a couple of times before he learnt his lesson. The mystic had confided in him that he was at the end of his tether to teach new things about sword fighting to Harry and perhaps in a couple of lessons more, he would not need training from the mystic anymore.

"Harry do you have a sword?", the mystic asked him.

Harry thought for a moment before replying, "No, I do not have a sword of my own though I suppose I can ask the sorting hat to bring the sword of Gryffindor to me."

The mystic laughed, "It is not your personal property Harry. It is of the magical world as a whole however based on what I know of your family, your family vaults would have assortment of finest goblin made swords and daggers. When you visit your vaults, pick up the best weapons from there."

Harry nodded. It made sense that his family would have some old swords and daggers from when they used those weapons.

"Harry, do you have an armour?", the mystic asked again.

"Um…. No. I do not have any. , Harry replied, "There may be some armour in my family vaults. I'll have a look while I'm there."

"Harry, did you not slay a thousand year old basilisk in Hogwarts?", the mystic asked and he nodded.

"You know the best armours are made from basilisk hide or dragon hide fused with goblin made armour?" the mystic asked him. After a moment or two, he started again, "after 1000 years, I imagine it would have shed lots of skin which can be used to make armour for a number of people or you can order dragon hide from overseas for yourself. Not to mention, you can sell the carcass of the basilisk while keeping a number of parts of the basilisk for yourself."

"The beast is worth money?", Harry asked with such confusion that the mystic had to stifle a laugh.

"Yes, Harry. Its parts are used for a number of potions and many other distinct uses. Since it is rare, it would fetch you substantial sum of money. I would advise you to talk to your account manager and draw a contract to this effect and get it harvested. The skin it had shed can be used to fashion armours for you and your friends but I would advise you to hold that thought before you stop growing from the spurt induced by the ritual and the potions."

With that to think about, he dismissed Harry for the day. Harry reached the kitchen for breakfast where Harsh had set a table for him like Rachael did. As he took a seat, a stinger greeted him and he turned to Harsh who had pointed his wand at him, "Are these the manners that you have been taught by Rachael?"

Glaring at him, Harry bowed to the mystic who returned the gesture with an equally gracious bow. As they sat to eat, Harry remembered the manners of the table which were typical for a lord and the breakfast was over without any further incident.

The next thing was Potions. It had become his favourite subject because the potions master was being kind and reasonable towards him and took extra pains to teach him everything that there was to know about the subject. He had also been sending Harry out of the settlement from time to time to fetch ingredients for his potions. As a result, Harry had seen some very exotic plants which were native to the Himalayas. The potions master had assured him that he could take a sample of them to Hogwarts where Professor Sprout would be happy to care for them.

During the last week, his mystic journal was getting filled up nicely. He had divided it into sections so that he would not miss or mix things. There were chapters on plants that he had discovered and he had written everything that he could find out about them.

There were at least 5 plants which he had found and recorded in his journal. One of them was the plant which was used in making the special poison used solely by the mystics. Second was the one he had encountered on his first day of trek to find Adrishpuram. The third was an innocuous looking plant which had golden bark and brownish leaves and it seemed to emit some musical notes which could put a person into charmed sleep and it was impossible not to fall under its charm. However after one fell into its trap, they could not be enervated except with a Wiggenweld potion. The fifth would remain inert in sunlight but would be active in shade and was capable of incapacitating anyone by emitting sap from its branches which was like acid. Just touching it with bare hands would activate its security mechanism. Harry had a lot of uses planned for it.

However the potions master was not overly fond of him when he made a mistake than asking about something he did not know, he was often sent to do stable duty with Pashupati.

As he reached the dungeons, Prathiman was waiting for him with a big smile on his face, "since you have proved that you are adept at potions, I thought I would teach you to brew the wolfsbane today."

This was one potion Harry had been looking forward to brewing since he wanted to change one of the components of the potion which would reduce its toxicity to the drinker. He had discussed a lot of it with Prathiman who had agreed that they could experiment a little with it and he had shown a special herb to him which they had been testing the past two days. It satisfied their requirements and they had decided to make a batch of the improved potion which they would test on a werewolf that they could capture from a pack living in a remote area which was constantly under surveillance of the mystics.

The potions master had taught him a lot of potions but whenever Harry asked him about the special potion which had been the reason he had to run away from the Takshila School of magic, the mystic refused to divulge anything. He only said that the potion was something that should not have been invented in the first place. It was a potion made of an extremely rare obscure herb which could bring a dying man back to life and the only person in the world who knew of its existence was Prathiman. Outside of the mystics, no one knew of his existence and the potions master was determined to keep it that way.

He had taught him all of the other potions which were taught at Hogwarts or were of any use to him. In fact the potions master had given him a handwritten book which contained altered recipes of potions. Harry was sure that if he brewed a potion in Snape's dungeons with the help of that book, he would blow a gasket over it however he was beyond caring now. Prathiman had helped him a great deal in learning new things than he ever learnt with Severus Snape.

Today was the last lesson that he would have with the potions master before his education for the subject was over but the potions master was keeping him for the rest of the month to help him perfect the potions he had altered. This was one of the subjects which Harry knew he would miss when he was back at Hogwarts because Snape's directions were almost non-existent for when one had to brew a potion in his class and the dungeon bat would not show any kind of leniency towards him or other students.

As Prathiman started to instruct, he started a fire under one Cauldron to brew Wolfsbane which was easily the most difficult potion that he had tried to brew. After two hours, the potion was at the stage where it was left to simmer for two hours before it was ready for consumption.

As he was about to leave, he asked the mystic, "Umm Sir. would you show me how to brew Polyjuice potion?".

The mystic smirked at him, "That is for you to learn at your own."

He left the dungeons and arrived at the Charms class. Or rather where the charms class should be, but; he could not find the room. Panicking, he started to search all around the corridor but could not find the class room that he was sure was there. It looked as if the room had disappeared all of a sudden. After sometime, Achala appeared alongside him grinning, "What happened, Harry? Did you forget something?"

"Um…. Where did you come from? Where did the class room disappear to?", he asked in confusion.

She raised her wand, incanted some words and the charms room appeared again where it used to be. As he raised an eye at her, she said, "The room was under a fidelius secret and I was the secret keeper. Unless I chose to give the secret, no one else could find this room no matter how hard they tried."

As he accompanied her into the class room, he told her, "I know the basics of the Fidelius charm as I have over-heard Professor Flitwick explaining it to someone. I know what it does but not how it works."

She nodded her head, "Filius Flitwick is one of the foremost experts in Charms and he would know about it. The Fidelius charm is cast with the objective of one being able to conceal a secret within a living soul. The secret can be about some existence of a place or even to conceal incorporeal things such as memories etc however concealing memories under a Fidelius charm is part of mind magics which is extremely delicate business. This spell distorts reality around the thing or place which is bound with the secret. In other words, it makes it disappear from the memory of everyone who ever knew of it. It is the top notch security measure which can be employed and surpasses all wards. However a wizard must be extremely powerful or capable to be able to cast this spell because the larger the property to be contained in the secret, the harder it is to cast it."

Harry sat absorbing everything that was told to him and it made sense that nobody could perform it save for very powerful wizards like Tom Riddle or Albus Dumbledore. He had a question in his mind about who cast the Fidelius charm over the cottage in Godric's hollow but chose to tackle the issue when he was faced with it.

"The most important thing is that you must have the intent. If you can visualise it in your mind and when you are performing the incantation, you are intending with all your will for your magic to bend reality and conceal the secret, then it will work", she finished.

She started to teach him the incantation which was long. She made Harry practice it, without a wand, until he got it right ten times in a row. Then and only then, did she conjure a small desk and directed him to put it under the Fidelius charm. They spent the rest of the lesson working on the spell, but; Harry was not successful. At the end of it, she only smiled and told him to practice it overnight again telling him that it would be easy once he had learnt to arrange his thoughts and organize his mind. During the last week, Harry read ahead on his theory of charms and had learnt about several charms which he felt would be useful and was looking forward to practicing them.

When Harry arrived for lunch at the kitchen, he found that he was the only one there. As he was about to take the first bite he felt something rush by. He ducked under the table and whipped out his wand and erected a shield. He cautiously looked around and found nothing amiss, so he stowed his wand inside his robes. Then a stunner hit him and he fell unconscious.

As he was revived, he found a grim looking Harsh standing over him, wand in hand and stern expression in his eyes, "How many times do I have to hammer it in you, Harry? You felt my presence but when you found nothing amiss you simply stowed your wand back in your pocket. Did it not occur to you that someone may be under an invisibility cloak? Those are not that rare and anyone with enough money can afford one."

Harry hung his head saying nothing. He knew the mystic was right and he had allowed himself to be lax. The mystics had warned him too many times that he would have to stay on his toes all the time. And he had failed yet again. He remembered learning the charm Homenum revelio which was used to detect the presence of humans in an area and should have cast it when he felt something was amiss but failed to act.

"You deserve to be punished for failing me again.", the mystic was saying, "tonight you will be banished from Adrishpuram for a day and you will have nothing except your wand with you. You have to survive everything that you will face out there and at evening tomorrow, you will be granted entry again."

Harry only nodded his head and the mystic disappeared.

Harry did not have much of an appetite left after the chastisement. His mind was pre-occupied with the supposed punishment. But he ate what he could anyway.

After lunch, he went to runes class where Pawan was waiting for him with a gleeful expression on his face, "Since you have been allowed to use wand, I thought we would learn to construct wards. We will start with the basic wards and proceed to the more complex ones."

Harry nodded his head listening attentively and the mystic continued, "To lay down a ward, we generally use a ward stone which are imbibed with runes and are charged through your powers and sometimes can be linked to ley lines thus not needing to be charged every times. Runes can be used for everything that we do with spells and often can be used in planning ambushes or in duels. You can use a combination of a few of runes and destroy a number of enemies at once. This is a strict discipline and one wrong drawing can cause devastating damage."

After that they set to drawing the simplest wards such as alert wards and containment wards for the rest of the lesson which Harry had to draw and power with his magic. After they were done with the lesson, the mystic was elated with his progress and was already planning lessons for more complex ward schemes and how to procure runes stones to draw a warding scheme on them or how to make a ward based on rune stones like he had seen on the Marichika and at the Black Town House.

While Ancient Runes was interesting as a subject, Harry did not feel inclined to study them more than was necessary. He knew that he would not have enough time to learn it in detail before the final confrontation came with Voldemort and had made up his mind to pursue it in more detail after his eventual demise. He had learnt the ward schemes during the last few days while he had not been allowed to use his wand and knew he would have no problem in using them if the need arose. While he thought of war, he also dreamt of school and the OWLs which were due to start in the next year and was confident that OWLs would be an easy ride for him now.

In the last week, he had thought about his friends more often, but; had not been able to talk to them. He had often talked to Sirius who had updated him that his friends were training themselves to be better fighters and had been making significant improvement and he kind of hoped for once that he could have trained with them but when he remembered all that he was being taught here, he knew that he was better served here in Adrishpuram.

It was the middle of July now and in the last two weeks, Harry had changed a lot. While he could not say that he had mastered everything, he had learned a lot of things that will be useful for him in the long run.

He had been concerned that his animagus transfiguration had been going slowly. He kept working at it, but; his skin had refused to change itself into anything leopard like and it frustrated him. All the week he had tried to achieve the desired transfiguration but that was not happening. His skin refused to change at all. He hoped today there will be some change.

After runes class, he went to Transfiguration where Ambar pounced on him as he entered the class, "Harry, did you have any success with changing your skin colour or texture or anything?"

Harry shook his head, "It refuses to change and remains the same. I have tried every night before I go to sleep but it's just not happening."

She was undeterred however and asked him what he was thinking while trying to change his skin to leopard like. Harry remained silent for a moment before he started, "I see my skin as like a leopard has. Like the one that I had seen in my dream but it never happens."

The mystic smile at him, "Harry, do not imagine that you have leopard like skin. Visualise yourself as if your skin is changing its colour and texture and becoming leopard like. Be at ease and allow your magic to flow freely through your body and let it react to your mind's demand. If it helps, I would suggest that you take up the meditation position which I find the most relaxing."

Harry sat in meditation, his legs crossed and hands propped up on his knees with palms facing upwards and his concentration went to the leonine form that was his but was evading him. Initially his body was all stiff and his mind was at alert but suddenly he felt a calming presence in his mind and Ambar's voice echoed in his thoughts, "Imagine the snow leopard that you have seen, Harry. Pay attention to its skin, its patterns and everything that is unique about it. Imagine your skin is changing itself to become like that and when your magic surges within you, let it flow. Enjoy the rush of your magic within you and revel in the feeling it gives when it is coursing in your veins."

Harry relaxed and started thinking about the creature that he had seen and followed Ambar's instructions as she had relayed to him, his magic flowing through him and the feeling of elation which ran through his body. At times he felt doubt creeping in his thoughts but he persisted with sheer will and set aside the nagging feeling at the back of his mind and concentrated on changing his skin tone. Soon enough he felt magic tingling all over his skin and as he opened his eyes, he found that his skin resembled at some places like the snow leopard.

Beaming at his success the mystic instructed him to practice it before she let him go for the day.

Harry was returning to his room when he was summoned by Vari to the practice range where a duelling arena had been set and several mystics were milling about. As he reached, Vari beckoned him to the middle of the duelling arena. The mystic turned to him, "While I can take a class room approach with you to teach you everything that I can but that would be easy and take too long for the lesson to set in." He spread his hands around towards the other mystics, "These are some of our new recruits who have been here for a few years now and are proficient enough in duelling to teach you a thing or two. You will duel them one by one till you are exhausted."

Harry could only nod before the first recruit rushed at him, casting a dark grey curse at him which he ducked. His opponent followed with a string of hexes and curses which he deftly avoided. As the mystic kept coming at him, he was forced to raise a lot of shields. While some were simple shields, a few of them were more complex and would be useful against the majority of major hexes and jinxes. While he had been defending himself against all the curses, he was yet to fire a single hex and waited for the perfect opportunity which he knew would come soon after. However, his opponent soon progressed to lethal spells and Harry was forced to dodge them because he knew that only a mage shield would be useful against them and he was not yet sure of his strength to use one. As the opponent faltered, Harry started his own rain of high powered bone breakers which forced the other to hide behind his shield but Harry kept breaking one shield after another while the mystic did not always raise a shield but rather dodged when he could do so, Harry was speedily exhausting his energy while the mystic was conserving it. Harry belatedly realised the error in his plans and ceased his casting to bait the mystic into attacking him and as the mystic raised his wand, a bone breaker took the wand arm of the opponent forcing him to yield.

The mystic politely clapped for his victory but disdain was evident in his voice, "What did you do wrong in the duel, Potter?"

Harry replayed the entire duel in his mind before answering, "I shielded most of the time when I should have been dodging. I fired high powered spells at my opponents when I should have used moderately powered ones as they work as well as high powered hexes."

The mystic frowned, "Not to mention that you only used bone breakers on him making it predictable that you are not intending to injure him seriously. He could have been an enemy using the killing curse and you could not shield against it. You should use wide variety of spells against them instead of just one. And you should know dark spells too because sometimes a dark spell can assure your victory. Never use same curse or hex more than once in a fight and try to mix transfiguration and charms in duel and you will win."

The mystic made him fight two more duels where he fared little better but he was not using any hexes more devastating than bone breakers which angered the mystic who quickly dismissed him while telling him to access some of the dark spell books and learn them.

Harry knew that he would have to learn a lot before the final confrontation came. There was much he did not know and Voldemort had decades on him. Not to mention the repertoire of spells that he had at his disposal and his experience. He had read some of the special books in his library on defensive and offensive magic and had been learning those spells but had hoped that Vari would teach him to cast those. But, it looked like he would have to learn those by himself in the practice range.

As he finished his dinner by himself, another mystic informed him that Harsh had summoned him to the entrance of the hidden settlement where all the mystics had gathered. He was dumb founded at their sheer numbers. They all had their facial expressions melded into a mask of impassivity and stood attentively. Harsh was standing at the gates, his eyes grim. He beckoned Harry closer and addressed him, "You, Harold James Potter, have been found to be unable to learn a lesson which has been imparted on you time and again in the last few days that you have stayed here. As a consequence, the mystics have decided to banish you from our midst for an entire day which you would spend in the wild without any assistance from any of us. During the period of banishment you cannot expect any assistance from us nor will we be held responsible for your conduct. Do you, Harold James Potter accept this punishment for yourself?"

Harry knew from his teachings with Rachael that this kind of banishment meant that he was being shown to others that he had committed an error which was unforgivable and was being asked to atone. This served the double purpose of inflicting the punishment and the embarrassment served as a deterrent for other recruits who had any doubts about following orders or failure to learn a lesson.

He raised his head high and said in his best drill sergeant voice, "I accept, Lord Harsh Vardhana. During this period of banishment I shall not expect any aid from my brethren who stand before me and I will learn a lesson from this."

"So mote it be", murmured Harsh and accompanied him out of the settlement where he slapped a portkey on him and Harry disappeared with the now familiar pull behind the navel.

**Cottage on the hill**

The teaching of the students had been coming along nicely. They were all moulding themselves into fearsome warriors. While neither Flitwick nor McGonagall were happy about teaching them to fight, they knew that the only other option was death due to lack of any training whatsoever and that was unacceptable to all of them. The only person who had been happy with the arrangement was Moody who never relented on any of the teens but worked them hard.

The students had started to learn advanced things which they would never be taught in class. Flitwick had started to teach them some advanced charms which could be used in combat while also quizzing them about using the simplest of charms in a duel. McGonagall was teaching them what she ordinarily taught to her seventh years and everyone had been lapping it up with so much eagerness that she was puzzled as to why they never showed such eagerness back at school. She was also teaching them using transfiguration they could defend themselves against more lethal curses. Moody had been running them ragged, showing them some dark curses which were not meant for everyone's eye. while he showed it to them, he expressly forbade them from using them citing that using those would not be prudent for a student except in very dire circumstances however he had taken an offense to them using only stunners and taught them the bone breakers, bone crushers and bone exploding hexes which he told them to use when in a duel with a death eater.

They had noticed that Neville Longbottom had been getting more confident and cast everything with an apparent ease which was otherwise inaccessible to them. He seemed to work hard and had no troubles in even casting some dark spells. While McGonagall had some suspicions regarding him, she kept her silence knowing that he came from good stock and as such, it was only time before his brilliance shone through. However, she had a suspicion that he was dabbling in his family magic because he had taken to wearing his heir ring in the last week. While the boy was not overtly powerful like Harry he was more powerful than most of the instructors and she suspected that by the time the war ended, he would have his own shining personality that people would flock to.

Susan Bones had improved immensely over the week and McGonagall suspected that Amelia herself had taken over training on the days when she was not occupied. Susan was also spotted wearing the heiress ring of House Bones and as such, McGonagall believed that she would have started to revel in her family magic. While Susan still had a long way to go, she was on her path of brilliance. She had often fought with Daphne Greengrass, Hermione Granger and Padma Patil for top spot in the class and McGonagall was kind of looking forward to see what the New Year would bring. She knew that some new players had entered the race this year with Ronald Weasley really coming into his own with the hard work that he was putting in. However he was still far behind some of the others.

Hermione Granger had been doing her best as ever. She still preferred the library to practice. She was often sent out of the library by Winkey who was under strict orders to limit Hermione's time there to no more than five hours per day. She had tried complaining to Sirius about how unfair it was that she could not take books out of the library. He barked his usual laugh and told her that Summer vacation was better suited for learning how to survive than hanging out with books. Even Hermione had to agree that he had a point.

Ginevra Weasley had been advancing at a rapid rate. Considering her performance at school, it was not very surprising. She learnt everything that was taught to them and was determined to not to let anything dent her determination to learn. She was often the second place in learning a new spell behind Susan and Hermione who were fighting for the top spot so often. Neville was not far behind but he seemed almost casual in learning new spells and whenever he was called upon, he would perform it with precision.

The twins were a menace to everyone. They were very casual in their outlook but learnt everything. They often worked together and were formidable if someone deigned to challenge them. They often worked well together and seeing them, sometimes McGonagall was often reminded of young James and Sirius or the Prewett Twins.

Today, the students were being subjected to Severus Snape who had acquiesced to test them on their defences. He had opted to duel them one by one where he faced Hermione first who was defeated very quickly when her shields could not absorb much abuse at his hands. He was liberally using dark curses which she had a problem defending against. As a result, she fell to one of his dark stunners.

The twins were up next. They harassed him for quite a long time before he got the upper hand on them by mixing some transfiguration in the duels which enabled him to face two enemies at once.

The rest had fallen to him likewise. Then it was Neville's turn. Neville was smirking, an expression which he had never worn in Snape's presence before. As Snape kept raining down on him, the boy used some spells which McGonagall was sure that none of the students knew about. At one point, he even forced Snape to raise a shield. After that Snape used some very lethal curses on him till he got the boy with an underhanded technique and caught him off guard. Snape had left the cottage with fear in his eyes at the boy's growing prowess and what he could do when he was really fighting a war. Snape hoped in his mind that he would not have to face Longbottom in a duel because the boy had too many grudges against him and he had no idea what he might do in such a situation.

**Black Townhouse**

Things had been quiet for the last few days in the townhouse for a change. There were no pranks going on and the in house pranksters seemed to have declared a truce among themselves. The twins were wary of Sirius who would grin at them evilly making them shiver. The twins had belatedly realised that he had been behind the pranks going on. They had made a tactical retreat to form a strategy before they launched their next assault on the marauders.

Molly was relieved when the children had told her that they were only being taught to protect themselves and not anything too dangerous. She was still a little worried but hoped that they all would come through this unharmed. She had taken to living in the townhouse and attending the order meetings, helping where she could and looking after the food and everything in general but was still feeling a bit put out that the house elves never allowed her in the kitchen. While the elves prepared excellent food, what they did not know is that cooking was a calming activity for her.

**Bones Manor**

Amelia Bones slumped into a chair in the parlour after having a tiring day. She had never been this busy in the last decade but the news of Tom Riddle's return had set her in a frenzy and she had to work on many issues. It didn't help that Cornelius made her job difficult. He opposed her every move and she was not sure if she could do anything by her own means until Harry Potter changed the equation in the Wizengamot. There were whispers on the side-lines of increased movement of Death Eaters, of prominent people receiving death threats or demands to pay extortion money but the minister had buried his head in the sand and refused to listen. She had threatened him with exposing his corruption and he had dismissed her threats. She was seething but decided to bide her time. Once Harry Potter returned to Wizarding Britain, Cornelius Fudge would find the ground slipping from beneath his feet.

On a happier note, the ministry was getting in shape with the loyalists of Tom Riddle being pushed to the fringes while those loyal to the ministry were being put in charge of things. She had started allying department heads with herself and they were closing all loop holes which could be exploited by Tom Riddle and his supporters.

The only thing that she had not been able to achieve was approval to increase funding for the DMLE and to recruit more Aurors. She knew that they were outnumbered and with every day, Tom Riddle's ranks were swelling. She wished everyday that Harry Potter would return sooner because it would mean an end to her troubles along with the gloom that had come over Susan since the boy had gone traipsing off half the world away.

Susan had been improving but Amelia could see that her heart was not in it. She was training hard but there was no enthusiasm in it. Susan had started reading the family Grimoire and with a stoic determination had set to work upon the family magic. While she had never been confident enough to claim it as her own, she was certainly showing immense promise and in fact had at times surprised Amelia in a duel when she trained her in family magic. If she continued at the speed that she was working at, Susan would learn her family magic by the end of the fifth year.

Amelia never wished for her to undergo training like an Auror in school but their family history and her relation with the boy-who-lived made it impossible for them to stay out of the upcoming conflict. The war would be nasty and people would die but Amelia did not plan to die or to go down without taking a bunch of them with her. She had fortified the already existing wards on her manor with some special wards with the help of Bill Weasley who was a curse breaker at Gringotts and had learnt of exotic wards at Egypt in ancient tombs. She had also readied some safe houses which she planned to use in the unlikely case that the manor fell.

In her role as regent of House Bones, she had started to find out the intentions of other houses and to see if they were interested in reviving the great alliance. They had to move swiftly if they were to emerge victorious. Croaker had confided in her that a prophecy actually existed and since the revival of Tom Riddle, a few attempts had been made at stealing it but none of them could get past the arcane magics which were protecting the prophecies in the department.

Another thing that was worrying her was Azkaban. The prison fortress was generally impregnable due to the dementors but if they decided to abandon their posts, there would be nothing to stop Tom Riddle from storming the fortress and releasing his followers. While she wanted to kill every single one of the death eaters in the prison she knew there was nothing that she could do without earning the ire of the wizarding world and may be even losing her position. No new protections could be placed at the fortress because of the nature of the building. If they used magic suppression runes, the guard Aurors would be helpless like the prisoners and the Dementors would kiss everyone. They could not increase guards over there because she did not have enough Aurors.

**Headmaster's study, Hogwarts**

Albus Dumbledore was seated in his chair, his chin propped on his hands and lost in thought. The mystic sat on the other side of the table waiting patiently for the headmaster to start. Albus had been travelling for the last week on some errands to find more about the Horcruxes and had asked him to look after the school in his absence. He had been gone for a week and just returned this morning and had sent for him.

"Did you find anything about those abominations, Head Master?.", the mystic asked him.

Albus took a deep sigh before he started, "I was looking into the history of Tom Riddle from his younger days to find where he could have hidden those horcruxes. I listed a couple of places which I thought may contain them. The first place was the orphanage where he grew up but it was levelled around 30 years ago. Another was a sea side cave where he had tortured some children from the orphanage and he indeed had kept a horcrux there but that is out because Kreacher already gave us the horcrux which had been kept there. As I ran out of places which I thought may contain his horcruxes I looked into his history and found that his uncle Morphin Gaunt was still alive a few days ago and a resident of Azkaban. I visited him there and found that he was convicted of killing Tom Riddle Senior and his parents. As I peered into his mind, I found that his memory had been modified and when I undid it, I found that Tom had visited him sometime during his school years. One thing which caught my eye was an heirloom which bore the Peverell Crest and Morphin wore on his finger. If I am not mistaken it is one of the deathly hallows and I fear that Tom has it however I do not think that he knows of its value. Afterwards I did some digging through his years of employment at Borgin & Burkes and I realised that he had been a regular visitor of an old pureblood witch Hepzibah Smith who had been accidently poisoned by her elf. I tried to find the elf and she had just enough life in her to convey to me that Tom had killed her mistress while stealing two heirlooms belonging to the founders- Salazar Slytherin's locket and Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Since we know that he used the locket as one of his horcruxes, it is reasonable that he would have used the cup as well. So far, we have a list of certain horcruxes and some guesses.".

The mystic's curiosity was piqued, "what those objects may be?"

Albus smiled, "The cup of Hufflepuff, the locket of Slytherin, the Diary of Tom Riddle, the resurrection stone, Harry Potter, and something of Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. He may have the gauntlet of Gryffindor or the Diadem of Ravenclaw. I suspect that his snake is also a horcrux considering how she acts around him and the amount of control that he has over her."

"And where do you think those objects are hidden?" the mystic asked him. , "I do not think he would have just left them lying around for others to find and destroy."

"No. We will have to find where he could have hidden them. Perhaps young Harry would be able to help us find it", Dumbledore mused.

Dumbledore was planning to take another week off to go searching for his old friend Horace Slughorn to confirm his speculation that Tom had created only seven horcruxes. He knew that Slughorn had something in those memories he had altered and decided to confront his friend about his cowardice.

"Mr. Aparichit, would you assist me in a little endeavour of mine?", he asked the mystic.

He tilted his head slightly to the side, "Would it be worth my time and energy?"

Dumbledore smirked, "From what Amelia told me you can be very persuasive when you want to be. A colleague of mine is very reluctant to part with some crucial information and I think he would need the same kind of persuasion as did Rita Skeeter."

The mystic grinned, "Of course."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N- **Hey guys, I know I did not make public appreciation for reviews in the last few chapters but I did send inbox messages to those generous souls. Hope you all would keep loving this fic as you have been doing.

This chapter is somewhat longer than my standard ones and I wrote with a lot of time being spent in the task. I would really love to read your reviews for this chapter. They more detailed they are, the merrier it will be.

Now, don't let me keep you from plowing head on to this chapter.

Cheers!

* * *

**Himalayas, somewhere in the wilderness**

The moment that Harry felt the portkey stop pulling him he started walking and landed on his feet. This time, he barely stumbled. He made a deliberate effort to stretch out his senses and instantly became aware of the eerie forest surrounding him. Thinking fast, he drew his wand and cast the homenum revelio which showed that there were no other people in that part of the forest. But Harry remained alert because he knew that there were several different dangerous creatures living there, both mundane and magical.

All around him, the forest was deathly quiet as if holding its breath. As he tried to look into the dark, his eyes adjusted to the requirement and suddenly everything was visible to him clearly. What he did not know was that his eyes were gleaming like a cat in the dark, his leonine form responding to his need.

He found that where he was standing, there was no undergrowth. As he scanned the area, he found that he was in an area of very large trees and that the canopy above him so dense that his sight could not penetrate it.

The giant trees were far from comforting and Harry felt that someone was watching him. Keeping his wand at the ready, he started off to look for a safe place where he could spend the night away from the creatures of the forest. As he moved, he felt a familiar and powerful presence somewhere nearby. As he prowled further, he heard a sound as if it were the rustling of the wind. He dived off to one side when suddenly a pair of wings swept through the air where he had been a moment before. He saw the two headed Ganda Berunda ascending into the air and immediately started shooting stunners at the bird. It dodged all the spells with apparent ease and screeched at Harry, taunting him. Harry hid under a bush, waiting for the bird to return but it didn't.

As he started to walk again, a mystic appeared out of thin air in front of him, shot a stunner and was gone before Harry had a chance to retaliate. Harry cursed himself for letting his vigilance slip after the encounter with the bird. Readying his wand again and with a curse on his lips, he stretched out his senses. He heard a rustling in the bushes ahead of him and let loose with a stunner faster than thought. He heard a body hit the ground which let him know that the stunner had found its mark. When he looked in the bushes to see who or what his victim had been, he found a deer with a golden coat that glowed in the dark.

Laughing at himself mentally, he enervated the deer and patted its head. He started to move on when suddenly the deer lunged towards him. It was thanks to his reflexes that he jumped aside at the last moment and the deer passed through the space he had been occupying a moment earlier. As he watched, the deer transformed into a mystic who started shooting curses at him forcing him to raise a shield. The mystic used very common spells against him which he could parry with a simple protego but the curses kept coming. When there was a lull in the casting, he immediately went on the offensive, shooting bone breakers at the mystic who was laughing and side stepping his every curse. With each curse that he dodged, he would taunt Harry saying that he could not fight, how he was a disgrace to the Peverells and the Potters, how he should break his wand and become a hermit because his fighting was rather pedestrian. He even taunted him that he was shaming his forefather's legacy who would be turning in their crypts because he could not use lethal curses when they were needed.

Harry had taken all the insults without being provoked. He remained determined to disable the mystic but the mystic was yet to raise a shield and he had dodged all his curses so far. Desperate for a hit, Harry used some of the dark curses which he had read in the books that Sirius had placed in his trunk.

The mystic who had just raised a shield for the first time, barked at him, "So you are not a total loss, I suppose. May be we can make a warrior of you yet, Potter."

The mystic started casting inaudibly but all his curses were dark as was clear from the colour of the curses. A myriad of curses varying from grey to magenta to dark purple to light green left his wand and collided with Harry's curses midway causing explosions whenever they collided. Harry started casting some dark spells of his own, thinking of those that he had read in books which detailed dark magic. Bone exploders, Bone crushers, Entrail-expelling curses and the likes left his wand at a speed with which he had never cast before.

As the duel progressed, the mystic started shifting the duel away from where they had started. As they moved into a darker area of the forest, the mystic grinned at Harry and disappeared.

Harry stood there with his wand out and his senses on alert waiting for the mystic to return. After a few moments, he realised that the mystic had simply disappeared. As he looked around, he realised that he had ventured far off from where he had started the duel and in the distance, a figure stood wrapped in the shadows. As Harry levelled his wand at him the figure barked" 'Lower your wand boy. If I wanted you dead, you would not have seen me."

Harry could not believe it. He had not expected to hear this voice half a world away. Hesitantly he asked, "Alastor Moody?"

The veteran Auror hobbled forward grinning maliciously at him, "Did not expect to see me here, did you lad?"

Harry was about to lower his wand when he remembered why he was banished from Adirshpuram in the first place. He immediately levelled his wand at the Auror, "What did Alastor Moody say that he wanted me to do when I return to England?"

The Auror growled, "I said that I wanted you to learn enough magic so that you would be able to kill that abomination."

Harry immediately shot a stunner knocking down the Auror and proceeded to bind him with chains while muttering, "Alastor Moody would not call Voldemort an abomination, not to mention he said he wanted me to be able to duel him."

Leaving the stunned man in the forest, he started moving to find a safe spot for the night since the duel with the mystic had taken a lot out of him. As he walked further, suddenly somebody jumped in front of him from a tree and instinctively he shot a bone breaker which was useless against the newcomer.

The Yeti (with Harry's luck, who else could it be) roared at him, "You use your magic against me, humanling? You wish to die?"

Despite not being easily intimidated, Harry shuddered and hastily putting his wand in his cloak, he prostrated himself before the Yeti, "No great one. I am looking for a shelter to protect me from the perils of the long night and the mighty creatures of the forest."

The Yeti grunted, "Did Harsh banish you too?"

Harry smiled sheepishly, "Yes. It was my fault anyway. There were some essential lessons that I was too slow to learn."

The Yeti sounded amused, "Be on your guard humanling. The night is still long and the perils are many. Your life is too important for you to die at the hands of a dumb beast. Your destiny has a lot in store for you- love, pain, family, duty, honour. You would have to stay strong for those who love you because not before long, adversities would find you. You will find love and you will lament over what you will lose. Your destiny is interwoven with one who is epitome of evil. Remember that a warrior has to stay strong even if the world around him is dying down. There is nothing higher than duty and honour."

As Harry was pondering over his words the Yeti bellowed and leapt into the trees then was gone jumping from tree top to tree top.

Harry was brought back to the present with the rustling of wings and he realised that a group of air-borne warriors were approaching him fast.

"Great!", he thought "the night just had to get more interesting."

The oncoming group jumped off their mounts and appeared around him in a large circle and he rolled his eyes in annoyance, muttering, "show-offs".

He noticed that they did not have wands with them but swords and he realised that there was a pattern to the attacks. The mystics were systematically testing him on everything that he had learned. He realised that he did not have a sword with him. He shot a disarming spell at one of his adversaries who dodged it lazily and brandished his sword at him grinning.

Harry realised he would not get anywhere by using a wand against the warriors who were adept at magical warfare and stowing his wand away, he took a position that Anal had showed him for just such a situation. His opponents were circling him cautiously waiting for him to make a move while he stood attentive waiting for one of them to attack. After 5 minutes of waiting on both sides, one of the mystics jumped into the air intending to come down hard on him. Harry side stepped at the last possible moment before his opponent landed. In the blink of an eye, he had kicked his opponent away from him, knocked his sword from his hands and picked it up.

The next few minutes were a blur with his opponents moving in to attack him. He parried when he could, dodged when he could not, slashed when he got the opportunity and kicked his opponents away when he could. After a few moments, all of his opponents had been hit by him at least once. As he moved in to make them yield, they all disappeared at once.

Half an hour later, Harry found a small cave which was uninhabited and had no other entrances. Barring it with some alert wards he had learnt that day and placing magical fire at the entrance, he went to work on his mindscape.

He had made much progress on it in the last week with Harsh's help. Harsh had entered his mind and helped him sort through his memories and place them accordingly. He had placed the memories of the years with the Dursleys in a ridge which was hidden behind a mountain and placed a lot of traps so that no one would be able to see them. He had placed the most important memories in an underground vault designed like the high security vault at Gringotts from which Hagrid had retrieved the philosopher's stone in first year. The entrance to the vault was under a trap door upon which sat a mighty Hungarian Horntail like the one he had faced in the tournament. The Dragon allowed no one to come near the trap door save Harry and Harsh who was sorting his memories.

His memories of the years at Hogwarts except for the confidential information were sorted throughout the castle starting with the basement where there was a basilisk which would kill anyone foolish enough to venture there.

The sphinxes at the entrances never allowed anyone to come through except him and those he permitted. The Yeti would kill anyone who tried to enter without compunction. He was working on the third floor now. The first floor was guarded by a pack of snow leopards like his animagus form and contained memories of his friends and extended family. There were big rooms dedicated to individuals who were important in his life. There was a room with mahogany wood doors carved with a likeliness of Hermione while another was maple wood with a Lion on it signifying the Weasleys. There was another room with a cherry wood door and a hippogriff meaning the Longbottoms, a door of dogwood with a shaggy dog on it belonging to Sirius Black, a door of apple wood with a wolf on it meaning Remus Lupin and a big door of Elder wood with a Griffin and a Thestral meaning his family.

The second floor contained all the knowledge that he had accumulated throughout Hogwarts and all that Rachael had taught him. This floor was guarded by a legion of suits of armour who patrolled the corridors at all times and would attack anyone who was fool enough to venture there without permission. This floor also had a magic suppression rune carved in the ceiling meaning that no one could use magic in that floor thus putting them at a disadvantage against the suits of armour.

The third floor contained all other memories which were not sorted anywhere else and this floor was guarded by a figure cloaked in armour, wielding wands in both hands, a sword strapped at his back, his cloak billowing behind him and his eyes shining with power.

The battlements were equipped with cannons manned by house elves. There were birds like Eagles, Falcons, some Thestrals and Hippogriffs flew in the skies unhindered. The quidditch pitch was a trap and would instantly suffocate anyone who tripped the traps. The river was filled with water demons, crocodiles and other beasts. The forest was stocked with all kinds of beasts that he had seen or read about in his books or Harsh had shown him.

The entire valley was ringed by four concentric circular walls. The first and outermost was made of stone. The second was of steel. The third was of solid obsidian. The fourth and innermost was goblin silver. The walls could not be breached by anyone except a very accomplished Legilimens. Harry had planned to put defences around the last wall which would include beasts that he had seen in his travels.

Harsh had promised to initiate him into mind magics and teach him things that he could do with it like reading someone's mind, possessing them, burning someone's mindscape and breaching all their defences however he had cautioned Harry against trying it on any accomplished Legilimens or Occlumens or it could have adverse effects. It was a delicate branch of magic and very few people were versed in it.

He sat in meditation, putting more defences in place for an hour before he decided to retire for the night.

**Somewhere in a magical village, Great Britain**

Horace Slughorn was lounging in his arm chair; sipping Ogden's finest while listening to some music. Life had been very kind to the old potions master and he loved every moment of his retirement. Most of his students were prominent people in the wizarding world, occupying positions of influence or power and they always kept him informed about the events happening in the wizarding world. He was content to bask in their reflected power but there was a gloomy spot on the horizon- his most infamous student, Tom Riddle.

Horace believed that Dumbledore and Harry Potter were telling the truth. He knew that Tom had temporarily conquered death courtesy of the darkest of magics, something that was Horace's fault. If he had seen through his act all those years ago and refused to tell him about horcruxes, perhaps he might not have turned out to be evil. When Dumbledore had come to him to ask about memories of Tom Riddle about a decade ago, he had altered his memories to hide his shame. Albus had pestered him about it for years, trying to shame him into telling the truth, but; Horace had remained adamant. When Albus announced that Tom had returned from the dead, Horace had left his home to live in a cottage that was a part of his family estates and was protected by the most powerful wards. No one with the dark mark could enter the cottage without his will.

Without warning, he heard the front door opening and he panicked. The reason was that there was no one else in the cottage except him. Someone had bypassed the wards entirely and entered the cottage. Fingering his wand, he disillusioned himself, ready to blast his way through a horde of death eaters. He could hear footsteps just outside his room and near the door. Now there was someone just outside the door, using an unlocking charm. The door flew open and a bright light filled the room forcing Horace to cover his eyes and when the brightness lessened, he found a man in a leather mask standing before him with his wand levelled at Horace. The stranger's magic had wrapped around him like a cloak, fierce and violent. Standing beside the man was his old friend Albus Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling and a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

He grinned at Horace, "Horace, my old friend. How are you?"

Horace was trying to find a way out of this confrontation because he had a feeling that Dumbledore had not come to make idle chatter with him. He definitely had come to ask for the memory again. He kept his hands behind his back, wand in his right hand touching a silver bracelet in his left hand. The bracelet was an emergency portkey that he had asked the goblins to make for him since it could evade any kind of wards laid down by wizards. It was restricted only by Goblin Wards but Albus and his friend did not need to know that.

Horace grunted, "I was very fine until the moment you barged in uninvited and bringing company with you Albus. How did you enter without tripping the wards, anyway?", he asked with genuine curiosity.

Albus smirked, "I really do not know how that happened. My esteemed companion here chooses to keep that sort of thing to himself."

Horace still did not say anything but simply waited for the right time to escape. The stranger had not lowered his wand for a moment and was watching with a hawk- like concentration, waiting for him to make a move.

"Your companion seems to be of a very dour disposition Albus. In the last few minutes or so, he has not said a word", remarked Horace.

Albus, whose countenance had turned grim now, said in a melancholic voice, "I would rather that he be silent, he is better this way. Now Horace, I want that memory from you. That memory contains a crucial answer to many of my questions and it may as well be instrumental in ending the war sooner than later."

Slughorn had the audacity to smirk, "I thought it would come to that Albus and so I had my getaway planned", He touched his wand to his bracelet, "GOODBYE Albus". As he said the activation phrase for the portkey he felt confident that he would soon feel the familiar tug behind the navel but that never came.

The stranger barked a laugh at him, "What happened, Mr. Slughorn? The portkey did not work for you?"

Slughorn spluttered, "How... how is that possible? The wards around this property cannot stop a goblin made portkey."

The stranger grinned evilly at him, "Before we entered, I laid goblins wards around this home to prevent you from escaping by any means of magical transportation. This kind of portkey that would activate anytime when wished is a speciality of goblins so I figured I should use their wards."

Albus smirked at him, "Now Horace, I want that memory. It has been years and its high time that we know the truth."

Horace hung his head and whispered, "It is a testament of my failure and shame Albus. What I did that day is not forgivable. If it were known, I would be ruined. Besides, I don't know what possible good it would do you."

Albus answered, "Now Horace, you are going to have to let me be the judge of what good it will do. Besides, we have no interest or reason to share this with anyone else."

With a mulish expression, Horace said, "No. absolutely not. I will not give it."

The mystic barked, "We have not asked your permission Slughorn. If you will give it willingly things will end on good note for everyone but if you are obstinate about it, I am afraid we will take it by force."

Slughorn raised his wand at the mystic, "Then I am prepared to fight you to the death."

The mystic just smiled at him and flicked the wand out of his hand with a swat of his arm then hit him with a petrification hex then bound him with an incarcerous. As Horace was bound and helpless, he could only watch as the stranger made eye contact with him. Horace raised his mind shields to the maximum. The stranger Made a couple of attempts to enter his mind, assessing his defences before retreating but Slughorn was not fooled and did not lower his shields. In the next moment, he felt another intrusion and what felt like a giant fist was pounding on his shields. Horace defended his mind for a while with all his might but after a few blows, it was too much for him and his defences crumbled against the onslaught, blood freely flowing out of his nostrils on his finest acromantuala silk cloak. Then the stranger started shuffling through his memories at a high speed. It did not take long for the stranger to detect and undo his alterations and finding the real memory he retreated from his mind.

Albus undid the petrification hex then cleaned the blood which had flowed onto Horace's robes from his bleeding nose. With the mess cleaned up, he gave him a glass of Rosemerta's finest Oak matured mead. After a few moments Albus told him, "No one will think badly of you, Horace. We all make some mistakes but what matters is that we take our lessons from them and do not repeat those mistakes. If I were you, I would get out of Britain before things spiral out of control. You know that Tom will come looking for you sooner or later."

As they were talking, the stranger was taking down the wards he had erected over Horace's own wards. As Albus finished, the stranger took his hand and vanished from the room.

**Cottage on the Hill**

The students had arrived 10 minutes ago and since then they had been waiting for the teacher to turn up. The last week had been very productive for most of them but equally taxing.

Hermione Granger who had always prided herself on her knowledge had a hard time believing how difficult it was to put her knowledge to practical use. While it was true that she could learn spells faster than the others but she tended to dither and take too much time choosing which spell to use when the pressure was on. And that was the main reason she struggled during the drills. She also had the unfortunate tendency to think like a muggle when a witch was what's needed. Sometimes she envied Harry's abilities. There were times when he really struggled to learn a new spell, but; once he learned it, he always seemed to know which spell to use without even thinking about it. And, to add insult to injury, he always executed them perfectly when the pressure was on. She had seen Harry Make the right decision and act before she even understood the threat. In the last week, she was learning to fight side by side as part of a team. She had been eagerly taking in everything that was being taught to them and perfecting everything that she learnt. She intended to make it out of the war alive.

Susan Bones had been having a doubly hard time of it. While the teachers taught them things that they deemed necessary to survive, she was also being taught her family magics by Amelia. Amelia liked to put her through the ringer once a week where she would thoroughly test her. Susan had learnt a lot but still had to improve. While she was knowledgeable, she needed to learn to use that knowledge in practical situations. Every day after she was done with her training, she was too exhausted to care about anything. She had been taught occlumency since she was a child but recently Amelia had started to teach her legilimency though she had told Susan that passive legilimancy was something she would have to learn by herself because it depended upon one's ability to do wandless magic. She was also being subjected to two hours of practice with the dummies in the dueling arena in her family manor.

Ronald had learnt a lot of things that he should have known since he started first year at Hogwarts. He had recently finished reading all his school books from the last four years plus the books for the next year. He had even taken to joining Hermione in the library at Grimmauld Place to study. He had started to appreciate the value of knowledge and looking at how he had lived for the last four years, he was ashamed of his lacklustre performance, lack of foresight and immature attitude. He had trouble at first learning everything they were being taught by the teachers but as he had started to understand the theory, learning had become easy.

Neville had been having the best time of his life and perhaps the hardest. While he got to see his parents and interact with them, Croaker made his life hell. The Unspeakable had been putting him through so much that Neville felt like his brain was going to explode. The curses and hexes that Croaker made him learn nauseated him at times, but; he knew that it was his own inheritance and Neville was not about to scoff at his inheritance. He was learning everything that was in his family Grimoire and the little tips and tricks that his father gave him every now and then from his time as an Auror. He had encouraged Neville to find his Auror manuals to learn the spells inscribed therein but Neville already had a full schedule and he was not about to over-burden him. He had learnt to cast with pin-point precision, to fight while being air-borne and to dodge more than shield. The professors had started to teach them to duel by using charms and transfiguration combined with most common hexes and curses. Neville was quickly learning that duelling or fighting was not just casting all the curses and hexes that you know but also to use them in ways that would benefit you most.

Ginevra had been having the most satisfying summer so far. While she learnt to defend herself more her romantic life had also been progressing well. Michael Corner was a good boy who came from a long line of pure bloods and treated her well. Her disenchantment with the fictional boy-who-lived had awakened her to the world around her in more ways than one. She knew now that she could not always rely on someone to come in wand blazing and save her and that no one was without a weakness. She was determined to never let herself feel vulnerable ever again.

The twins were busy with different things. While the training was good, they also were seriously busy with developing new products for their shop. They had seen the premises and they were perfect for them. They had decided that they would start their business as soon as they could manage without leaving their education incomplete. They knew that Arthur would not object to their idea but Molly would make a scene over it however they were determined to do their best to not to hear her objections. Once they were established and bringing in the galleons, she would accept it. After all that was what mothers were for.

As the students sat thinking about their lives, Moody entered the room, his wooden leg clomping on every second stride, holding his wand at the ready. When the students did not respond to his arrival, he barked, "On your guard, you all. Today we will see how you bare up in the heat of battle."

As the students were herded out, they faced some new dummies which Alastor had managed to procure. These were not the normal dummies that they practiced with but looked like real people.

"All right, here is what you are going to do. These dummies will be battling with you all one on one. You will start at different points of entry from the boundary of the property. You cannot use any magical means of transportation but only fight your way in where your teachers will be playing hostage. I will be playing the part of a dark lord, trying to stop you. These dummies cannot be stunned or petrified but only decapitated. I must caution you though they are full of blood and when you manage to destroy them, it will get all over you. Now begin."

He sent everyone to different parts of the boundary line where dummies were waiting for them.

Hermione faced her dummy and without a thought raised her wand and cast a bombarda which it shielded and in return sent a spell chain at her forcing her to dodge. As she recovered, the dummy started firing more lethal curses at her, forcing her to shield herself from them. The onslaught continued for sometime before the dummy fired an Avada Kedavra green coloured curse at her. She froze on the spot, her eyes wide with horror in the moment that the green jet crossed the distance to her. In the moment before it made contact, a banishing spell moved her out of the path. She turned and found Ron who had fired the banishing charm at her and was looking anxious. Before she could reply, Ron's dummy started firing at him, forcing him to jump aside. As she turned her attention back to her dummy, she again saw the green coloured curse coming at her and before she could dodge out of its way, it hit her squarely in the chest making her gasp. As she gasped, she realised that she had not died of the curse. Was she immune to it? No, she did not think that she was immune to it. She would have to figure it out later. Emboldened by her survival, she started firing her most lethal curses at the dummy forcing it to defend. She fired bone exploder, bone breakers and piercing hexes without abandon till one found its mark and the dummy fell, showering her in blood. She felt nauseous and queasy in the stomach. Without a thought she doubled over and started retching.

Ronald had been assessing the dummy before he noticed the dummy shooting a killing curse at Hermione and banished her out of the way. He was of a mind to go and help her when his own dummy started raining down on him casting spell chains including some very nasty looking curses and he had started to dodge them. He raised a shield whenever he could but mostly used things around him to save himself. He saw his dummy casting the killing curse and summoned a stone in its way but the stone was not disintegrated when it collided. As he pondered over it, he was hit with a bone breaker which hit his left arm forcing him to cry out in pain. His eyes tinged red with anger, he started using the curses that Bill had taught him and within seconds his dummy was on the defensive. As he hit it with a reductor, it exploded and blood spilled on him. He felt dirty and wanted to wash till he got it out of his system however he realised it may not be possible before the lesson was over. So he ran to the cottage and in his hurry failed to see the stunner which took him down.

Neville's dummy had started with a blood red curse at him which he countered by firing a curse of his own. He kept casting at his opponent and countered every spell with one of his own. He used very simple curses but nonetheless effective in countering everything that was thrown at him. Croaker had taught him to fight this way if he found himself in such a position. He was fighting it with spell for spell for a long time before Neville realised that he would not get anywhere unless he decapitated his dummy. Reluctantly he cast bone exploding curses in rapid succession at the dummy until it gave under the onslaught drenching him with blood. He was really grossed out and wanted to take a bath immediately to get the smell out of his nostrils but that could not be before the duel was over. He ran towards the cottage and by sheer luck avoided the stunner which had been fired at him from the side. As he entered, he found Professor Flitwick bound to a chair and smiling smugly. He looked around for anyone who could be there guarding the prisoner and finding none, he went to relieve the tiny professor when he was stunned from behind.

Ginevra made short work of her dummy. She started with her favourite bat bogey hex and followed up with a reductor which destroyed the dummy and drenched her with blood. She screamed in horror and sat in that position for a few moments before she realised that she had to find others. She went into the cottage and found Professor McGonagall bound in a chair, her face impassive. Ginny carefully scouted the surroundings for any immediate threat and perceived someone standing under a disillusionment charm. She shot a stunner in that direction which was reflected at her and she fell down unconscious.

Susan had little difficulty with her dummy. Auntie had already procured two of these for her practice at the manor and she was getting used to blood and gore. She started with one of her family spells which could vanish all the bones in a person's body if they were hit with it but the dummy raised a contego shield to protect itself. She followed up with another which could vaporize all the blood in one's body thus killing them but the dummy shielded that one too. Frustrated, she cast some of the lethal spells which included some dark cutters which could not be dodged and only protego maxima could stop them. As she had expected, the dummy was cleaved in two spilling blood all over the place. She walked to the cottage and the mid-way, Moody confronted her, forcing her to duel him. She held her own against him for a minute but he eventually was able to stun her.

The twins combined forces and faced their dummies together. Fred cast while George defended. They kept at this for a few minutes before they started to use some charms and transfiguration in their duel. Fred conjured birds to attack the dummy while George conjured wooden stakes which he banished at one of the dummies spearing it. they followed with a barrage of cutters at the other dummy and in a few seconds had destroyed the other one too. Grinning at each other, they entered to find Moody with his wand trained on them. George immediately cast the solaris spell blinding him in the magical eye and as Mooddy stumbled, Fred stunned him and followed with an incarcerous.

After 10 minutes, the students were assembled with an angry looking Moody who instantly went on to tear them a new one, "Alright let's hear it. What mistakes did you all make?"

Hermione was the first to raise her hand. She started, "I was fighting the dummy and keeping it busy very nicely until it hit me with the killing curse. I thought I was dead, but; then I remained standing. When the dummy fell I was drenched in blood. I felt nauseous and threw up. Doing that in the middle of battle would have been the death of me."

Moody nodded and replied, "Miss Granger, if those had been real killing curses you would most certainly be dead. Those things cannot be shielded. Your best option and only real chance for survival is to put an object in the path. A piece of stone or your conjured canaries would do. And in any event, freezing up during battle for even one moment may likely be your last. Remember, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

He turned to Ronald, "What about you, Weasley? You put on a fierce display of some very choice curses out there."

Ron's ears turned red but he collected himself and started, "When I saw the dummy casting the killing curse, I blocked it with a piece of stone. I stood there like a gormless twit, wondering why the stone hadn't been shattered when I let in a bone breaker. I used some of the spells which Bill has taught me but told me to use only against an enemy since using them except in battle can take me to Azkaban. While it shielded them I took it down with a reductor. After getting drenched with blood I ran to the cottage to rescue the hostage and… and failed to see the stunner that took me out."

Moody nodded but said nothing and turned to Neville, "What about you Longbottom? You were enjoying sparring with your dummy until you fired off a rather impressive barrage of bone exploding hexes."

Neville refused to look down despite the compliment from Moody and looking in his eyes, he said clearly, "my only mistake was that I did not check outside the cottage before I went to rescue my hostage."

Moody grunted, "You dodged my stunner and ran inside. I simply waited until you checked inside, then followed you in and stunned you. You should pay more attention to your surroundings."

He turned to Ginevra, "You took out your dummy faster than anyone else. Too bad none of the others realized the value of a good diversion like your bat bogie hex. Good job spotting me under that disillusionment charm too. But, you are going to need to work on your reflexes. I should not have been able to take you out by reflecting your own stunner."

He turned to Susan, "You were great out there, lassie. You used lethal spells without hesitation and did not feel nauseous or vomit at the sight of blood. You chose to duel me outright based on your own strength. That was your mistake."

He finally turned to the twins, "You two menaces were the best today. But, you did not heed my instructions. You banded together and defeated your dummies."

Gred grinned at him, "You never said we could not team up."

Forge supplied, "we realised we could face them better when we were combined".

They said together, "and we found a weakness in you today."

Moody said nothing but dismissed them with a wave of his hand while resolving to never let the two of them gang up on him again.

**Himalayas, India**

Harry woke up in the cave with a feeling that someone was watching him. As his eyes adjusted to the world around him, he found himself in the cave with the remains of the fire at the door. The fire that he had conjured at the entrance was long gone. He had not felt the cold thanks to the leaves that he had eaten. As he prepared for the day ahead, he decided to move around because he feared that the mystics would hunt him again. As he came out, he found Vari and some other mystics who were grinning at him with their wands trained on him.

Vari growled, "We are going to have some fun Potter. Since you are not in Adrishpuram anymore, I am at liberty to hunt you. Start running."

As Harry broke into a run, the mystics started following him casting all manner of curses at him. His training at the lake came in handy here. He wasn't an easy target. Harry ran for some time before he realised that running would not solve his problem. He was not being chased by some unfit death eater but super competitive, top of form assassins who would have no problem outrunning him. There was only one way out for him- To fight against them and render them unable to follow him. Since he was outnumbered 10 to 1, he decided to play smart and found a bush to conceal him where he waited in ambush.

As he heard them coming, with his wand ready, he took a sound shot with a stunner. A thud told him that the spell had found its mark and he smirked in pleasure however his joy was short lived. He heard one of them enervating the stunned man and he was back to where he had started.

Vari growled, "Is that what you can do best, Potter? Is that all that you have learnt?"

Harry did not rise to the bait but realised he would have to change his strategy if he were to survive this ambush. He lunged out of his hiding place and shot a bombarda which was absorbed by one of them on his shield. In a brief second that he managed, he saw that all of them had raised a shield to defend against what they could not dodge.

He was trapped and truly helpless now. They were too many and his experience was not enough to help him stand against so many together. This was a situation where he had nothing to gain but everything to lose. He remembered a little story Harsh had told him about a dark lord in the 16th century. Harsh was fighting him and as was about to finish him for good, the dark lord's backup had arrived outnumbering him vastly. Harsh had disapparated that time and returned a week later with an army at his back. The moral was that sometimes in a battle, you have to take a step back to prepare yourself for a huge leap forward. While it was a bitter pill to swallow it made sense to him. Concentrating upon the settlement of Nagas in the Himalayas, he disapparated and a second later, he was standing before the chief of Nagas.

The chief smiled, "Welcome Harold James of Peverell. What brings you here to us today? Did Lord Harsh Vardhana send you here to train in parsel magics?"

Harry shrugged, "He did not send me here, noble chief. I was banished for a day from Adrishpuram yesterday. Since then I have been fighting mystics. I was in a skirmish where I was heavily outnumbered and therefore had to run."

The chief smiled ruefully at him, "While I would welcome you here in any circumstances but not when you are going through banishment. We work in co-operation with the mystics and if Lord Harsh knew that we are helping you, he would turn his wrath upon us. Your banishment is to teach you a lesson. I hope you will learn it."

Harry understood what the Naga meant and disapparated without saying a word. He appeared in a clearing where he had met the thestrals. It was close to noon and he yet had not eaten anything. He saw a rabbit in the forest and summoned it. Stunning the animal, he sliced it open with a cutting curse. After cleaning it of its fur and entrails, he roasted it on a fire that he had conjured. After lunch, he set to work on his transfiguration and this time he found it easy to change the texture of his skin. As he concentrated more, the skin kept changing till it resembled the leonine he had seen in his dreams. Excited by the discovery, he set to change his nails but even after a lot of efforts, he could not do so. Not getting disheartened, he set upon working on some charms that he had learned.

As it was nearing the evening, he felt some intimidating presence around him and immediately drew his wand and cast the Homnum Revelio on his surroundings. The test showed that there was at least one person present. As he kept his wand ready and waited, Vari emerged from the shadows, "You escaped me, Potter. I thought you would be hot headed abrasive warrior who would rather stand and die than flee and return later."

Harry said nothing but clenched his wand tightly in his hand glaring at the mystic all the time.

The mystic smirked at him, "Don't give me that look Potter. I had to test you to know if you are capable to making a retreat."

As Harry refused to say anything, the mystic growled at him, "On your guard Potter. We will see if you are made of sterner stuff or just posturing."

Harry sent a bone breaker at the mystic who simply stepped aside. Harry cast another curse which he side stepped again and this happened quite a few more times before Harry finally lost it and started casting with all abandon and without thinking and saw something truly awe-inspiring. The mystic was weaving in and out of the way of his curses, dancing in such a way that he made Harry feel like a kid. His reflexes were fast and not even one spell of his could touch the mystic. After sometime, the mystic went on the offensive forcing him to dodge or hide behind solid objects. The mystic was casting everything that he had except the unforgivables. Harry was not even sure if there was someone in the inner circle of Voldemort who knew as many curses and hexes. He kept dodging or evading but when he was tired, he started using some darker spells which the mystic was still evading by dodging them. They had been fighting for 20 minutes now but neither of them gave up. While the mystic used very little energy for his curses and was more in harmony with his magical core, Harry was a little tired from constantly firing high powered spells. He noted that his stamina had increased and his endurance was a lot better now. Perhaps all the running and physical exercises were paying off.

Suddenly he heard a faint pop and immediately straightened and was alert looking around and at the last moment, he jumped aside to avoid the bone breaker which had been aimed at his chest. As he stood with his wand out, Harsh appeared before him and ordered, "Stand down, Harry."

Harry did not lower his wand but asked in a menacing tone, "What did Mr. Harsh Vardhana do when he visited the Black Townhouse for the first time this summer?"

The mystic smirked, "I believe I appeared in the house not using the floo and I disapparated from within the house."

Harry lowered his wand and mumbled, "Have you also come to fight me, Guruji?"

Harsh smiled, "No Harry. Your banishment is over. You have to come with us. Tomorrow we are going to battle."

Harry gasped, "Battle! What battle? With whom?"

Harsh's visage turned grim, "There is a little country nearby where there is a little dark lord infestation and they do not have effective means to curb it. I received message that he is going to cause massacre of wizards. I have to stop him. Your teachers agree that it will teach you the bloody realities of battle. We have responsibilities for over the world."

Harry said nothing but nodded. He knew that the mystics had no compunction about killing and they would eventually put him in such a position. Harsh grabbed his hand and they disappeared.

**The next day, Himalayas**

Harry's daily routine had been disturbed that morning since Vari did not come to wake him up. Indeed he had slept like a rock and woke up when the Sun was high in the sky. Adrishpuram was in frenzy. Mystics, more than he had thought possible, were milling about and all of them wore a leather mask, body armour and had at least one sword strapped to their backs.

Anal beckoned him towards a group of mystics who were sitting in a circle. As Harry reached him, he said, "Harry, we are going to battle today and around 200 fighters have gathered for this. Guruji has told me that you should be part of one of the groups and Vari has asked for you to be made a part of his group."

Harry winced, "He does not like me at all. The way he treats me makes me feel insignificant and he belittles me, mocking me all the time. Can't you include me in your group?"

He smiled morosely, "No Harry. I am part of the front row of warriors and having you there would make me twice vulnerable because I would have to fight for myself as well as to lookout for you. Besides, Vari needs someone with power to bring down some wards which we may face. Now go and dress. You will be given your mask before we leave for battle."

Harry reached his room and delved into his closet in the trunk but could not find anything which was suitable for battle. As he was getting agitated, Harsh entered the room, "What is the matter, Harry?"

Harry turned to him, "Guruji, I have no idea what I should wear. I mean I have never been a part of a battle."

Harsh smirked, "Do not worry, Harry. Your adoptive father had seen to this need. Before we left Avalon, I had suggested him that you may need a set of battle robes and he was very kind to procure one which he gave into my keeping."

He produced a bulky bundle for Harry to examine and departed. Harry gleefully tore open the bundle and found a set of Battle Robes, black in colour and thicker at the sensitive areas of human anatomy. As he donned it and looked into the mirror he could not recognise himself at first. He had come a long way from the boy who was ecstatic to see a chocolate frog to the boy who was learning to be a warrior.

As Harry joined the mystics again, Anal presented him with body armour made of dragon hide and instructed him to put it on telling him that Harsh waited for him in his chamber. Harry wore the armour over his battle robes and went to Harsh who was waiting for him.

Harsh addressed him, "Harry we are about to go on a mission where there are equal chances that some of us may die. It is a matter of life and death and you have to keep it in mind that one enemy left alive is one dagger in your back. After the battle, if your enemy is left alive then it is a testament of your weakness to do what one must do. Remember Harry- Duty and Honour are the greatest things one can strive for and one action of yours can get you great honour or eternal shame. If you fail to abide by my instructions today, you will regret it every moment of your life."

Harsh accompanied him to an amphitheatre type structure set to the north-west corner of Adrishpuram where hundreds of mystics were gathered. Harsh signalled him to go and mix with the mystics while he ascended the stage. As he reached the great table on the stage, the mystics went silent.

Harsh was wearing his mask and started to address the mystics, "My brethren, today we set out to fulfil the reason of our existence. A dark lord has raised his poisonous hood and it is upon us to crush it. It is for us who pledged our wands to light. It is for us to extinguish this fire before it becomes a raging inferno. It is time for us shadow dwellers to make our strike. This night either we will attain glory or the heaven meant for a warrior."

Every warrior was listening to his speech captivated, taking in every word that he said and Harry could feel the magic in the room, oozing out of the warriors present.

Harsh continued, "Today we are going to make our strike against evil. Today we will get our chance to serve mother magic and punish those who transgress against the ways of magic. Today is also a day when I announce another addition in our ranks. Harold James Potter of Avalon has been made honorary mystic and has been training with us for some time. I call forth Harold James Potter to make his admittance into our ranks known."

Harold James Potter walked up the stage where Harsh was standing with his mask in place, his cloak billowing behind him looking every bit a war mage. As Harry reached him, he motioned for him to get down on his knees. Harry hesitated for a second before he eventually sunk to one knee. Harsh addressed him, 'You are here because the tribe felt that you are worthy of the honour of being considered as one among us. The tribe will look after you like it looks after its own. Do you Harold James of House of Potter accept this honour and serve the tribe as the tribe will serve to you?"

Harry raised his head and firmly replied, "I will serve the tribe to the best of my ability as the tribe will do to me."

Harsh said, "Rise Harold James of House Potter and accept these symbols of your admittance among us, the defenders of good, the sworn enemies of evil."

Harry raised his head and saw that Harsh was clutching a bundle in his hands. As he accepted them, Harsh opened the package and produced a cloak like the mystics wore. Taking the cloak, Harsh draped it around Harry's shoulders. Next, he presented Harry with a mask which he touched to Harry's face and it adjusted to fit him.

Harsh raised his right fist and roared, "Satya Sarvada Vijaysya (Truth is always victorious)."

The mystics took up the call and the amphitheatre shook to the roars of "Satya Sarvada Vijaysya!", for quite a few minutes before Harsh raised his wand and let out a cannon blast.

Harsh started addressing them again, "We are going in ten groups with 20 mystics in each group. I will lead one of them while Vari, Pawan, Anal, Achala, Ambar, Nikolai, Anne, Patrov and Mark will lead the others. You will follow orders and anyone found guilty of disobedience will be punished most harshly. We will not take any hostages and make sure that whoever chooses to engage you in a duel can never stand again."

Vari cornered Harry as they all were given their orders to report to their leaders. He growled, "You are with me Potter. You will do as I say or you will see what real punishment looks like."

Harry nodded. He could feel apprehension and excitement building in him in equal measure. It was something that he had not hoped to see so soon. It meant that the mystics were treating him as an adult unlike others who treated him like a child no matter what he achieved in his life.

Before Vari could say anything else, Anal took him away, "Harry I know that you perhaps would not need it but it would make me feel safer if you have a sword with you."

He passed Harry the sword that he had been practicing with and strapped it on his back. Harry sat making small talk with others in the group which was going with Vari and was pleasantly surprised when no one paid any extra attention to his name. They treated him as anyone else among them, an equal and not some boy wonder. Soon, they were all being herded to the entrance of the settlement where Vari was waiting for them with a long rope which he told all of them to hold tightly. As they held onto it, he touched his wand to it and said "Dharm aur Maan (Duty & Honour).", and they all felt the familiar tug behind their navels as they were whisked away.

**Headmasters Office, Hogwarts**

Albus had seen the memory 5 times at least before he came to the conclusion that his guess was correct. Tom had made 7 horcruxes. He had shared his observations with Aparichit who was looking glum and had been pacing in his office for the last hour.

"What is the matter, Mr. Aparichit?", he asked genuinely, "You do not seem to be elated with what we obtained from Horace.".

The mystic grunted, "I am content that we have established how many of those abominations are out there Albus but my reasons of concern are entirely different."

"What are those if I may ask?", Albus asked him, curious as to what had caused the mystic to lose his cool, "did you receive some bad news?"

"I received news, yes. Favourable or unfavourable, that is yet to be seen. The mystics are going to battle as of now while we speak", he replied.

"Battle? But where? With whom? Is Harry alright?", Albus asked, genuinely concerned for the teen.

"He is fine Albus but it has been decades since we gathered in such numbers. I have received reports that there is a formidable force waiting for them out there", he replied, "I feel like I should have been there but guruji has stationed me here to take care of Avalon and Tom Riddle."

Albus said nothing but pondered over what might be happening in the war. He wanted to know everything that there was to know. For the first time, he did not have any of the cards in his hand and was forced to play spectator. His only concern was that Harry Potter must remain safe because without that boy, all hopes were lost for Wizarding Britain.

"Tell me Albus, have you come close to figure out where the horcruxes can be?", the mystic asked him bringing him out of his reverie.

There are a few places that I suspect he may have hidden them. But, I will have to leave Hogwarts and travel to begin my search.", he replied, "and in the current climate I cannot leave the castle unsecured.".

"It means we have to wait for the term to begin then", the mystic said.

**Malfoy Manor**

Lucius was tired of the pain that he had to endure. The dark lord kept using him as his whet stone. Whenever something went wrong, he punished Lucius. He had been elated when the Dark Lord had returned from the dead but it was all down-hill from there. He put up a brave front in front of the other death Eaters so that they would not think that he had fallen out of favour with the Dark Lord and so he would not incur more of the dark lord's wrath. He knew there were many who would love to replace him and sit at the Lord's side but Lucius was determined to keep that place.

His talents as a shrewd businessman were coming in handy to gather funds for the Dark Lord. He had also found an old castle which was a remnant from another era and converted it for the Dark Lord's use. His motive for doing that was to keep the Dark Lord and Death Eaters away from his pristine home because Narcissa did not take kindly to being made a prisoner in her own home. Not to mention this meant that the dark lord and his minions could not feast upon the vintage wine and mead in his cellars.

The Dark Lord had been recruiting heavily lately and his ranks were swelling. In the last week alone thirty men had pledged their allegiance to him. While it was not much by any means, it was sufficient for the time being. Lucius dreamt of the day when he would rule over Wizarding Britain while the Dark Lord continued to pull the strings from the shadows and remain hidden as was his preference. Perhaps he would be able to solicit favours from the Dark Lord and manage a handsome betrothal contract for his son Draco to one of the oldest and richest houses.

There was only one dark spot on the horizon- Harry Potter. Lucius had seen the boy stand defiantly against the dark lord, laugh in his face and the fire burning in his eyes had made him shudder. If the boy gained any power, he would be a formidable enemy. He had thought the boy to be a wizard of mediocre talent, as he had been often told by his son. But, that night in the graveyard, he had realised that if Harry Potter survived, he would be the death of them. Even the Dark Lord had praised his courage and such praise rang warning bells in his mind.

Speaking of the Dark Lord, he had been punishing his followers for their failure to get the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries. Most of the time, there was an order guard present at the entrance to the Department which made it hard for them to try anything. A few times when they were able to enter, they were thwarted by the Unspeakables who guarded the place with everything that they had got. A few times, Lucius had been able to reach the shelf of prophecies but he was unable to lift it off the shelf. The magics guarding it were lethal to anyone who was not the subject of the prophecy he was trying to take. They had tried magical and muggle means to remove the prophecy from the shelf but they were not successful so far. Every time they failed, the Dark Lord liberally used the Cruciatus curse on him. It was only due to Severus that he was able to recover for the next round of torture or he would have been broken long ago.

**Ministry of Magic**

Percy Weasley felt foolish. He had alienated his family and sided with the minister because he believed the minister was the most powerful authority figure in Wizarding Britain but the last few weeks had been an eye opener.

Within a fortnight, the minister had fallen. The minister's senior undersecretary was on the way to Azkaban, Percy's former pet rat had turned out to be a wizard long thought dead and he was barely clinging to his job. What Cornelius had not realised but Percy knew to be just a matter of time was that Cornelius's days as the minister of Magic were numbered. Like the minister, he had underestimated Albus Dumbledore but the old head master had shown why he was the most powerful wizard in Great Britain. Percy could see his manipulations in everything that had happened in the last few days. What befuddled him was the absence of Harry Potter. If what Dumbledore was saying was true then Harry Potter would have a greater role to play in the near future and yet, he was kept hidden from everyone.

He had gone to the Burrow one day to meet with his parents and to glean some information from them. But, to his surprise he could not enter the house. There were new wards around the property and they felt hostile to him. The wards were designed to kill anyone who entered the place with hostile intentions. Perhaps, Bill had raised them.

He had decided since then to keep his head down and listen to all the rumours that passed through the ministry. If it turned out that Albus Dumbledore had been speaking the truth, he would have to swallow his pride and beg his father to forgive him. He had destroyed his relationship with his family and he would have to take responsibility to mend that by any means possible.

**Black Townhouse**

Arthur Weasley was standing in the tapestry room, fondly looking upon a name on the family tree and lost in his thoughts.

"Arthur!", Molly's voice brought him out of his musings, "What are you doing here?"

Arthur replied in a wistful far off voice, "if she had not been disowned, she would be there on the tapestry", he said pointing at a small burn on the hanging.

"Who?", Molly asked in confusion.

"Mother", Arthur said, "She was a daughter of House Black. Her father, Lord Orion Phineas Black, disowned her for marrying a blood traitor."

Molly's voice was thick with emotion, "I had forgotten that she was a daughter of House Black. I never realised that it mattered so much to you, Arthur."

Arthur replied in his wistful voice, "I never bothered myself with our traditions, not after other Ancient and Most Noble houses ousted us from our position. Since everything had been taken away from us, father did not see any reason to teach us our family magic."

Molly replied, "Can we not do something about it? I mean we have been punished enough, Arthur. Isn't there something that can be done to undo the wrongs done to us?"

"I dare say there is. You can petition Lord Black to legitimise your mother's marriage and to reinstate her into the family. Then Lord Black can convince the Wizengamot to revoke the punishment and reinstate The Ancient and Noble House of Weasley to its rightful place", said Sirius who had entered the room while they were talking.

Arthur turned to him with his eyes lit with hope, "Is that possible, Sirius? Can it be done? I confess that I do not want anything for me but it will be great if I can teach a part of my family's heritage to my children."

Sirius smiled at him, "Of course it can be done. Lord Black is very partial to your family and does not take injustice lightly. He will see to it that you are given your rightful place in our society. While you are at it, you should also make a motion to claim the seat and magic of House Prewett and anoint one of your sons as Lord Prewett. It is only right that all of the old houses occupy their rightful places on the Wizengamot."

**Eastern Himalayas, India**

Harry Potter arrived in a dark forest as the portkey stopped moving. As they landed, the mystics started erecting tents for their forces, laying down wards, setting up guards while the leaders retired to a big tent in the middle which looked like some sort of command tent. As Harry sat with other mystics, Harsh sent for him.

He arrived in the command tent where the ten leaders were sitting around a round table with Harsh in the middle of them. He beckoned Harry to sit behind him on a chair and told him to watch the planning for the battle and to give his input if he felt like doing so.

"Guruji, I think we should first assess how we are going to start our attack. We have about two hours to plan a strategy", said Achala.

"Right mates. Let's review our initial deployment and make sure we have all our bases covered.", Said Mark who was an Australian.

"'What do you propose, Anal?", Harsh asked.

Anal who had been listening to everything that was being said, started thoughtfully, "Guruji, I think first we should ensure that we have all the information like how large is his force, what kind of beasts are a part of his army, what is their ability and above all, we must lay our traps carefully.". Anal said, "When we are certain as we can be of their numbers, their defences and other details then we can plan our attack."

Anne who had been sitting quietly so far, produced a map of a castle and its surroundings, then began, "Guruji we, the Chhayas (shadows), have gathered the required intelligence. They have a force of about 300 wizards, fifty or so werewolves, and a coven of vampires. They had around 100 inferi but they have been since neutralised so we can expect around 450 enemies at the most."

Patrov raised his hand, "I think we should divide our work amongst ourselves. We have ten teams here and we should leave three of them here to act as our back up in case things go pear shaped. We can choose our target based on our own strengths."

Others assented to his plan and thus Ambar, Pawan and Anne's teams were asked to stay back. Pawan's team was mostly ward masters and their work was to lay wards and traps around the area that they had chosen for battle. After that they would retreat and act as back-up. Anne's team was composed of mostly those who worked in gathering intelligence or were expert in covert operations, so they were to stay and keep an eye on things. If something came up that would require their intervention, they would be deployed as such. Ambar's team was composed mostly of newer recruits and she was to intervene only if their side started losing.

Anal's team was tasked with hunting the werewolves because they preferred swordplay more than wands and silver blades were far more effective against werewolves than magic. Patrov who was from Romania was an expert vampire hunter and so he took the responsibility for dealing with the vampires. Vari's team had the duty to bring down the wards by destroying the ward stones which had been located by the Chhayas earlier in the day. Pawan had given them rune stones which they could use to gain entry through the wards and subsequently destroy the ward stones. After they destroyed the stones, they were to join the main force and act as the Vanguard. Mark would lead the left flank while Achala's team would lead the right flank. Harsh was to led the middle column. Nikolai would lead the rear guard.

Soon enough it was time to battle and as they were arranging themselves according to plan Harry found Harsh, "Guruji, where is this place?"

Harsh smirked, "Your questions do not cease even in middle of battle, Harry. This is what muggles know as eastern Himalayas and we are on the side that is known as Myanmar."

Harsh handed a bracelet to him, "Harry, strap this bracelet to your right hand. It is a portkey which would activate when you will touch it with your wand and say 'Dharm aur Maan' and will take you to Adrishpuram. However do not use it unless you are in life or death situation. Keep your wits about you and do not hesitate to take down your opponent. They would not play fair and neither should you."

After ten minutes, Vari was giving a briefing to his team, "All right boys, this is what we have to do. We will divide ourselves into 4 teams of 5 warriors to each and we will attack the wards from four corners. Use the rune stones which Pawan has given us. These stones interrupt with the wards destroying them because they are loaded with enough energy to act as ward explosives. As we have gained entry inside the ward-lines, we have 5 minutes to find and destroy the ward-stones because as soon as one of the stones are destroyed, Pawan will lay down his own ward scheme over the area preventing anyone from escaping. Many of you are young and inexperienced in our ways of magical travel therefore it would be difficult for you to disapparate or use a portkey out of there."

Harry raised his hand, "May be we should set up communication with the other teams so that we keep each other informed and coordinate our attacks better. The leaders can send patroni to the other leaders to signify that they have destroyed the ward-stones and if someone has not been able to send a patronus for more than 10 minutes after we depart from here, we can rescue them."

The other mystics were looking at him appraisingly while Vari gave him a rare smile, "That is convenient. Get ready boys and do not forget to disillusion yourselves and silence your feet."

According to the battle plan, Vari led Harry and three others from his team to the eastern side of the area. They were expected to attack. Just like two nights ago, his eyes became cat-like and he could see clearly in the dead of night. The target zone was in the middle of the forest and a wall ran all around it. It was only about 4 feet high and there was no other defence visible. Vari pointed to the trees and he saw guards sitting in them keeping watch. Vari signaled some of his recruits who soundlessly disapparated to appear in the trees and plunged their daggers into the hearts of the guards killing them instantly. Harry watched in morbid fascination until one of them wrenched his dagger free and it came out making a sound like a plunger and blood gushed out of the wound. As the smell of blood invaded his nostrils, he wanted to throw up but Vari who perhaps was looking out for him, hit him with a spell which vanished his queasiness.

After a few moments, the guards were all dead and the mystics were near the wall. Vari turned to him, "Potter, I am going to throw the rune stones now. As I throw one of them into the air hit it with a finite so that it would be activated."

Harry drew his wand and took aim. As Harsh threw the stone high into the air Harry shot it with a finite and a moment later, they could hear a faint sound of detonation. Vari smirked, "Let's begin the party, boys."

Vari and the others with him jumped beyond the wall in a single leap. Harry hesitated for a second before he remembered the trick that Anal had taught him. Jumping into the air, Harry willed his magic to propel him higher and farther. Within a second, he was beyond the wall with the others.

Vari led them to a small cabin almost completely obscured by trees and vines. As he was about to open the door, Harry stopped his hand, "Did you check if there is anyone inside?"

Vari smirked, "May be I forgot. Why don't you check and let us know."

Harry cast the Homnum Revelio and found nothing. He turned to Vari who motioned for him to open the door.

The inside of the room was pretty pedestrian for a ward room. There was nothing there but two rectangular ward-stones. Vari raised his three fingers into the air and every mystic readied their wands. When the third finger went down, as one, they cast an obscure spell that Harry did not know. He had an idea that they were about to destroy the ward-stones and so, he mixed a reductor in the casting which caused a small explosion.

Vari growled at him, "Are you out of your tree, Potter? You want to let the enemy know that we are here so they can send a welcoming committee?"

Harry spluttered, "But... But I... I thought that we had to destroy the ward stone and so I used reductor on it."

Vari scowled and shook his head, then grunted, "We will deal with your failure later."

He flourished his wand conjuring 4 patroni (horses) and sent them to other leaders telling them that his work was finished. Shortly he grabbed Harry by his hand and they regrouped with the main force. After sometime the rest of his team had regrouped. Vari ordered him to be in the front row with some others.

Shortly thereafter, Harsh's magnified voice boomed amongst them, "CHARGE!"

**Greengrass Manor**

Daphne was having a pleasant summer. Her father had promised to take them to Greece for a week in August and she had been enjoying the days as they went by. It was always a relief to be away from the castle where she played the part of the Ice-Queen. Although she wasn't really like that, there were only two ways to get along in Slytherin, either they were far above other's social standing, aloof and above all reproach or they were powerful like some of the dark families.

She was the ice-queen so others who wanted to keep all their body-parts never bothered her. Some of the more stubborn ones had to learn their lessons the hard way and had to go visit Madam Pomphrey to sort them out and suffer the humiliation of having their private details being aired to the public.

She had her priorities sorted out since before Hogwarts. She wanted to inherit her father's empire and make it more prosperous. To that end, she had resolved to work to that effect while she finished her studies. However, one person had messed up her plans. Harry Potter had entered the equation and disturbed all her plans with her visions of the world being forgotten.

She was not one to fall for a boy but she had fallen for him and fallen hard when she had learnt of the deeds he performed while in school. The Hogwarts Rumour Mill was not very reliable and one never believed everything that they heard but she had learnt to spot the truth amidst the rumours. First year she had heard that he had killed Professor Quirell however that did not make sense since doing so would have landed him in prison. She heard that they had dueled over something that Quirell was trying to steal, although she never learned exactly what that was, but one thing was clear, Harry Potter had caused Quirell to vanish.

In the second year, she had wanted to stand beside him and tell people off for calling him the heir of Slytherin but she was not a Gryffindor for a reason. She watched from the side-lines as students got petrified one after another. Then suddenly one day the petrified students were up and about and what came out of the rumour mill was that he had slain a basilisk with a sword and saved a student from Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. She knew that to be true because she had spotted him that night as he returned from McGonagall's office, his robes torn, blood smeared on his robes, his clothes filthy and a sword in his hand.

In the third year, she had heard the most ridiculous rumours. She heard that he had cast the patronus charm and drove away a hundred dementors. That he had saved the mass-murderer Sirius Black (She did not know of his innocence then). However, she had started crushing on him hard.

In the fourth year, he had taken her heart when he out-flew the dragon in the first task and the way he conducted himself all the year. She wanted to be there for him again but her courage failed her. This year she was determined to grab that one before someone else got her hooks in him. She knew she had no competition in that regard because he would consider only those who saw him simply as Harry and not the boy-who-lived. There were a few girls who saw him as such.

One was Hermione Granger and she had a feeling that Granger was more like a sister to him. The Patil twins were in that category but Padma was too studious and Parvati was too giggly. Another was Lavender Brown, who was one of the prettiest witches in Hogwarts but she did not strike her as one who would consider serious relationships. Susan Bones was another of the girls who saw him as Harry and Daphne had a feeling that Bones had her eyes on him for a long time. Too bad that Daphne had set her eyes on him now.

She was so lost in her musings that she did not hear the door of her room being opened and almost jumped when Tracy yelled in her ear, "Stop daydreaming, Daph. You are giving the Ice Queen a bad name."

She scowled at Tracy but could not hide her blush, "I am not day dreaming Tracy."

"Yeah right, you were not dreaming about the emerald eyed Gryffindor. Not at all...", Tracy rolled her eyes, "I have known you since we were toddlers Daph and you get all misty eyed whenever Harry Potter is mentioned."

Daphne sighed. Tracy was too perceptive for her own good. She could always figure out what was going on with Daphne. Even sometimes her mother could not fathom what was going in her mind but Tracy knew.

"So Daphne…", Tracy was saying, "Were you successful in contacting your emerald eyed wizard at all?".

Daphne shrugged, "No. For the last week, I have tried every way I can think of to send a letter to him but failed. For the first time ever, even Archibald returned without delivering the letter. Since then he refuses to even take the message. I have tried sending postal owls too but they can't seem to find him".

At that moment, Roxanne Greengrass entered her room over-hearing the last part of her sentence and suggested, "May be the recipient of your letter has mail wards on him wherever he is, preventing any unauthorised mail from getting to him".

Daphne turned to her, blushing furiously, "did you hear everything mother?"

Roxanne smirked, "Enough to know that you are suffering from boy trouble. I must say I am relieved that you are showing interests in boys at last. I had thought that the Ice Queen had buried all her feelings."

Daphne squeaked, "Mother."

Roxanne grinned smugly, "don't feel embarrassed about it Daphne. It is natural to feel emotions for someone at your age especially someone as charming as Harry Potter."

Tracey started laughing while Daphne blushed furiously and Roxanne left the room grinning.

**India-Myanmar**

The vanguard led by Vari entered through the main door and immediately went on the offensive. The enemy forces were inside a large building which looked like a small castle and they had people on the ramparts and in the windows firing at the mystics who were either dodging or shielding while they kept advancing.

This side there was about 70 or so enemies who were in sight while they assumed that the rest were hiding or laying some trap for them. Anal and his mystics had entered shortly after the wards had been erected and they could hear sword fighting off to one side of the castle presumably a battle being fought between the mystics and the werewolf contingent. On the other side of the castle, the night sky had been illuminated as the day and they assumed that Patrov and his mystics had engaged the vampires.

**Battle with the werewolves**

The mystics had entered just behind the team sent to destroy the wards and as Pawan had raised the anti-escape wards, they had set off to find the werewolves not that it was difficult. They were on the western side of the encampment far away from the Vampires who were on the right side. The dark lord was ingenious as he had housed his forces in different buildings so that they would not be killed en masse if an attack came. They had attacked the building where the werewolves were. While it was not the full moon, they were still dangerous and as they stormed the door, the mystics went to hack down everyone who crossed their path.

There were more than 70 werewolves as they had been told perhaps some new packs had arrived overnight. Anal had divided his team into 4 groups with 5 to each and they were all busy. After he killed a handful of werewolves, he sought the Alpha and challenged him directly who roared and charged him. Anal stood ready, his sword poised to strike and waited for the alpha who was eyeing him warily. Suddenly the Alpha jumped into the air and Anal ducked while slashing his sword through the air cutting a deep gash on his stomach. The Alpha was enraged and again ran at him and he side stepped while slashing his blade in such a way that it nicked the werewolves right arm. The werewolf howled in pain and tried to swipe at him but Anal caught his arm in his left hand and summoning his silver dagger from his ankle belt with a mighty strike, lodged the dagger hilt deep into the werewolf's abdomen leaving him to writhe in pain and agony on the floor.

Anal looked around him and his comrades were doing well with the majority of the werewolves being dead or in various stages of dying. He found one of the new recruits fighting with three of them at once who had cornered him and would have killed him. He pulled two daggers from his belt and threw them at the werewolves bringing two of them down while the recruit had just impaled the third through his skull.

He heard growling behind him and turned to find two of them stalking him. He grasped his sword in his left hand and pulled out his wand reluctantly. While he was adept with a wand, he used it very rarely. He conjured a silver dagger which he banished towards the werewolves and it lodged into one of them while the other charged at him. as the werewolf came barreling at him, he jumped high in the air and kicked the werewolf in the back as it barreled past him, making him fly into the sword of a mystic who was coming to Anal's assistance. As he landed, he found that the fighting had died down with only a handful of werewolves still alive and fighting for their lives.

He went to the alpha who was still writhing on the ground and looked into his eyes menacingly, "I had sworn that I will be the one to kill you, Kirkit and you are dying at my hand."

The werewolf was in extreme agony but focused on the mystic with all his concentration, "Who are you? What have I ever done to you?"

Anal's eyes were blood-red and he growled, "I am the little boy from Bharatkot whose family you slaughtered. I had vowed my revenge 40 years ago and today, I will be free of the debt that the vow had put on me."

He grasped the hilt of his dagger and spun it in the wound making the werewolf howl in pain and grunted, "I would love to make you suffer for the torment I have been through all my life, but; my code does not allow me to cause unnecessary pain to you now that you are dying like the beast that you are. I hope you will burn for eternity in hell and Yama (the god of death) will punish you for all the sins that you have committed."

He pulled out the dagger and flashed it in the werewolf's face, "The House of Garud has had its revenge. May the afterlife be hell for you." He slashed the werewolf's throat and motioned for his forces to kill the rest of the werewolves who were dying and to bind any of those who were still alive. Charak had asked him to bring him some prisoners so that he could teach something to Harry Potter.

**Destruction of the Vampires**

Patrov and his group ran into vampires as soon as they entered the property lines. The Vampires were well suited to night guard duty with their dark vision and nocturnal habits. Thus they were prowling the perimeter keeping watch. They knew of the invasion as Patrov's group entered the property line and started laying a trap around them, circling them. As the mystics came into their line of vision, the apparent leader of the Vampires roared and they charged.

Patrov who had been anticipating something like this yelled, "Makar (Crocodile) formation and wands out. On three, we burn them like kindling."

The mystics readied their wands and arranged themselves like a crocodile. As the Vampires neared them, they incanted as one, "Tamari (meaning sun in English and used as a substitute for Solaris in Latin).". Bright hot light escaped their wands, lighting the area around them like the day and the Vampires who had come into the range of the spell burned like dry wood on fire while the mystics were unharmed. This spell was harmful to vampires and any who came into contact with it would be incinerated.

The Vampire leader growled, "Vampire Hunter Patrov, how interesting to see you here of all places. Did you not run with your tail tucked between your legs when we last met 200 years ago in Russia?"

Patrov bristled but answered in a calm voice, "Levanov as I recall, even though you got the jump on me, while my back was turned, you still had to run the moment I got over your cowardly ambush. I have hunted you for 200 years, because in my entire lifetime, failing to kill you has been my only failure. Let's settle this now."

Further, he raised his wand to his throat and his voice magnified, "Boys, make sure that none of these creatures of evil escape this night. I have a grudge to settle." He looked at the Vampire Levanov with hatred in his eyes and motioned with his hands "you and me". He raised his wand yelling, "Dharm aur maan", and charged him.

As the vampire tried to run him down, Patrov uttered another incantation, "Krishanu (fire)' and a whip of fire rose from his wand with which he lassoed the Vampire. Giving it a jerk, it threw the vampire to the ground. The vampire flipped to his feet and jumped into the air to make his escape, he cast a spell chain, "Vaishvanar, Havyavahan, Pavak!", and peppered the vampire with three bolts of fire bringing him to the ground. As the Vampire burned and writhed in agony, he swished his wand in a zig-zag motion and yelled, "Martandam!", and a huge ball of fire left his wand and surrounded the vampire, slowly burning him, charring his flesh, filling the air with the stench of burning flesh.

He yelled at the Vampire whose cries were heart-rending, "This is your end Levanov. You have caused a lot of grief to everyone. Your soul had died when you were turned and now I release your body from this curse."

Leaving the burning vampire to die in agony, he ordered his men to march to the aid of the rest of the forces.

**Right flank**

The right flank being led by Achala did not encounter any resistance till they reached a ring of trees. As they were about to step in it, she raised her hand and mouthed 'trap' to her warriors. She signaled them to split in groups of two and to flank the ring of trees from both sides, setting it on fire. As the mystic got into position, three of the warriors on either side raised their wands and muttered "Davanalam (fiendfyre)".

Fire leapt from their wands and surrounded the rings of trees, taking the shape of a huge two headed bird. Seconds later, wizards started jumping out of the trees straight into the wands of the mystics who were waiting for them. They used all the curses and hexes that they knew. They used a myriad of spells without any compunction, killing everyone who came out of the trees. A few of them who did not die were bound to be taken captive for Charak.

After a few seconds when it was clear that there were no more enemies left in the trees, she ordered them to extinguish the fire and went further into the settlement where there were a couple of buildings. She cast a wide area 'homnum revelio", which showed her that the enemy soldiers were hiding on the rooftops and on the battlements. Immediately she drew ten of her men and divided them into two groups.

She ordered the first group to get up on the roof and kill the enemy soldiers there. The chosen warriors immediately disappeared and a few seconds later, enemy soldiers started dropping off the roof tops like flies.

After a few minutes, the mystics on the ground stormed the buildings and started casting spells at anyone who got in their way. They had almost won their part of the skirmish when a green light jetted towards her and she didn't see it till it was too late. As she watched in horror, one of the mystics jumped into the way of the curse and his body fell to the ground lifeless, his eyes vacant.

At that moment something snapped in her and she raised her wand and yelled, "Pinak!", and an arrow as black as the night emerged from her wand. It gave off an aura of death and made everyone in the vicinity shudder. She raised her wand and banished it toward the wizard who had cast the killing curse. The arrow struck him in the chest, blasting his body into a thousand pieces. She turned towards the remaining enemy warriors who had thrown down their wands and went on their knees clamouring for mercy.

She smirked menacingly at them, "There will be no mercy. You have defied mother magic and used her gifts for evil purposes. You will die this day and Yama will sit in judgment upon you."

She raised her wand and incanted, "Pinaka, Kodand, Sarasan!", and three arrows appeared, each looking as deadly as the other and banished them at the captives. Needless to say, they died such gruesome deaths that it would cause her mystics to shudder to even think about it.

As their enemies were either dead or captive, one of the mystic stunned Achala and signalled one of the other mystics to take charge of her who immediately picked her up and disappeared. The rest of the mystics went in search of battle.

**Left Flank**

The left flank led by Mark immediately ran into problems as the left flank was crowded by dark creatures like grindylows, kappas, snakes and the likes. After they had gained victory over the creatures, Mark signalled them to spread around in groups of two to three and find and eliminate enemies.

They found little to nothing in the way of resistance until one of them tripped a trap which was rigged with blasting hexes and killed two of the mystics instantly. Mark immediately signaled them to stop moving and stay in position. As he cast some detection charms, he realised they were standing in the middle of a trap. The enemy had deployed around 80 soldiers at the left flank and they had surrounded the mystics and were closing in on them.

He murmured to his nearest group, "Chakra (Disc) formation and wands out. As they come out in the open, start expanding outwards using every lethal curse that you know. Put all of them to the sword. We are not taking any prisoners today.".

The message was passed around and the mystics joined together in the formation of the disc while Mark conjured his patronus (a raven), "Go to Pawan and inform him that we are surrounded. Make a disc formation and shrink inwards so we can catch the scum in a pincer attack giving them no time to retaliate or cause any damage."

As they waited for the enemy to make a move, a patronus arrived (a lion) and spoke in the voice of Pawan, "The trap has been laid. Now time to close it."

He raised his wand and fired green sparks signaling them to begin their assault. Immediately all sorts of spells left their wands, some of them connected while others were either dodged or shielded. Their relentless attack forced their enemies to show themselves. The enemy forces, thinking that they had the advantage in both numbers and position, began charging Mark's group. Many of them didn't even have enough time to realize what was happening as they were cut down by Pawan's team from behind.

For a few moments, all that could be seen were spells flying. Spells of various colours and every one of them lethal. Warriors from both sides fell but after a few minutes and with little difficulty, the mystics were able to best the enemy. Four mystics had died while the ground was littered with the bodies of enemy soldier's everywhere.

Pawan's team went back to wait for their next back-up call while Mark's group went looking for the main event.

**The vanguard**

Harry was in the front row of fighters in the Vanguard and as such he was busy shielding or dodging the curses. This was very different from practice where he knew what he could expect of the mystics. He even dodged at times what looked like the Avada Kedavra or some of the dark curses that he had read about in his books.

He kept casting bone breakers, bone exploders or bone splinters but none of his spells were aimed at fatal points and most of his opponents were incapacitated, but; not dead. He just could not do it. As he fought, he even had to face two or three of them at once but Vari was always around and would rescue him before any harm befell him. While he was focused on what was in front of him, he was also keeping an eye on others around him and none of the mystics were leaving any of their enemies alive. Enemies fell lifeless, some with gruesome deaths, some with their bones exploded or crushed or some were simply blasted apart.

As he fought, he just kept casting not even turning to see if his opponent was still standing. He downed one of the enemies with a bone breaker to the shoulder and moved on to the next target. He was so nauseated that he lost sight of what was happening. He did not realise until it was too late that the enemy whose shoulder he had just broken had cast a killing curse with his other hand and it was headed his way but at the last moment, a mystic tackled him to the ground and Harry shot a bone breaker in the direction the spell had come from. The sickening sound of bone breaking told him that he had found his mark.

The mystic picked him up and barked, "Look sharp, Potter. This is not practice. You do not kill them they will kill you."

Harry looked around and found that the enemy suddenly had swelled in numbers. Just a moment ago, the battle had been all but won and suddenly they were outnumbered. The mystic started casting with more fervour. There was Vari who cast a magenta coloured spell that sliced five of the enemies in one go. Another of the mystics cast a sky blue spell which pierced 7 of the enemies at once, but; they were still outnumbered.

He heard a loud cheer of "Dharm aur Maan!", somewhere around him and suddenly Harsh was there with 20 mystics and they turned the tide. In a few seconds, the mystics were the only ones alive on the battle field but Harsh was frowning at something.

Vari asked him, "What is troubling you Guruji? We have won."

Harsh warily answered, "Their dark lord is not here. Nor we have killed as many as we had expected to be here. It seems that they have some surprises in the store for us."

Vari asked, "What does that mean?"

Harsh smirked, "Send a patronus to Pawan to bring down the wards and send a message to Nikolai to arrive with his team 5 minutes after the wards are taken down. I guess he suspected that someone would come to stop him. Before we began the battle the chhayas had told me that he is living elsewhere while majority of his forces are stationed here. I believe he and rest of his forces would be trying to port-key in after a message was sent to him about the battle."

Vari sent a message to Pawan while Harsh barked orders to them to form the Cronch (Crane) formation. As the wards were taken down, several wizards appeared amidst them and the mystics started making short work of them. One of the opponents, who perhaps was the dark lord, killed two recruits before Harsh engaged him in a duel.

Harsh flourished his wand and send a dozen arrows at the Dark Lord who conjured a wooden wall in the way of the arrows. Harsh incanted "Krishanu", and almost sheared the dark lord's right arm off but at the last moment, he conjured a golden shield which shuddered as the spell made impact with it but held under the attack. The mystic immediately transfigured a piece of rock into a stag and animated it to gore the dark lord with its horns and the dark lord cast a killing curse at Harsh which was taken by the stag. Harsh cast "Taditam", and a lightning bolt struck the dark lord and he fell to the ground. This all happened in a matter of a few seconds and Harry was captivated. True that the duel had not been too long but Harsh had killed the dark lord within a matter of seconds.

As the dark lord fell his minions tried to escape but Pawan had again raised the wards and they were caught. The mystics slaughtered all those who were still standing while captured those who were not dead and Harsh summoned a man from the back-up unit.

Harsh addressed the man, "Mr. Chakrapani, we have done our duty. This dark lord will trouble no one anymore. Take the prisoners and do what you would with them. The mystics have done this favour unto you, your house and your allies and a day may come when we would expect to be repaid in kind for this assistance that we have rendered to you."

The man bowed low to Harsh, "Master, you have liberated thousands from his fear. We would have died trying to resist him but you showered us with your benevolence. The House of Chakapani and its allies would be at your call whenever you desire so."

Harsh barked orders at his mystics to collect their dead, take them to Adrishpuram with honour and taking Harry's arm, disappeared.

**WAITING FOR YOUR REVIEWS**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N- **Harry's training is coming to a close and I m going to deal with a chapter with a week or two of training from the next one because there is not much left that is to be taught. Soon, we will be back in WIzarding Britain and then on to Hogwarts.

Thank you Hypergym for the editing that you did.

* * *

**India**

Harry appeared with Harsh in yet another forest. This one was not like the forest around Adrishpuram. It was darker, denser, more forbidding, more like the forbidden forest.

As he willed himself to see into the darkness, his leonine form responded to his need by giving him the eyes of the snow leopard. The darkness resolved into sharply defined shades of grey, revealing huge trees, undergrowth of exotic plants and some small creatures staring curiously out at them. Harsh noticed the subtle change and saying nothing and simply gave a brief smile and nodded his approval.

Harry was still in shock from the carnage that he had witnessed during the battle. He had seen the minions of the dark lord being cut down like a scythe levels fields of grain. The blood and gore had nauseated him. As he remembered the scene of battle, the smell of blood in his nostrils his stomach refused to stay settled. He bent double and began to wretch. After a good five minutes, Harsh levelled his wand at him and doused his mouth with ice cold water.

As Harry looked up, he had tears in his eyes thinking of the mystics who had died in battle but Harsh seemed to be crafted of stone, his eyes bearing no emotion. In that moment, Harry began to doubt if the man felt anything at all.

As he was cleaned, Harsh reached down and helped Harry to stand up straight again and said gently, "Harry, I know you are inn sorrow over all those who had to die in battle but they died doing what they had voluntarily accepted as their life's sole objective. Do not cry for them but smile and remember them in your heart. When you are in doubt again or when you think you are too tired to keep fighting, remember those who died so you may live."

As Harsh finished his words, Harry could swear that he had felt Harsh's voice waver a little but he chose not to comment. He knew in that moment that Harsh was a human after all who was grieving for all those who had died for him but he was a leader and one of their qualities was that they never cried. That is not in front of their subordinates so as not to damage morale. Harsh was just another human who had adopted a mask which showed nothing. He had feelings in his heart and they were private.

Harry looked around trying to get his bearings or some clue to his location but without success. At last, he did what he had come to do so often lately. He turned to Harsh, "Guruji, where are we? We are nowhere near Adrishpuram."

Harsh still looked grave but said in an emotionless voice, "We are in an unnamed forest which houses one of the oldest schools of magic, Harry. One of those schools which do not feature on the list of schools with the ICW because they liberally teach all kinds of magic here including Mind Magic and Dark Magic. The ICW as a rule only publish list of those which are more or less inclined towards the light with the only exception being Durmstrang and even there, they are pretty restrictive about what to teach to their students in dark magic."

Harry asked curiously, "What school are you talking about?"

"The Takshshila School of Magic, Harry", he said, "is one of the oldest schools but secluded from the rest of the Wizarding World."

"What do you mean, Guruji?", he asked, "surely students from the school would know where it is situated."

Harsh smiled, "No Harry. This school is situated in middle of nowhere and the location of school is not told to anyone. The students are brought here by flying carriages which are laced with all sorts of anonymity charms to keep its location a secret. Anyone else who is not a student can come only through a portkey which is made by the Pradhan Acharya of the School."

Harry's knowledge of Sanskrit had reached the level that he did not need to be told the meaning of Pradhan Acharya which meant Head Master in English. The mystic who had been teaching him Sanskrit would communicate with him only in Sanskrit while they were talking. Many times in the past week Harry had to talk with the help of signs because he could not form long sentences in Sanskrit. However he had made enough progress to understand several words.

"Ummm... Guruji, if no one can find its location, how is it that we are here? I mean would we not need a portkey to go to the school?", he asked.

"Not when you are with me, Harry. You see, I am a frequent visitor to the Pradhan Acharya Shravya Vahan who trusts me enough to give me a re-useable portkey. Besides, he is bonded with a phoenix which can take me to him in event of need like when I had to rescue Prathimaan", he replied, his smile back in place.

"I thought that we would be going to Adrishpuram. There were a number of the mystics who died today. I thought that we would be there to honour and bury them", said Harry anxiously.

Harsh said gravely, "They will be given the honour they deserve but that will not happen for another 3 days. We are here to do something important which needs to done anyway. Shravya Vahan is one of the foremost experts of mind magic and he has agreed to teach you the delicate art of mind magic."

Harry frowned, "I thought you were going to teach me that."

Harsh said genially, "I was going to teach you that Harry but teaching you may lead you to some of my secrets and I would rather that those secrets were not given to anyone. This will not take long anyhow. In three days he will be finished teaching you the basics of mind magics and you can do the rest on your own."

Harry knew that he could not persuade the mystic to change his decision by any means so he merely nodded. Harsh started leading him westwards and after about an hour, they reached a copse of trees beyond which was a huge intimidating castle in the distance. The castle was at least as big as the Hogwarts castle and probably even older. From outside it looked like there were five floors to it and the distance between the gates and the castle was almost as much as at Hogwarts. The gates were flanked by two tall statues- one was a giant bird in flight the likes of which he had not seen and the other a giant serpent. The gates themselves were wrought of different metals fused together and enchanted to bar entry to anyone who was not authorised to enter. They were huge and there were two symbols carved on each gate- Om and Swastika (he remembered reading in his book in Muggle primary that it was a sign of the Nazis in the 2nd World War) drawn on either of the gates.

The bird was huge. It was around 15 feet in length and around 10 feet high. Its wingspan was around 20 feet and elaborately carved. Its beak was curved and its eyes had a look in them as if he was about to kill the one before him. Its claws were razor sharp and its plumage was of a myriad of colours. The serpent was big and perhaps bigger than the Basilisk that he had slain. Its body was in coils with each coil as thick as Hagrid would be. The serpent had many hoods bared and it freaked him out to even look at it for more than a minute.

He asked Harsh, "Guruji, what are they?"

Harsh who had got down on his knees and folded his hands before the statues, started as if in awe, "These statues represent Garud and Sheshnaag. Garud, the son of Kashyap and Vinta is believed to be the mount of the primordial god, Vishnu and the Sheshnaag, son of Kashyap and Kadru is believed to be the god of Snakes. These are much venerated in Hindu mythology and are revered as Gods. It is believed that Garud is the king of birds and he has an eternal grudge with snakes. It looks for them to kill them but it never harms Shesh Naag who is the bed of Vishnu in the sea of time, Ksheer Sagar (the milky sea). The epics go on to state that they are always instrumental in helping the God to rid the society of evil."

Harry listened with rapt attention and was in awe of the story though he did not know what he was supposed to do. He was still thinking about the Swastika symbol on the gate which had disturbed him a little. He turned to Harsh, "Guruji, why is the symbol of Nazi Germany drawn on the gates?"

Harsh scowled at him, "Please do not say this in front of anyone inside the school. The Swastika is symbol of auspiciousness, of new beginnings and a sacred symbol among Hindus and to most of the school students. Hitler just used this sign and perverted it for his own nefarious means."

Harry asked again, "Why would they get angry if I mention that to them?"

Harsh smirked, "For the same reason that you would get angry if you knew that Grindelwald used your house crest as the insignia of his forces."

Harry gasped, "My house crest? What do you mean?"

Harsh kept silent for a few minutes gathering his thoughts about how to explain it to the teen beside him, "Gellert Grindlewald had a fascination with the heirlooms of the three brothers and he spent major part of his life looking for them. While he only wanted the Elder Wand, he sought the others because he thought he would become the master of death if he obtained the three hallows. Do you not realise what the symbol of House Peverell means, Harry?"

As Harry remembered the rather simple symbol for House Peverell realisation dawned on him. The circle in the symbol stood for the resurrection stone, the line in the middle was the elder wand while the triangle represented the invisibility cloak. His invisibility cloak which he had taken for granted. He had never tried to discover its origin. He had read somewhere that invisibility cloaks never lasted for more than two or three decades at the most and his cloak, which showed no signs of wear and had never failed him, had been in the family for generations.

He looked at Harsh ashen-faced and found the mystic looking at him with a grin on his face. A few seconds later, he said, "Now what would you say if someone claimed your house's symbol as their own and used it when they committed evil? Would you be happy?"

Harry shook his head. Yes, it bothered him to know that a part of his family heritage had been so misused. It was even frightening to think that some people who remembered that misuse might even think that the symbol itself was evil.

Harsh rapped his hands on the gates of the school and seconds later, two men came flying on brooms to the gate. They were tall heavily built and had the same tone to their skins as other mystics who he knew for sure to be Indians. One of them had a staff in his hand like he had seen Moody carry around but this one looked like it was made of metal, was about the thickness of Harry's wrist and the end was fashioned into two snake heads. The entire staff looked like it was made of two snakes intertwined with each other. The other man carried a similar staff in his hand but the end of his staff was fashioned into the head of a Garud.

They both pointed their staff at the visitors and one of the guards asked, "Identify yourself and your purpose. Keep it in mind that no one can lie under these gates without mother magic punishing them for lying. The ancient altar of mother magic would see if you are lying and smite you if it is found that you come here with malice in your heart."

Harsh clasped his wand in his hands and intoned, 'I, Sharanga Varun of the lineage of the mighty Sheshnaag, do hereby swear on the cost of my magic that I am who I claim to be and I come bearing no ill-will or malice to anyone in the castle. May mother magic smite me if I am found to be untruthful in anything that I have uttered. So I say so mote it be."

A pure white glow emanated from the gates and circled Harsh and kept hovering over him for sometime before it disappeared into his body.

He turned to Harry whose mouth was open in shock and the mystic deduced that he wanted to ask a question and immediately signalled him to keep quiet with the movement of his eyes. Harry shut his mouth with an audible click but he had a lot of questions for the mystic.

One of the guards (the one who bore the staff with the serpent heads) put his hand on the gate and it melted away as if it was an illusion. Harry gasped with wonder at the sight and the mystic stifled a chuckle. The guard addressed Harsh, _"Welcome to Takshshila School of Magic, Sarang Varun. I, Karkotak, the son of Vasuki welcome you on behalf of the Pradhan Acharya, Shravya Vahan who is waiting for you in his quarters. May I know about your companion?"_

Harry had been listening to the conversation with rapt attention and when the guard asked of him, he felt uncomfortable for some reason. Harsh was saying to the guard, _"Why don't you ask him yourself? He can understand every word of our conversation with ease."_

The guard looked at the mystic with confusion and then turned to Harry and asked him,_ "Who are you young man? Would you give me your introduction?"_

Harry started speaking, "I am...' but suddenly he stopped as he realised that he was speaking in parsel tongue with the guard who was looking at him with interest. Harry looked at the other guard whose face was vacant of any kind of expression and it occurred to him that perhaps the other guard was not a parsel tongue.

Harsh prodded him to go on and he started again, _"I am Harold James of the house of Peverell of Avalon."_

Now the guard was looking him up and down, sizing him up, to determine if he was a worthy opponent and after a few moments said,_ "House of Peverell! It was my understanding that they were all extinct with the death of Ignotus and certainly none of them could speak the tongue"._

Harsh chuckled, _'He was born in the House of Potter which blended into the line of Peverell later. One of his ancestors was of the House of Black from the ancient country of Kemet."_

Harry turned to him, "Guruji, why did I state that I am of the house of Peverell?"

Harsh did not answer for a few minutes before he started saying, "This place is situated on the site of old magic where one cannot lie. However it also brings one's real identity out of them. While the Potters were one of the most powerful families but I believe ever since you started on the path of becoming a war mage, perhaps the first war mage after the last war mage of Avalon Ignotus Peverell died centuries ago, mother magic identifies you as a Peverell and you are a Potter no more.".

Harry was saddened to hear of it but he remembered the rush of his magic whenever he would utter Peverell and could understand what Harsh meant however he had no idea how it would change things. He turned to Harsh who was looking at him carefully and answered the unasked question, "Harry it is your choice to become what you want. You can present yourself to the world as Harold James Potter if it pleases you or you can become Harold James Peverell which mother magic has decreed for you."

In that moment, Harry had decided what he wanted to be but the formal announcement would have to wait. It would not do to declare it where no one can hear it. Rachael had put it into his mind that a lord must speak when he can derive the most advantage from it.

Harsh took his arm and they began walking towards the castle in the distance. when it loomed near, it looked even more impressive. It was 5 stories high and spread over a much larger area than Hogwarts did. He could see that the castle was lit with ever burning magical fires and that there were many beasts prowling the grounds while wizards were walking the corridors, their eyes alert to the surroundings.

He asked Harsh, "Guruji, why all this security? If no one can find them then why is there so much security around the place?"

Harsh grinned, "This is because the castle is more than a school. It is a symbol of hope for the wizarding world in this part of the world and there are so many students from many countries studying in here that fights can break out in a second and unlike Hogwarts, they can be rather bloody with a death or two, therefore, the security. As I remember there are around 3000 students studying in the school right now. It starts when a child reaches the age of 11 and continues for 8 years till they reach 19 and they are taught everything that is there to teach about the subject. There are more subjects taught here than at Hogwarts and some students stay here for year around while rest get to go home for a month in the year in winters. There are around 150 teachers in this place divided into groups for the subject that they teach. Each floor has around 18 classrooms on each floor with 50 students to one section like a house in Hogwarts. Students are not divided by houses and they are divided into sections. The two blokes we met at the entrance are the Rakshak or the first line of defense. Their position is one of the most vaunted ones and only those who are the most adept are selected for them. The teacher's live in quarters assigned to them on other side of the grounds and the ground is barred for apparition."

Harry asked the question which had been nagging at the back of his mind, "Guruji, you can ignore apparition wards yet we are walking, why is that?"

Harsh smiled, "That is cost of my entrance in this place. I had promised on the cost of my magic to one of the head masters of the school that I will never try to enter this place except through the entrance."

He led them to the other side of the grounds where there were a lot of quarters scattered about and stopped in front of one of them. It looked rather normal considering it was the abode of the Pradhan Acharya of the school. Harsh raised his hand to rap on the door when suddenly a phoenix flashed in trilling and Harsh smiled, "Greetings Shuka. Is Shravya Vahan awake?"

The bird looked at him as if scrutinising him and then turned its gaze to Harry. It seemed to be looking into his soul and after a moment gave a long trill and the gates opened. Harsh led him inside where the front room was rather bare with just a portrait on the wall depicting some scene which Harry could not understand. There were a few people in it pulling a huge snake from either side which was coiled around a mountain hovering in a sea, apparently unsupported. The people in the portrait kept an eye on them till they took a seat on the mats spread on the ground. Harry found it odd but knew that most of the mystics preferred sitting in that fashion over sitting on a chair or a sofa.

A few seconds later, a man entered who was even more ancient in appearance than Dumbledore with his snow white beard long enough to make Dumbledore jealous and his pitch black eyes full of power, glowing like two brightly lit orbs. He was tall and muscled and had a staff in his hand the end of which was fashioned as a white elephant head. He wore a yellow dhoti and an angvastram (a cloth to cover the upper body) was draped around his shoulders. He took a seat on the opposite side from them and snapped his fingers. An elf appeared. This was the first elf Harry had seen outside of Avalon and this one was dressed like the Pradhan Acharya minus the Angvastram and said something in a deep voice which he could not understand except for snippets of the conversation and he understood that it had happened in Sanskrit. After a few seconds the Pradhan Acharya dismissed him and the elf returned seconds later with a tray of food and refreshments. Before Harry could touch the food however the Pradhan Acharya doused him with a heavy jet of water. Spluttering and coughing, he saw that Harsh was using a drying charm on himself meaning he also had been doused with water. After drying himself, he turned to the Pradhan Acharya who said to him sombrely, "While I ask pardon for giving you a bath against your will, it is not custom among us to partake food without a bath when one has returned from battle and is soaked in blood and gore."

Harry understood. He himself had been feeling unclean but could not figure out how he could ask for a bath without sounding rude. He bowed his thanks, then drew out his wand and set about drying himself and removing any of the grime that the dousing had failed to cleanse.

The Pradhan Acharya was saying to Harsh, "Now that we are away from battle, perhaps you both should get rid of your masks. We are all friends here."

Harry realised that he was still wearing his mask and put his hand to his face. The mask came off without an effort on his part and he turned to the Pradhan Acharya. Harry followed the familiar flick of his host's eyes to the scar on his forehead. He looked a little shocked, "You are Harry Potter. I never thought I would see you here of all places."

It was the first time since Harry had come to India that someone had exclaimed at his presence and the old feeling of being a celebrity and hating every moment of it returned. Rachael's training kicked in at the moment and he said rather amicably to the Pradhan Acharya, "I did not know that people know me even here."

He chuckled, "It would take even more farther than this for people to not to recognise you, Mr. Potter. You are the only survivor of the Killing Curse but I do not believe that it was due to any ability of yours. I mean you could not even hold a wand at that age. It's just that I have received news of your exploits since your started attending Hogwarts which makes me respect you as a warrior. You are a formidable wizard and soon in the future you will be one of the foremost leaders of the Wizarding world."

Harry wondered at how their host knew about his exploits at school. He turned to Harsh with a grieved look in his eyes but the mystic was already raising his hands in surrender, "I did not tell him anything Harry. He did not even know that I was bringing you here to meet him.".

Harry turned to the other man who was trying to rein in his laughter. After a few seconds, he started, "No Harry. He did not tell me anything. I had a second hand account of your exploits from a couple of your year mates."

Now Harry wanted to know who the informers were, "Who? What did they tell you?"

Shravya Vahan smiled, "That is story for another time, Mr. Potter. But trust me when I say that nothing negative has been said about you."

Harsh who had been mostly silent and eating the food as it was offered, started to speak, "Shravya, I have brought him here because I want you to teach him mind magics. While I could have easily done it but it is easier this way because I do not want to chance my secrets to someone when revealing them can be catastrophic."

Shravya Vahan nodded his head, "I will do it but I have only three days to commit to this task."

Harsh rubbed his hands in excitement, "Excellent. We will start tomorrow."

After dinner, Shravya Vahan showed them to sleeping chambers within his quarters and offered a change of clothes to Harry like the clothes that he wore. Left with no better option, Harry donned them and retired to sleep, fatigued by the exertions of the day.

**Hogwarts**

Albus was in his chair anxiously waiting for some news from the battle that the mystics had fought. It was early morning and he had not been able to sleep a wink. The mystic had said nothing about Harry Potter fighting in that battle and so, he wished to be certain that he was safe.

The door to his office opened and the mystic entered looking grim. Albus's heart sank with the anticipation of some unfortunate news however before he could speak, the mystic himself started, "The battle was won, Albus but we lost around 15 of our ranks."

Albus spoke anxiously, "What of Harry? Is he okay?"

The mystic took a full minute before he started answering, "He handled himself very well as it befits a wizard of his calibre. He had been made a part of the army and served at the front and he conducted himself as it suits to his station. I am told that he is learning very quickly and has already mastered sword fighting and erected his mindscape. Guruji is teaching him the delicate art of mind magics which would be useful to him in the long run. As it happens, he does not have much to learn now but still it would take him at least three weeks to finish his training. After that he will return to Avalon to pursue his destiny."

Albus was relieved but had some qualms about the mystics which he chose to raise, "Why was he included in such a battle? He has not learned enough to be a part of such an endeavour."

The mystic smiled, "I know you care about the boy Albus but this was necessary in order to tell him what can be the cost of war. He had to have taste of battle so that he would not falter when it came to fighting. He has learned so much in the past two weeks that I fear you would not be able to connect him with the boy who had left on the Marichika."

Albus said nothing but thought about what the teen was being taught. He never wanted Harry Potter to be inclined toward the Dark but the mystics were not fussed about such fine distinctions. He would just have to wait for the boy to come back so that he would be able to see for himself.

In the meantime Albus had work to do. The Cottage on the hill had been employed to train the less talented members of the Order to fight. Every evening Mad-eye would teach them things that may just save their lives. There weren't many members who were fit to fight but those that were able turned up every day and practiced. Sirius had brought some books from his library which Moody used to teach them.

His primary concern was the horcruxes and he intended to check one place where he was sure he could find one of them. He had found the wizard who had been sent to serve Morphin Gaunt his summons when he had been arrested for attacking Tom Riddle Senior the first time. Using his memory, he had found the location of their home which was more like a shack and he intended to visit the place once to see if one of the horcruxes was hidden there.

He turned to the mystic who was sitting on the other side of the table, "I think I know where one of the horcruxes is hidden."

The mystic eagerly asked, "Then why we are dallying here? Let us go and retrieve it at this moment."

Albus chuckled, "Patience my friend. I need someone to take care of the castle before we can go. As it happens, the castle is empty during the month of July and only Mr. Filch, the elves and I live here during that period. I need to secure it first because if Hogwarts fell, no other place would be safe."

With one motion, the mystic drew out and flourished his wand producing a patronus (a bull) and murmured to it, "Go to Vivaswat. I need him and a team of 10 mystics here in the next hour."

He turned to Albus, "Now your castle is secure Albus. I have called a team of mystics to stay around and look after the castle in your absence."

After a little less than an hour, a team of 11 mystics entered the grounds of the castle and Dumbledore met them at the double doors. The leader of the mystics raised his fist to heart and intoned, "Dharm aur Maan", and the gesture was reciprocated by Aparichit.

Aparichit addressed the man, "Vivaswat, we are going on a little mission and in the meantime, you have to guard the castle and the grounds with your life. We do not know how long it may take but you will remain here until I come to release you from your charge."

Vivaswat bowed to him, "As you say, Pundariksh."

As they left the grounds and approached the gates, Albus turned to the mystic, "Pundariksh?"

The mystic smirked, "Albus, you honestly did not think that my name is Aparichit, did you? Aparichit simply means Stranger and I take that identity when I do not wish for myself to be known. None of us use our real name when we are on some mission."

Albus said nothing but fished out a piece of rope from his pocket and gestured for the mystic to grab hold. A second later, they had disappeared.

**Little Hangleton**

They appeared in the shade of some trees at a crossroads where a sign directed them towards Little Hangleton. As they walked, they could see the town in the distance but somewhere along the way a country road diverted from the main road and went off to one side. The path was old and neglected, very nearly obscured in the overgrowth. It had not been used, perhaps for decades now. They followed this path and after a little trouble reached the ruin of a very decrepit old house. It was so far gone in decay and obscured by climbing plants that if Albus did not already know exactly where it was, he might have missed it.

Albus amused himself by casting confundus charms at the numerous snakes that seemed too curious about them for his comfort while the mystic waved his wand casting detection spells around them and the ruin of the shack. After a minute or so, the mystic nodded that there was no one around. Albus started towards the shack when the mystic's arm shot out and restrained him, "Watch where you are going Albus. There are wards around this property which we will have to destroy before we enter. While we cannot still be sure that there is a horcrux inside but the security belies the fact that there is something precious inside it. The magical signature on the wards resemble to that of Tom Riddle."

Dumbledore employed his own wand (birchwood and unicorn tail core) and cast a series of detection spells then frowned, "He has interlaced these wards with some particularly nasty curses. Anyone who tripped them would die a rather nasty and painful death."

The mystic reached into his pocket and produced some small runestones. Turning to Albus, he said, "I am going to toss these into the air, Albus. Your work is to hit them before they reach the ground with a finite. These rune stones are ward explosives and will destroy most of his wards without tripping any of the traps."

Albus looked elated, "Really ingenious. Would you lend them to me to study? I could use them for better purposes."

The mystic smirked, "Hasn't guruji told that we do not share our proprietary magic with anyone? This is a special creation of mystics and we use it to break down wards such as these. For those wards which are older and more complicated, we have to destroy them with brutal force."

Albus sighed. He really wanted to learn at least one of their secrets but it looked like they would not yield to him. He gestured to the mystic to toss the rune stones and with a few seconds, most of the wards on the property had been destroyed except for a proximity ward which Albus insisted that they leave intact.

As the mystic asked him why they left that ward intact, Albus gave him a feral grin, "Sooner or later Tom will know that we are hunting his horcruxes. He will return to this site to see if it has been disturbed. The presence of his own ward should give him a feeling of false security . When he steps inside, he will set off the wonderous combination of jinxes, hexes and containment wards which we have linked to and hidden behind his own work. It is unlikely to kill him, but it should incapacitate him and keep him here. He may be able to apparate out eventually, but the effort will exhaust him."

The mystic had to give it to Albus that he was a genius.

The mystic started casting some more detection spells and Albus reciprocated the gesture but they yielded nothing. The mystic frowned, "Perhaps there is no horcrux here."

Albus smiled genially, "I do not think so. We have searched the upper surface but I believe there is a little hole in the middle of the floor where he has stowed the horcrux. We have to find a way to enter and retrieve it without tripping the proximity ward."

The mystic immediately disappeared and a few seconds later, he returned beaming, "You are right, there is a little hole in the middle of the floor rigged with all sort of protections and one cannot access to it without falling prey to them. I have opened the entrance to the hole but did not try to access it because there are many nasty curses tied to it to kill people instantly while Tom Riddle would know immediately that someone has found his secret but the curious thing is that it does not seem to affect animals, particularly snakes."

Albus transfigured a snake out of a tree branch and animated it to reach inside the hole and bring the horcrux, which he was sure was being kept here.

The snake returned a few minutes later with something in its mouth which it dropped before Dumbledore. It was a stone bearing the Peverell crest set in a silver band to be worn like a ring. It was clear that it was the famed Resurrection Stone. The stone awakened some long dead hope in Dumbledore's mind. It reminded him of a time when he was younger and sought the three hallows. Unlike his friend Gellert, he sought the stone the most because he believed he could have resurrected his sister with its help and escape the guilt that he carried in his heart for more than 100 years.

Dumbledore kept staring at the horcrux for minutes, captivated and as if in trance, he stretched out his hand to pick it up but the mystic pushed his hand away before it could touch the stone. Albus's vision came back into focus and he looked at the mystic, with confusion in his eyes, "What... why did you do that?"

The mystic was scowling at him, "Honestly, Albus? Did you not cast a detection spell at the horcrux? There is a withering curse over this stone which cannot be negated and a compulsion charm to force anyone to wear it."

Albus looked down embarrassed, "I was lost in my thoughts. It's just that this stone brought back some really old memories and made me lose my wits. If you were not here with me, I do not know what would have happened."

The mystic levitated the ring and secured it in a box made of cedar wood and lined with runes which Albus recognised as runes to contain the effect of something from escaping. The mystic slipped the box into his robes. With the horcrux contained, for now, the two of them went to work laying down a surprise for Tom Riddle, hiding their work, and then linking it all to the ward that they had preserved and made it possible to hide the last trace.

After a few minutes, they were back in Albus's office at Hogwarts. After Vivaswat sent off the mystics telling them to inform Harsh that they had found another of the abominations, they sat down to decide what to do with the stone.

The mystic said to him, "We should destroy it, Albus. There is no other way."

Albus looked as if the mystic had suggested committing sacrilege, "this...", he paused, "this is the resurrection stone, a heirloom of legends and part of Harry's rightful inheritance. We cannot simply destroy it. I thought that your leader, Harsh said that you had a better way to exorcise the soul fragment than our crude methods."

The mystic smirked, "Of course we do but that would not remove the withering curse or the compulsion charm. We need to destroy it so that it would free of any taint. This is one of the most powerful relics ever made and I do not believe that its powers would be broken anyway."

Albus conceded the point, "so how do we destroy it?"

The mystic grinned, "The sword of Gryffindor of course."

An hour later, the men returned to the castle with the stone showing a crack down the middle, free of the taint of Tom and working as the resurrection stone again. The mystic handed the stone to him, "Keep it safe in your possession, Albus until Harry Potter returns."

Albus was genuinely curious, "You do realise that this stone can call back anyone who has passed to the other side? Do you not want to use it to talk to someone you feel you should make your peace with?"

The mystic smiled humourlessly, "I do not have any ghosts in my past Albus. When I became a mystic, my old life ceased to exist. There is no one that I wish to see again but I feel like you need to come at peace with something that happened in your life sometime. Just remember that it is not wise to disturb the dead more than it is really needed. Use this wisely."

Albus said nothing but only nodded. There was someone he needed to make his peace with and perhaps he would do so in the presence of the only family left to him.

**Takshshila School of Magic**

Harry Potter was sitting in front of Shravya Vahan who was telling him the intricacies of mind magic, "Mind magic is a delicate thing Mr. Potter because the mind controls the body and any small mistake on can cause great harm. Mind magics are not practiced except those who have well organized mind and then too, most of them can only use it to employ occlumency or legilimancy. Most of the more exotic applications of mind magics are not available to general public for a simple reason that it will lead to chaos and anarchy. Imagine every wizard capable of intruding other's mind. That is why the exotic applications of mind magics are kept out of the reach of people. Most of these include using force to bring down someone's mental shields even when they are keeping it raised to the full, utterly destroying their mindscape, making someone insane with a little force and these must not be used liberally but with a little caution and not be taught to someone whose morals are questionable."

Harry nodded, taking in every word that the venerable Pradhan Acharya was telling him. He had been interested in learning mind magics because Dumbledore had hinted that he would keep the prophecy away from him until he was sure that his mind was his own. Besides Legilimancy sounded cool and a little part of him wanted that kind of power.

Shravya Vahan was saying, "The first and most important thing is to have well organized mind which is very useful for a wizard or a witch. Having organized mind gives them the ability to learn a spell quickly and also to recall information with perfect clarity without having to shift through one's memories to find it saving a lot of time."

As Harry listened he realised that the main reason that he had to work harder to learn new spells was that his mind was a jumble. Often when he tried to concentrate, old memories and unwanted emotions connected with them would intrude and distract him. That was why Hermione was scarily smart because her mind was well organized and she grasped things easily. He also realised that things were a lot easier for him since he had started to sort his memories through the mindscape that he had made.

"Do you know about occlumency, Mr. Potter?", Shravya Vahan was asking.

He turned to the other man, "Guruji told me what it is but not how it works."

Shravya Vahan sat gathering his thoughts for some time before he started to speak, "Occlumency comes from the word 'occlude' which roughly translates 'to hide or guard' i.e. hiding something from others. An occlumens has the ability to hide his emotions, his feelings, his memories from others. To be a proficient occlumens, you must have substantial mind defences which would hold against any attack. To be able to hold against any attack, you must learn to identify if someone is trying to enter your mind."

"How do you know if someone is trying to enter your mind?", Harry asked, his frank curiosity plain in his every word.

"That depends upon one's sensitivity to magic. Has it not ever happened that you felt like someone else was in your mind or that you felt like someone was watching you but it turned out there was no one around", Shravya Vahana asked.

Harry remembered a few times when he felt like someone was reading his thoughts especially in the presence of Dumbledore or Snape. Harsh (or was he Sarang) had told him that they were master Legilimens which meant that they likely had read his mind. Dumbledore always seemed to know what he was thinking when He peered at Harry from behind his half moon spectacles with that twinkle in his eyes.

"Mr. Shravya Vahan, is it possible to read someone's mind without using your wand?", he asked, just to be certain of his assumptions.

The other man smiled mischievously, "It is possible to do that however it requires one to be proficient in wandless magic and extreme will power because to maintain the spell and to shift through someone's memories requires intense concentration. The magical power itself required to cast the spell is little and the only effort is required to maintain your contact. A master Legilimens can shift through your surface thoughts without making a connection through eyes but to see your memories, it is essential to maintain eye contact. The next thing required is to have mental shields which would protect your mind from an intrusion."

"Mental shields?", he asked, "but I have a mindscape I thought that was a mental shield. Is there more required?"

The other man chuckled, "Mr. Potter, mental shields are required so that one would not be able to enter into your mindscape. It is the first and foremost line of defence before one can have run of the mindscape. It's like tearing the gate before you would be able to intrude into Hogwarts in case of intrusion."

"So how do I make a mental shield?", he asked the other man.

"To make it by yourself requires time which we do not have on our hands. There is another way which we can use but that requires complete trust between two persons. It would require me to enter your mind and construct your shields. You can decide how you want them to be", the other man explained. "Now the question is whether you trust me enough to enter your mind and construct your mental shields?", the other man asked him, his stare intense and fixed on him.

Harry did not know what to answer. Since he had started reading about occlumency and legilimency, he had become conscious of his privacy. He now knew that his mind could be invaded with a mere flick of thought. He did not know if he could trust the other man to keep his secrets from anyone else.

He turned to the other man, "I would not choose to offend you in any way. We have only just recently met and I must carefully consider the consequences before I allow you into my mind. May I have some time to think it over before I give you my answer?"

The other man smiled, "If you had allowed me into your mind promptly, I would have been surprised. You have started to realise the importance of keeping secrets which is a good thing. Take a couple of hours to mull over this and let me know. In the meanwhile, why don't you step out and see if the school is anywhere up to the standards of Hogwarts."

He clapped his hands and a man entered, "Rajveer, Mr. Potter here is our guest for the next three days and I want you to give him a tour of the school. If he want to see any of the classes, inform the teacher that it is my wish."

Harry followed the man out and to the castle. There were big dungeons in the castle which were used for duelling classes. There were at least 5 arenas dedicated to duelling and there were a couple more which were used for physical exercises and athletic games. The entrance to the castle was flanked by two huge doors made of a type of wood that he did not recognise and were covered with carved runes. Harry identified many of the runes from his study of Sanskrit. Beyond the gates was an entrance chamber like the one at Hogwarts, but; twice as big as it looked from the outside. Perhaps it was done with extension charms. The great Hall was likewise extended. He turned to Rajveer, "Umm... how do the extension charms hold together and never fail?"

The man smiled genially, "The charms are done by Runes which are etched into the foundation and are powered by the 8 ley lines that pass through here. This castle stands on the site of the most ancient of magics."

Harry nodded. As they progressed, someone called him from behind. He turned and saw Harsh Vardhana who was beckoning him to a class room where he was sitting  
with another man. The other man was square jawed, his face marred by scars and his brown eyes bore such an expression in them as though they had seen everything in the world.

Harsh introduced him, "Harold James Potter meet Sarveshwar Markand who is a duelling master at this fine school. Sarveshwar, this is Harry James Potter, a protegee of mine."

The man extended his hand to Harry, "There are a very few people who do not know you and none of those are found in places such as these."

Harry did not know what to say. With few exceptions, the people he had known either fawned over him, hated him or treated him like a child. These people knew of him and treated him as an adult. Harry thought he could get used to this.

"So Mr. Potter, Sarang here told me that you are very proficient dueller for one who does not use lethal spells. Would you like to try your hand at duelling?", Sarveshwar asked him.

Harry considered refusing, but; somehow, he wanted to see how good the best students at this school were. Of course he knew that Bulgaria and France had their schools but he had never heard of Takshshila and his interest was piqued. He nodded his head and the duelling master took him to one of the arenas where students were practicing. As they saw him coming, the students ceased their practice and made room for them.

He called one of his best and the duel was set. It was to continue till only one of them was standing on his feet and only non-lethal spells were to be used.

As the round began, Harry began circling his opponent sizing him up. He had become proficient in casting and defending but he had to see if he could use it here. His opponent waited for a few minutes but Harry did not lead the charge. His wand was hung loosely at his side, his knees bent slightly ready to dodge to either side according to need. Finally his opponent lost patience and fired a stunner which passed through the place where Harry had been a split second before. Harry cast an answering Tarantallegra before the stunner even finished passing by. His opponent looked befuddled, not understanding how such a simple charm could be useful in a duel. Harry thought he could use that to his advantage. He followed up with petrification hex followed by a stunner and a stinger. The opponent raised a protego and took all three on his shield but almost dropped his shield seeing the stinger. Taking Harry to be immature, he started casting some dangerous but non-lethal curses at him which he could dodge or shield easily. He waited for a few seconds before he began his own barrage and peppered his opponent with bone breakers and added a shield shattering hex in between the bone breakers. His opponent who had been shielding all the bone breakers gasped as the shield in his hand exploded with the shield shattering hex and his wand hand was broken by the bone breaker. Harry immediately cast the petrification hex, stunner and completed the chain with an incarcerous. By the time he finished, his opponent had been stunned and bound with chains.

The duelling instructor clapped enthusiastically, "Bravo Mr. Potter! You did great."

Harry bowed his head and accepted the praise being lavished on him. Then he enervated his opponent and returned his wand to him. His opponent bowed low to him and Harry felt he had gained a few more allies.

Harsh escorted him with Rajveer throughout the castle showing him the classes. The stair cases were made of sand stone. Although they did not move like their counterparts at Hogwarts, there were many trick steps concealed in them. There were a lot of ghosts in the school just like at Hogwarts. What amazed him was the absence of any House divisions and the students mixed with each other freely. Then there were the subjects. He was told that they taught many subjects that were taught at Hogwarts and many more which were no longer taught at Hogwarts. There was Duelling, Defensive & Offensive Applications of Magic (DADA was not a subject there), Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology (they were taught a few more plants which were not available in Britain), Ancient Runes (The Seven Languages and Brahmi Runes), Arithmancy, Muggle studies (there were many muggle-born among the students and staff, so the curriculum was fairly recent), Wizarding Culture of Bharat (for those who were uninitiated), Introduction to Alchemy, General Healing classes, Astronomy, Magical Creatures, Enchanting. For some reason, Harry found that Quidditch was not very popular at this school and as such, brooms were used only for flying or to commute.

Their broomsticks were not as he was used to seeing them. His companion Rajveer, had told him in an undertone that every broom had been made and enchanted by students in the past which was a terribly long process. Most of their brooms were prototype versions which fascinated him but as he knew he would never get his hands on them, he simply shrugged. He thought that making flying brooms sounded like a good career option. May be something to ponder upon later as he had 45% shares in the Firebolt Broom Company.

They spent about three hours touring the school. With all there was to do and see, Harry felt that he had only just begun. Harsh took him to the kitchen which like Hogwarts was situated in the Dungeons and manned by Elves. The Elves served them happily and as they ate, Harsh started making small talk, "So Harry, what has worried you?"

Harry now knew how the mystic could know everything that was going on in his head, "Guruji, Pradhan Acharya asked me if he may enter my mind and construct my mental shields for me. He told me of the risk of exposure of my secrets to him if he is in my head but we do not have to do it the normal way."

Harsh smiled, "Harry, this is a decision you have to make. Understand this that to trust him or not to trust him is up to you. If you refuse, we will find someone else to teach you mind magics but he is the safest person that you can get."

Harry asked him, "What makes you say that?"

Harsh winked at him, "While we are here he is bound by the duties of a host to do our bidding and by that duty he cannot expose anything that has been confided to him by me or you. To do so would be a breach of etiquette and this is a practice punishable by mother magic. However there is another way which is equally safe and we can be more certain that he would not divulge your secrets to anyone."

Harry grinned but said nothing.

Half an hour later, Harry was in front of Pradhan Acharya, "I allow you to enter my mind to help me construct my mental shields, however; this invitation does not extend to you going any farther or to see my memories or to try to enter into my mindscape. My mindscape is private and a lot of lives depend on me keeping their secrets. If you transgress the trust confided in you, I hope mother magic will smite you for your transgression."

The Pradhan Acharya smiled, "A smart move Mr. Potter. Did Sarang put you to it?"

Harry just smiled then sat down and entered into meditation. As the Pradhan Acharya entered into his mind, he felt it and stiffened but a calm voice pervaded his  
mind, "Do not worry, Mr. Potter. I will ensure that no harm is caused to you in doing this."

He relaxed and he could feel the other man in his mind chanting something. A few seconds later, he said, "Now while I am chanting start imagining what kind of mental shields you want in your mind. Imagine them to rise from nothing and form fully. Imagine what you want them to do if someone is trying to enter your mind."

Harry started imagining a trap that he had heard once from Pashupati when he was out grooming Black Storm. The mystic told him about a trap that he had run into once. This trap was a sturdy wall which he could not scale therefore he started prodding around, looking for the weak link and when he found one, he stormed his way in. As he did, the wall repaired itself and walls around him started closing in. It was only due to his ability to disapparate that he lived to tell the tale. He imagined such a wall around his mind, slippery and unclimbable. There was a little place in the wall where it was weak and once one entered with very little difficulty, the breech in the wall would close behind them and the person would be trapped with the likeness of a torture curse being used on them.

As he kept imagining the mental shields, it kept rising from his mind while Shravya Vahan chanted. When they were done and he opened his eyes, it had been 6 hours. Shravya Vahan dismissed him for the night and he happily went to sleep.

In the next two days, Harry visited the castle twice more and saw the portions he had not seen the first day and was impressed but still nothing would ever replace Hogwarts for him. Hogwarts was his home.

The master of mind magic had taught him to guard his mind against intrusion, how to detect an intrusion and how to fight it. After he used the Legilimens spell (with Harsh's permission since it was illegal to use it on a minor without permission from a guardian) on him for an hour, Harry had been able to detect his presence and raise his mental shields to repel him. He still entered despite the shields a few times before Harry was able to successfully oust him from his mind. He taught him to use diversion i.e. place a horrifying image before the intruder and then oust him while he was distracted. Harry had a few such memories and he relished the idea of scaring someone who would try to enter his mind the next time. The important moment had been when Shravya Vahan taught him wandless casting telling him that passive legilimancy could not be done except wandlessly. He told Harry to practice wandlessly for the simpler spells at first and as he succeeded, he should try it with more complex spells. So far, Harry was able to use petrification hex and stingers wandlessly and he was confident that he would be able to cast more wandless spells with more time and practice.

On the third day, he taught him the theory of how to destroy someone's mindscape and told him not to try it on an accomplished Legilimens or someone who was able to fight back. If someone was petrified or otherwise disabled, they could not resist it. He taught him how to utterly destroy someone's mindscape with fire or to cause enough agony to break their spirit (like with Slughorn) to gain something they had.

Harry was thoroughly tested by Harsh on occlumency and legilimancy and he was pleased with the progress Harry made during his time with Shravya Vahan.

At the end of three days, they returned to Adrishpuram. That evening they had the funeral of the warriors who had fallen in battle. Their bodies were placed on pyres made of wood, draped in the mystic cloak and their wands on their chests. A mystic stood on one side chanting some hymns while other mystics stood rigid, their faces impassive but their eyes full of tears which fell without any inhibition. When the mystic was done chanting, Harsh raised his wand and cast a wide area "Pavakam (Fire)" which engulfed all of the bodies. The blue-white flames roared heavenward for some time, then left the ground, leaving no trace of the bodies or the pyres behind.

Harsh summoned Harry to his room that night, "Harry, I trust you have some questions for me."

He nodded, "What is your real name? Why did we not place the bodies of the fallen warriors into crypts and bury them with honour, but; burn them instead?"

The mystic sat and considered before starting, "My real name is Sarang Varun. Centuries ago, I was the prince of this little kingdom where Adrishpuram is now situated. When one becomes a mystic, his old identity burns away and there is nothing left but only the mask and the cloak. We do not inter them into the crypts because we are not like other magical families. We believe that we return to where we come from. We mystics come from nothing and we return to nothing. Only thing that is eternal is magic and soul."

Harry nodded yawning. Harsh saw this and immediately dismissed him. Harry returned to his room thinking all the while that the whole of Adrishpuram once belonged to the mystic.

**Please leave me some reviews**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N- **Hey guys, thanks for your reviews. I am honoured however it is little sad to see that this fic does not attract general attention like other fics out there. But well, I am writing for you awesome people out there who are giving their valuable time to read it. Thanks you guys.

Thanks everyone for the reviews.

Thank you Hypergym for the editing and changes you made.

* * *

**Adrishpuram**

The Morning after the funeral, Vari came sneaking into Harry's room to see if the lad had learned anything yet. He was fairly confident that he would not be detected under a disillusionment spell with his feet silenced. Unknown to Vari, Harry was feigning sleep and oblivion with his wand ready in his hand and his cat-like night vision active. When the rather subtle proximity ward, which Harry had placed in his doorway, informed him that there was an intruder, Harry blasted the doorway with an Aguamenti that had the force of a muggle fire-hose. He thought that perhaps he had over-done it as Vari went tumbling backwards out of the door. Vari did a back-flip and landed back on his feet, wet and spluttering. Harry knew that there was no serious harm done, but, watching the glint in Vari's eyes and the amazingly Snape-like curl to his lip as Vari dried himself off, Harry knew that training today was going to be fun… for Vari.

When Harry arrived at the track, Vari vanished his trainers then banished him to the middle of the lake, where he landed with a splash. Before beginning his training with the mystics, Harry had only the slightest idea of how to tread water, never mind swim. To make matters worse, since the healing and all the physical training, His frame was much denser and well muscled than he had ever been before. This meant that if he stopped paddling, he would go right to the bottom. Vari gave him a minute to get over the surprise of being in the water and get himself sorted out before he began bellowing instructions at him. After a few minutes, Harry was treading water easily. After a few minutes more, Harry was able to make some progress toward the shore. As Vari worked with him, he was able to use his magic to help him stay afloat and propel him forward.

When Harry climbed out of the lake, Vari had his wand pointed at him, "Potter, you will run until you drop and I will keep things interesting while you do so."

Harry took-off and started running while Vari shot at him with a wide variety of dark curses. He yelled at Harry to dodge and keep running. Harry managed to complete three laps before he dropped. Without a word, Vari peppered him with stingers. Harry started push-ups. First, he spread his feet apart, then alternated ten push-ups on his left hand, then ten push-ups on his right hand. When he was no longer able to do any more one-handed, he put his feet together and continued two-handed until his arms seized up.

In his studies, Harry thought he might have an easier time of it because his newly organized mind-scape made it easier for him to learn and recall things. But no, his teachers, sensing his improved abilities just piled on more. By the time he crawled into bed, sore and tired, he neglected to replace his ward and passed out.

The second day, Vari came sneaking back. Detecting no ward at the doorway, he entered Harry's chamber. His non-verbal Homenum revelio showed him that it was the real Harry Potter slumbering away obliviously in his bed. Disappointed, he let loose a stinger and laughed as Harry leapt, yelping from his bed. When he arrived at the track, Vari just gestured to the lake and Harry dived in. By the time Harry had sorted himself out enough to swim across and back, Vari had a number of mystics assembled around the track "This morning, you disappointed me. You allowed me to enter your chamber undetected and unchallenged. You will work extra hard. My friends here,", he gestured to the group, " have kindly volunteered to make your laps more interesting. You will run. You will dodge. You will not permit any of their spells to touch you. And…"

Harry anticipated him, "I will run until I drop." And Harry took off at a full run.

As he ran, the mystics fired bone breakers and bone exploders at him while he dodged them. Dodging had become easier for him now. He was learning to feint and fake so that the mystics could not easily predict his movements and kept casting their spells where he wasn't. There were several near misses, but; he was able to escape without any serious harm. It looked like Vari had turned up the brutality in the training a notch.

By the third day, Harry had learned his lesson and Vari was not able to enter his room unchallenged again. Swimming had become a daily routine. By the end of the week, Harry Potter had become a good swimmer. He had taken to swimming hard at the beginning of his workout to warm up and loosen his muscles and swimming in a leisurely fashion, swimming underwater, testing himself to see how long he could stay down, at the end of his workout to cool off and cleanse the sweat from his body. Not only did the swimming leave him feeling clean and refreshed, it also helped him to build strength in all of his muscles and improve his endurance.

The same pattern continued for the next full week. As word got around with the mystics about Harry's routine, more of them turned up to hex, jinx and curse him as he ran, making the laps around the track so "interesting" that Harry could hardly run a step without having to dodge something. He was getting better at dodging and guessing in which direction the mystics were likely to hex him. He had started to love feinting for them which worked wonders for his reflexes. He came to realise that all this dodging was working wonders for his agility which might have suffered otherwise with his increase in size and strength. One-handed push-ups, Russian push-ups, swimming and sword fighting plus the mountain air, the diet of the mystics and the healing ritual had all contributed to him gaining strength in leaps and bounds. He thought he could beat Crabbe and Goyle in an arm wrestle now, likely Flint too. And yet, he had not become muscle-bound but was now more subtle than he had ever been. Even Mrs. Weasley would not be able to say that he looked peaky or underfed now.

Harry missed his friends of course. He had not heard from them since he left Wizarding Britain. The few times that he had been able to talk to Sirius, the marauder was living at a different location. Harry was seriously concerned that Sirius had left the safety of the Black town-house. There was still no word that the ministry had called off the man-hunt. If he were caught, he was still under a death sentence. When Harry talked to Moony about allowing Sirius to leave the safety of the Black Town House, the werewolf chuckled briefly over this then assured Harry that adequate precautions had been taken. He had not received any message from Dumbledore either. When he asked Harsh about this, he told him that Adrishpuram had some heavy duty mail wards which allowed no form of communication to pass through. Homesickness was beginning to set in. More and more each day, he thought about Sirius, Remus, Hermione, Susan, Neville and Ron but he missed them all. He also missed Mrs. Weasley's wonderful home cooking, her three course meals, Mr. Weasleys obsession with all things muggle, Gred and Feorge's pranks and even Ginny.

He thought of Susan the most and how pretty she was. She had been loyal to him without asking anything in return. He felt he should have cultivated more friendships than just in the Lion's den. There were people in the Badger's hole and the Eagle's nest who he should have tried to know. He had been such a private individual that he did not even know the names of all his year mates except those in Lion's den i.e. Ron, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Hermione, Parvati, Lavender, Fay Dunbar and there was a girl named Runcorn but he could not remember her first name. He was determined to make more friends than just the trio and occasionally Ginny he used to have around him. Of course, there had been Ron running interference all the time. He hadn't minded it so much when people were just being annoying, but now, things will have to change. Harry was going to let Ron know, in no uncertain terms, that he would decide who his friends are for himself from now on.

The Potions Master had started to give him free rein of the dungeons. As soon as Harry would enter he would give him a list of potions he had to brew for a particular day and then would step into the role of a spectator. There were generally 3 potions on the list each day and it kept him busy for three hours a day. Thanks to the new mindscape, Harry had no problem recalling even the most complicated and fiddly potion recipes and getting them right every time. At the beginning of class, he looked at the list of what he would be brewing today and recalled the recipes. Before he started, he went over each recipe and decided if and how he would modify each one, then made notes, on parchment about any changes he was making and what effect he expected from each one. He laid out a schedule in his head of each step for each potion so that he could brew them all simultaneously. He laid out his ingredients and checked that each one was properly prepared and pure. He set out the cauldrons and conjured fires to get them to exactly the right temperature, then started brewing. As he worked over the cauldrons, he recalled facts about each ingredient, where it came from, how to care for the source plant or animal, how to prepare them for use, their properties and their other uses.

The Potions Master had informed Harry that he had taught what he could to Harry considering the time they had together and the position of Harry in the tribe. He could not teach him the more exotic potions which were only known to mystics because Harry had no practical uses for them in his war. He had taught him every potion that he thought would be useful for him like the blood replenishing potion, pain relieve potion, Skele Gro, Nutritional Potions, Draught of Living Death, Wiggenweld Potion and a few others that he was expected to brew in his OWLs or NEWTs.

There were two potions that he taught Harry which was not a part of his academic curriculum. One was the poison made from the plants which was the magical cousin of the mimosa pudica. To make the potion from it was very simple. It required mixing ingredients from a couple of poisonous plants and then boiling it till it started emitting green smoke. However the smoke was extremely dangerous and was to be stored in a crystal phial and kept sealed at all times. When it was meant to be used, the vials would be hit with a heating charm bringing the potion to a boil and then thrown into the air, it should be hit with a bombarda. The vapour that would spread would kill those who came into direct contact with it while those who got even the tiniest whiff would be paralysed at the very least. Harry wondered if a tiny amount of thermite could be placed at the centre of one of these phials to make a gas grenade that could be used by the order. But he did not share this idea with the potions master.

The other potion was a side project that Prathimaan had given him. That was to brew the Polyjuice Potion correctly. As a reward Harry could take the potions with him. Harry had started the Potion a week ago and today, it had to be left to simmer for a full moon cycle which meant about two weeks later the potion would be ready.

Potions class was just before lunch with Harsh and the mystic had a savage sense of humour. His frequent pranks were both subtle and inventive. He would strike at the most inopportune moments and never the same way twice. Harry was more wary of him than Vari and Vari used him as a practice target. He had learned some prank worthy tricks from the mystic and was looking forward to trying them out on the marauders. Although, he thought that this would earn their ire, he thought that he may even be able to teach the twins a thing or two.

One prank had been when Harry had sat down to eat after making sure that there was nothing amiss and as soon as he sat down, his chair trapped him with chains around his wrists and a jinx which was tied with the chair locked his tongue. Harsh just sat there amused watching him try to cast non-verbal wandless spells unsuccessfully. It had been a very agonizing 20 minutes before Harsh released him telling him the secret behind non-verbal casting and to practice it any time he could. He had started to do so but it had been very difficult going. He had tried to cast the spell which was his personal favourite, 'Pitra dev Sanrakshnam (Expecto Patronum)' inaudibly. After working at it for an hour straight, he had not been able to so much as conjure a wisp of silver. When Harsh asked which spell he was trying to cast and Harry told him, the mystic started laughing so hard that Harry felt he would fall over. After he controlled his outburst, Harsh told him that Expecto Patronum could not be done inaudibly. It was one of those spells along with the unforgivables and a few other curses which required being cast audibly. So, Harry had started with a stinger which was easy. Then he went to work on the stunning until he could fire them effortlessly without even thinking of moving his lips. As he worked at it, he added progressively more difficult spells, some of them getting into the borderline dark spells. The non-verbal spells didn't quite have the same punch that he got by shouting incantations at the top of his lungs, but the trade-off for the element of surprise or being able to cast when speaking aloud was ill-advised or impossible was well worth it. Speaking of surprises, he decided to keep this new ability to himself. There was a certain satisfaction to keeping secrets, especially those that could give him a tactical advantage. However, he resolved never to keep secrets that may allow harm to come to another person.

Another time he had been caught in a prank was when he had been walking to classes and suddenly his feet started dancing of their own accord. He was sure that nobody was near enough to curse him in anyway. He tried to use finite and all other counter curses he knew, but; nothing helped. When he went to the healer, Charak discovered that his robes had been enchanted to keep him dancing on his feet and he had been trying to finite himself thinking someone may have cursed him.

He had been totally embarrassed the day when he was walking towards his room after his classes for the day and his shoes vanished from his feet. As he turned around, he found Harsh holding his wand and grinning at him. Harsh often enchanted his stuff and the jinx tied to them took effect when Harsh was not around so Harry was unable to retaliate. Harry was determined not to let it get to him. The mystic would get what was coming to him.

He often ran into traps which were meant solely to prank him. As he stood there laughing, Harsh would send him off to stable duty because he had not been vigilant enough. As a result Harry was on very good terms with the animals now. They seemed to know him and often expressed their joy when he came to visit them.

In transfiguration class Ambar was teaching him animation. She had taught him all the basics of animation in the last week. She also showed him memories of some of the animation she had seen or done in her life. The most impressive had been when she enchanted water to resemble a horse and attack her opponents while she brought them down. It was a very fascinating event where she had been deployed to kill a group of nine wizards who were starting to become a menace and the mystics had chosen her for the job. In yet another ambush she had transfigured a boulder into a stone golem and enchanted it to shoot fire bolts at her enemies. She showed him another memory where Harsh was fighting 30 wizards and animated a couple of statues to come alive and fight on his side. Yet again in another duel, he was shown that Harsh had transfigured stone boulders into animals and animated them to attack his enemies. He had been having the most trouble in animation because his raw power was his own enemy. Animation required him to use his power in controlled measures rather than putting in too much power at once. He was able to control the amount of power in his spells lately, but; animation required him to use his power in controlled amounts for longer periods of time. So far, he had been over powering his animations, causing them to explode. Ambar had been patiently dealing with him. She told him how power rushed into one's body and in his veins. He had to control the flow of magic he put into animation and to that end she had told him that as he achieved proficiency in occlumency he would be able to successfully animate things.

His animagus training had been coming along beautifully. She had taught him to transform his nails into claws. In the same manner, he had been getting his other features to develop. He hoped that his animagus form would be complete before the final confrontation came. If he had to, he would be able to tear Voldemort limb from limb without any wand or magic. In the last week, he had been successful in turning his hands and feet into the paws of his leonine form and was working on the midsection now. He was sure that his complete animagus form would cause a great sensation if he changed to it in front of his friends.

She had been teaching him everything that she could and sometime even duelled with him using only transfiguration. In the past week, they had tangled seven times and yet he had not been able to best the mystic. She would often pull something on him at the last moment.

In charms, he had been disturbed to learn that Achala had been in the care of the healer for two days after she came back from the battle. She had some sort of melt down at the battle when her sub-ordinate soldier had leapt into the path of the Avada Kedavra curse which was meant for her. She had been very patient while he attempted the Fidelius charm and whenever he failed, she would only encourage him to work harder. He was finally able to learn the Fidelius charm and was able to attempt it on the class room. Achala told him that he would be able to do it easily for any place when he was in tandem with his magical core. She also taught him all the shields that were there from Protego to Contego to Protego Maxima Horriblis to Mage shield. Achala was more ecstatic than him with the prospect of bearing a mage shield into battle.

She even duelled him at times using charms only. He was amazed. She was a charms mistress renowned for her skills throughout the world however that had been 50 years ago when she left the general wizarding world and joined the mystics. She was a fierce fighter and Harry had seen her training some of the other mystics. She was ruthless with them. She would use some of the more dangerous and difficult charms with such ease that it boggled his mind. She was ruthless when she had a wand in her hand and an opponent before her. She had left the world because her talents had caught the eye of some unsavoury wizards and they wanted to use her talents for nefarious purposes. Her family had been slaughtered when she had refused to join and since then her sole motive had been to serve mother magic and prepare new warriors who would save helpless wizards from evil ones.

He had been doing the exercises recommended to him for getting in tandem with his magical core. Since he had built his mindscape, sorted his memories and arranged it, he was able to find his magical core more often. That alone meant that he could draw more from his core without worrying about getting exhausted after a matter of a few spells. The use of his core to full capacity was restricted by his inability to connect fully with his magical core. Harsh had assured him that he would teach him to connect with his magical core when he learnt to find his core without concentrating upon it. He watched Harry's progress each night and was satisfied with what he saw.

Harry knew that he had made some progress, but; he also knew that he was not fighting at the level of the mystics. He was still in awe every time he thought back to seeing them in battle. They all fought fiercely, casting with abandon, dodging whatever was thrown at them and he wanted to fight like them.

Pawan had been teaching him clusters now that they were done with wards. He told Harry that he had taught him things that would help him in the war and if he wanted to learn more, he should pursue the subject on his own. He also had encouraged Harry to learn Parsel Tongue because it was a magical tongue, that there were a handful of people who spoke it in Wizarding Britain, therefore; even if people did manage to find your wards, they could not decipher them. He suspected that even Tom riddle, who can speak Parsel Tongue has no idea how to read it. He recommended that Harry go to the nagas. They would be able to help him with reading and writing the runes and with speaking the language without having a snake in front of him. Perhaps they would even consent to teach him Parsel Magics while he was there.

He had progressed to teaching Harry runic clusters which were important because they had a lot of uses and could often be used in wards to make a single ward perform multiple functions. He often told him to read ahead and would explain things once and if even then Harry had a problem, he would draw a cluster and explain it to him by example.

The mystic had taught him to construct anti-escape wards like the goblins made and some which even escaped the goblins. He had travelled across the world and knew of many ward schemes and as such, he taught him a lot of them. Harry had a pretty good idea about using those runes. There were a few runes which could even be used to kill however they required fast wand work because those runes were to be etched in the air. For them to work, it was imperative that they were cast with precision without any time gap. It was slightly hard for Harry but Pawan helped him a lot by explaining how it was done and after struggling for a day or two, he had got the gist of it.

Vari had been the hardest of the lot. He had started to teach Harry some of the lethal spells that he had seen being cast on the battle ground that day. He taught Harry the motion and then left him to practice it. He would conjure a dummy before him and ask Harry to start practicing, generally shooting a particular part of the anatomy of the dummy. The dummies were smart and would often move, dodge or shield against his curses. This also helped him improve his casting by trying to guess where the Dummy would move if he cast a curse. At the start, most of the time he had been wrong, however; lately he was able to defeat a dummy by predicting its moves. When Vari noticed that his dummy did not present a challenge to him anymore, he put the dummies in pairs of which one would shoot while the other defended. The mystic had told him to evade any of the spells shot by the dummies and if he ever got hit by one, it was stable duty. When he had enough of practice for the day, he would make a small mistake and Vari would send him to Pashupati where he would spend the rest of the day grooming the animals and cleaning out the stables.

While some considered stable duty to be beneath themselves, Harry was starting to enjoy it because often, Pashupati had some creature to show to him. Reading or hearing about a creature did not measure up to meeting them up-close and personal. He had time to become friendly with them and to learn more about them. As much as he learned to love these creatures, he didn't think he would ever develop Hagrid's tendency to think of really dangerous creatures as cute and cuddly pets. He was filling his journal with notes and drawings of every new creature he met. He often thought about meeting Newt Scammander to tell him about those creatures and wondered if Newt Scammander was still alive.

Besides learning to duel with the dummies, Vari had started to teach him dodging. Harry was impressed by the way that the mystic was able to dodge and weave around Harry's spells, no matter what he did and make it look like a dance, laughing and taunting Harry all the while. Harry wanted to be able to dodge like that too and so resolved to study the art. For their entire lesson time for two days, Vari taught him what he called "the slippery fish". When he was sure that Harry would not embarrass himself practicing it, he bombarded Harry with stingers making him weave in and out of the way of his spells. After the mystic was sure that he could handle it, he often placed Harry before two or more mystics who would fire colour spells at him while he tried to dodge. He ended up drenched in colours every single day. As he got more practice at it, a little less each time. Finally, the day came when, after a half hour of being bombarded by six mystics, they only managed five hits.

Anal sparred with him on every alternate day since there was not much that he could teach him in sword fighting. He had become proficient with Sword and dagger and the mystic told him that there was nothing more that he needed to learn in that particular skill since the only enemy that he could face with blades were werewolves and while they were fast, Harry's reflexes negated that advantage. Still, the practice helped Harry to keep his skills sharp and it was good exercise.

Then there was Charak. The healer was a very jovial bloke who always had a smile on his face for Harry but, he wasn't like that with everybody. Harry had long since seen evidence that the man was capable of doing violence when the occasion called for it. The few captives that were brought back to Adrishpuram had been given to Charak and he had asked Harry to join him every evening for two hours since he had something to show him. He had no idea what the healer wanted to show him and that just made Harry curious. He had always been Kindly toward Harry, a good listener and, Harry felt, a good friend.

The first night, the healer had told him about Healing as a profession. He told Harry openly that healing was not just an art to cure people but it was equally deadly. He had told him that he could kill a man in thirty different ways without even making him bleed and Harry had been left open-mouthed. The healer did not look like a killer but rather one who would do everything he could to save everyone. Perhaps his empathy was limited to those who served mother magic. A completely different story for those who defiled it.

In the first class, he taught Harry about human anatomy including everything there was to know about vital locations and the sensitive points which could disable a man. He told him the best way to kill a man and the ways to make one scream for mercy. He even taught him about how to torture someone and based on their resilience, he had different modes of torture. He told Harry that since he had no hatred in his heart, he would not be able to use the Cruciatus curse which was a rather unimaginative way to torture someone anyway. The Cruciatus curse was used by those who did not know about other exotic ways which could be used to break people's spirit.

For the second class, he had tied down one of the captives and asked him for information. The captive did not deign to answer and he tried to persuade him otherwise showing him fear of death and everything without actually doing any physical harm. When the captive did not budge, he plunged a silver knife in the man's thigh and made a deep incision. As the werewolf (yes it was a werewolf) howled in pain, the mystic poured molten silver into the wound and knit the wound haphazardly with stitches all the while winking at Harry that some forms of muggle healing were quite as effective as any form of torture. As the werewolf writhed in pain, he handed the knife to Harry to do the same to his other thigh and Harry was so nauseated that he refused to do it. It was the first time that a mystic scared him. The healer pinned him to a wall with the knife at his throat telling him that this was not a game and he did not have a choice. He told Harry firmly that while mystics do not kill all werewolves, there were some, who by their deeds had earned death and this one on the table was one of them. No one could know how many people a werewolf had turned. After he had shamed Harry enough for lack of will to do the right thing, Harry reluctantly slashed the werewolf's other thigh and as a result the incision was not deep enough to cause any real pain. The mystic snarled at him and buried the knife hilt deep into the already made incision and twisted it for good measure. Harry poured the molten silver in his thigh with shaking hands and when he stitched the wounds his hands shook so much that he was sure that the werewolf would be cursing him more than the mystic for not having the guts to do it properly. After the werewolf sang like a canary, Charak had simply slit an artery in his neck making a point to show it to Harry and watched in grim satisfaction while the werewolf bled and died in agony.

After his session with Charak and the werewolf, Harry retired to his chamber and called the marauders. As soon as he said Padfoot, Sirius's grinning face appeared in the mirror, "Hey pup, how is it going?"

Harry was still nauseated and said morosely, "I don't think I can do it Padfoot."

Sirius who could see that Harry was looking pale and morose, asked him, "What is the matter, Prongslet? Did something happen? Are you okay?"

Harry could still remember the werewolf bleeding and dying slowly. Watching the werewolf, he had been thinking of Remus and asked in the same morose tone, "Is Moony okay?"

Sirius who had not got an answer to his question understood that the teen wanted to see the werewolf and hollered for him. Moony was more perceptive than Padfoot and immediately realised that something was not right with him and said to him in a kind voice, "Cub, I know something is bothering you but you can always rely on me and Sirius to help you. What happened to make you so grim?"

It was then Harry lost all control, "Moony, today the healer Charak had me over for a class. He was teaching me torture methods. He had a werewolf captive (he did not tell them about the battle) and he wanted some information from the werewolf. The werewolf refused to say anything and he just slashed his thigh open, poured molten silver into the wound, then closed it with muggle stitches. He asked me to do the same to the other leg, but; I could not help thinking that it was wrong."

Remus was frowning but still said to him in his kind voice, "Harry was the werewolf innocent? Are you sure that he had never turned anyone or was not a killer?"

Harry shook his head, "The werewolf was not innocent. We captured him during a battle. He was part of the forces defending a dark lord's castle. During his initial interrogation, he boasted that he had turned at least ten children."

Remus looked sick for a moment, then his voice hardened, "Harry, listen to me. This man was a monster. It is creatures like him that cause muggles and wizards alike to hate and fear us. The werewolf was not someone innocent nor was he interested in living life like an ordinary person. By his admission, he had turned 10 children and that alone makes him a beast undeserving of any mercy. He deserved to die. In fact if I were in your position I would have gladly taken the knife and impaled him in the throat leaving him to choke on his blood. There is war coming and werewolves are already gathering. Unless someone stands up to them, they will run amok turning children and spreading misery. I wish you to diligently take up everything they are willing to teach you. You will need everything to survive the war and we will be cross with you if you failed to learn anything."

Harry gave his full attention to every word the werewolf said and understood what he was saying. He turned to the both of them, "I promise I will not hesitate again. I will learn whatever they are teaching me and then I will use it on those who deserve it."

After he ended the connection, he went to practice occlumency. He set up his wards, then he retired to his bed.

From that time on, he did not hesitate to learn whatever the Healer told him. He taught him to kill by a single cut, how to prolong someone's death keeping them in agony, he taught him to bleed someone by a thousand injuries while keeping them alive. Harry learned everything with grim determination to succeed.

The entire week, Harry and the healer worked together, torturing the werewolves one-by-one until they were all dead. By that time, Harry had a solid knowledge of the most effective techniques. It disgusted him, but he learned it to the best of his ability anyway. The upside was that Harry had become less sensative to blood and gore.

Next, Harry went to work on the wizards. Harsh told him that this was an opportunity for Harry to practice his mind magic but cautioned him to go gently and not to destroy their minds. The first captive had been very hard for him because he had solid mental defences. Then Harry remembered Shravya had taught him to petrify the enemy and he would not have so much trouble. He petrified the enemy and ran through his defences. He conjured a giant fist and broke down his defences as if they were made of cardboard. He had done it twice in three days before he was sure that he could do it again with ease.

The second one was tougher for him and he had simply burned down his mindscape with a raging inferno and sifted through his memories at his leisure. There were no secrets left for him to pursue after he was done.

**Black Town House**

Hermione Granger had learned more in this last month alone than in her entire four years at Hogwarts. The big difference was that this was not for an essay. This was 100% practice training. In her schooling, she had been all about the theory and only attempted to put things in to practice to prove that she understood the theory correctly. It still rankled her that she was not allowed access to some parts of the library. She understood Sirius had reasons but still she had wanted to read those books. She even tried to persuade Tonks to bring some of the books for her but the metamorphmagus had scrunched up her nose and told her in no uncertain terms that she was not touching those books which made her skin crawl. She had already finished the books which Remus had brought for the students and she had nothing else to do on the days when she had no training.

Molly, noticing that Hermione had free time, had given her an alternative which was equally exciting. She had offered to teach her the life and living of pure blood families seeing she came from one such family i.e. the Prewetts. There were things that all muggle born should know and there was nothing stopping Hermione from learning those things like etiquette, behaviour and customs of the wizarding world. Ever since Molly made that offer Hermione had something to look forward to, something which she should have known when she entered the wizarding world. She was flabbergasted to know that the wizarding etiquette classes at Hogwarts had been banned a century ago as was duelling.

**Green Hues**

Croaker had arrived in the entrance hall where he bumped into Neville who had just returned from training at the Cottage on the Hill. He had been teaching non-verbal casting to the teen for the last week and he had learned enough that Croaker appeared to be satisfied.

Neville turned to him, "Great uncle, what have you planned for me today?"

Croaker was almost finished with teaching him the finer points of family magic and was content with leaving it at that. He had instead started to teach him duelling and they usually duelled using only family spells for an hour every evening with Neville being left battered and beaten in the end usually.

That evening as their duel came to an end, Croaker sat with him, "How goes your training with the students?"

Neville enthusiastically replied, "I have learnt a lot. We are almost done learning what Dumbledore would allow since he does not want us to dabble in dark magic. These days we mostly do duels mixed of defence, transfiguration and charms. Mad-eye still runs us through the ringer though."

Croaker chuckled, "He is one sadistic person who takes pleasure in other's miseries but he has a good heart. He is focused on giving you all a chance to make it alive through the coming war."

Neville nodded.

"Now Neville, how about you take up Dumbledore on that offer?", Croaker asked smiling.

Neville grinned, "I thought you would never say that. I will write him a letter tomorrow."

As Croaker left, Neville flooed to Longbottom castle to see his parents. They were mostly up and out of their wheelchairs now, walking around the property as much as they could, building up their strength.

**Bones Manor**

Susan had been having a good time now. It had become easier for her to train since her body adapted and her confidence had increased. She also was able to cast with more speed and her dodging had improved as had her repertoire of spells. She loved duelling with Auntie because while Amelia did not cut her any slack, she was not a task master like Moody who took sadistic pleasure in torturing the students.

She had another little thing on her mind for which she had written a letter to one person who she knew would be able to help and that particular person had arrived the next day in her manor to offer his help willingly. She intended it to be a surprise for others and could imagine Harry Potter's face when he would be left open mouthed after her secret was revealed.

Her training in family magic was almost complete and Amelia was proud of her for what she had achieved. She had confided in Susan that she intended to declare her heirship at the upcoming session of the Wizengamot which was already promising to be explosive since it would perhaps be the last session where the three factions were on an equal footing. After the upcoming session the politics of the Wizengamot were sure to change.

Susan was less interested in politics and more interested in Harry Potter and why he never even sent her a letter from wherever he was. She sometimes wished to slap him for his foolhardiness and sometimes she wished she could drag him into a broom closet to snog him so much that his brains would melt down. As she thought of the green eyed raven haired teen, she remembered that it was 21 July and Harry Potter had been gone for three weeks now. It was his birthday in 10 days and she wished he was here. She had decided to buy him a gift and to present it to him the next time she saw him,. Auntie had told her that he would be back in about a month which meant he was expected to return sometime in August.

**Cottage on the Hill**

The students had gathered for dueling practice again today. They had been having these sessions almost daily for the past week and while they did not come out on top often, they were making progress. Moody took it upon himself to put them through the ringer whenever he felt like he was having a bad day. He avoided facing the twins because he did not relish ending his duels covered with multi-coloured feathers and fur with assorted body parts of other creatures, hog-tied, upside-down or whatever else they thought would be funny at the time. He claimed that those two would beat him too easily and there was not much left that he could teach them. He always left them for Minerva or Filius.

Minerva had taught them all that there was to teach but not the advanced transfiguration because they were energy taking and time consuming. Animation would take a lot out of a wizard and although they had improved greatly she did not think that they had the level of mastery required to attempt animation in the middle of a duel yet. They knew that not all of the death eaters were such accomplished fighters that the students would need to be trained like soldiers.

Flitwick had taught them some advanced charms which were not terribly tricky and were quick to cast. He often tested the students by duelling with them using charms only. While Flitwick was usually the winner, the students were coming close. He was satisfied that they had learned enough and that the training was over for all practical purposes. The whole point of the training was to teach them to survive which they were excelling at.

**Adrishpuram, a week later**

In the past week, Harry had managed to get some satisfaction. Between his wards, transfigurations and animations, He had managed to make his chamber look like he was sleeping blissfully while he remained concealed. His wards alerted him no matter what measures Vari took to gain entrance to his room. After retreating from Harry's room drenched three mornings in a row, Vari took to apparating in, dousing Harry and apparating out again. What he didn't know is that he had just doused a very clever replica of his intended victim, but; Harry could not allow even the appearance of failure. None of the wards he had learned would stop mystic apperation. Harry had to give this some thought. He placed a series of trap runes all over his floor then hid them using the Fidelius Charm. When Vari popped in to Harry's room the next morning, he found himself disarmed, hanging from the ceiling by one ankle and thoroughly drenched. As soon as Harry was able to stop laughing, he levitated Vari gently to the floor and returned his wand to him.

The mystic growled at Harry, "I will expect you every day on the field before dawn" and stalked out of the room.

Harry accepted this as total victory and made sure that he was never late.

It seemed to Harry that every mystic he had ever seen turned out to make his morning runs more interesting. He could not run a step without someone forcing him to dodge. After two near misses in a row, he had enough and started firing stunners at his tormentors without a wand and without breaking stride. He felt a grim satisfaction when a couple of stunners from each volley found their marks and the mystics fell unconscious.

The Potions master had told him that he needed no further instruction from him and not to attend any more sessions if he didn't want to. But Harry enjoyed his company and so spent an hour a day in conversation with him anyway. He never went away without picking up some new trick that would come in handy in the future. The polyjuice that he had been brewing was nearly complete and required only a week more before it would be ready. The only exciting thing that was left for them was to test the modification to the wolfsbane potion trying to make it less poisonous because aconite was poisonous to everyone.

Harsh had helped him to meld with his magical core. It had been easy after Harsh instructed him while he was doing it. He could still remember when the mystic had helped him do it.

-Flashback-

Harry was sitting before the mystic who asked him, "What is the problem Harry? Why are you not able to connect with your magical core?"

Harry who had been hoping the mystic would teach him how to do it scowled, "May be because you are not telling me how to do it, Guruji."

Harsh chuckled, "Still complaining, I see. Okay, while you meditate I will try to help you to connect with your magical core but once you are able to do so you will have to learnt to do it by yourself so that you would not need me time and again to take your hand and do it for you."

As Harry sat in meditation, he found his magical core very easily. It was like he only had to think of it and he could see it. It looked like a big ball of greyish light which seemed to shine in the surrounding darkness. He was staring at it hoping it would connect with him when he heard Harsh's voice, "Concentrate Harry. Can you hear the low thudding sound being made by your magical core?"

Harry concentrated hard and pushed all other thoughts out of his mind to try and hear what the mystic asked him. After trying hard, he could hear a low thud like his heart beating in his chest. He was surprised that he had never heard it before whenever he found his magical core. But then he was only used to standing there and watching his core. He had never even tried listening as he was now.

Harsh's voice echoed again, "Now concentrate upon the sound and visualise as if you are trying to find the source of this sound. Follow the thudding sound and find where it's coming from. Imagine your magic as a sentient being which is waiting for you to come and accept it. As you imagine, you would feel the rush of your magic around you, and it may be gentle or fierce. Do not be scared of it but welcome it and embrace it as a part of your own."

Harry followed the instruction and after what felt like hours, his magic was swirling around him like a tornado but he revelled in the feeling. It was soothing on his nerves and he welcomed it with all his heart. As it melded in him, he felt like someone had fed him a drink of pure energy and there was nothing that he could not do.

Harsh's voice broke him out of his trance, "Now come back Harry. You will do it again on your own till there is no need to do it over and again."

He opened his eyes and found Harsh looking at him with a smile, "You have achieved everything that I wished for you to do. With the melding of core, you are ready  
to learn to fly or to travel like we do."

-Flashback ends-

Since then, the last week had been frustrating with him attaining little further success. Right now he was sitting before Harsh who was teaching him tranquillity, "Tranquillity is a state where your body would become one with nothingness i.e. where your physical presence is not bothered by anything. It means dissolving your body into nothing but only your essence remains. When you wish to reappear, your body would again take a physical form but that requires extreme concentration and your magical core and your body are not two different things but your body becomes your core. In that condition, your magic which is sentient being would do your bidding with just a thought however to be able to things like flying, you will need to practice. It would be hard at first like you would not levitate for more than a few feet for the first few times but with practice you will be able to fly higher and will be able to control it even. I will only teach you to start flying but you have to do the rest on your own because you have not much time left here. We are already on the end of our tether and two weeks at most is what we can manage of which one week would be required by the Naga people who have sent me a request to that effect."

So it was that Harry sat in meditation and the mystic instructed him in that state, "Since your core is one with your body now you can ask your magic to do your bidding. Will it to raise you. Imagine that you are levitating from the ground and hovering in air. As you feel like you are in air will it to keep you hovering."

He tried to imagine himself hovering in air and pushed at his magic. After a few moments of concentration, he felt like he was hovering a few inches from air. After an hour, Harsh told him to come out of his trance and when he did, he found that he was spent.

Harsh confided him that after practicing the medling regularly for one month, he would attain a little nothingness which would enable him to pass through wards undetected and no wards could stop him. However the little nothingness would be hard to achieve and Harry will have to do it on his own.

His sessions with Pawan were nearly at an end because the mystic told him that there was little more that he could teach him in the short amount of time they had remaining together. He had taught him some very useful wards and to erect them in different languages but that was it. To know of the more exotic applications would require years of study and they were down to their last week. He instructed Harry to keep practicing what he had taught and to enlist the help of Professor Babbling, the runes professor at Hogwarts if he ever had any trouble. However he acquiesced to test Harry on the knowledge that he had imparted to him to make sure that he would not make a mistake in anyway. One more thing that the mystic was going to teach him was to create the ward explosives and they were the hardest to master but he had faith in Harry's abilities that in the next week, he would have learnt to do it correctly.

Vari, who was a ruthless task master and liked to torment him in the arena had replaced the dummies with mystics who would duel with him in groups of two or three at once because Harry had come a long way from one on one duels. The mystics used all sorts of underhanded techniques which sometimes irritated him to no end but he was determined to outshine them. At times, he was hurt by one of their curses. When that happened, he was sent to work in the stables with Pashupati. He thought that being sent to Pashupati was no real punishment because the mystic never asked him to do anything dangerous ore really difficult, so he asked Pashupati about the real punishment. The stable master told Harry that the real punishment was to send the mystics to stand under a waterfall without any clothes for the full night. Considering that they lived in the Himalayas and that the waterfall was fed by glacier melt-off, this chilled him to the bone to think what would have become of those who were awarded those punishments. Pashupati also confided in him that he was cutting Harry some slack because Harsh had forbidden any sort of real punishment from being given to him.

Vari taught him some of the spells he had seen flying around at the battle. He also gifted Harry vials of memories from the many mystics which contained some very special spells. He warned Harry to never show those memories to anyone who was not a mystic because those spells being known to the outside world could cause unforeseen destruction and no one could perform them anyway. He had been fascinated and nauseated at the same time when he saw a couple of those memories in a penseive which Harsh had gifted him. The pensieve bore the mystic crest and it did not require him to enter into the pensieve but with a tap of the wand, he could see the memories like watching a television.

For the last week, Vari always made him duel others using those spells and would often chide him if he failed to do anything flawlessly. As a result, his casting speed, accuracy and power behind his spells had become very controlled. He had once or twice duelled Vari and the mystic defeated him with great difficulty.

Outside of Vari, he had taken to spending an hour a day by himself in the arena to practice his spells with dummies. He used all of his lethal spells with abandon and was pleased at the results when often the dummies were destroyed with all the magic that was put in those spells. The dummies also would attack him from all sides, sometimes together and he would apparate from one point to another to keep them busy. Every duel, he learned something new but still felt as if he was missing something. He had learned the entire spell book of the mystic by heart by now but he felt like there must be something that could sate his hunger. Perhaps he would have to ask Harsh what this feeling was.

Ambar had helped him to overcome his difficulty with the animagus transfiguration by showing him that he should employ occlumency whenever he was working on his transformation. As a result, he could transform the tail, his paws, and some part of his torso. He hoped that within a month, he would be able to transform his torso completely and the mystic told him in no uncertain terms that within two months he would be a full fledged animagus. She also told him not to register his form with the British Ministry of Magic but with the ICW because in that way, no one would be wiser about his animagus form and he would not be an illegal animagus either.

She duelled with him regularly with the transfigurations and he enjoyed it the most. While she won often, he had won his fair share of duels. He was working extra hard in her subject because he wanted to surpass his father in transfiguration and he had been an expert. Sirius had told him a few stories where James had used his formidable transfiguration abilities to his credit.

Lately Ambar had started to teach him to transfigure humans into animals which was fun. She had started the demonstration by transforming Harry into a stag. He remembered the theory that she had told him, "In every transfiguration, it is essential to know what you are going to do. For example if you want to transform a person into an animal like a rat, you must be able to clearly see in your mind. Like you must be able to see its skin colour, its paws and every other detail and then when you cast the spell, you keep that image in mind and will your magic to do your bidding. If your mind is not into it, you would not be able to do it correctly and the person may end up as half man and half animal."

Harry chuckled remembering Dudley's pig tail when Hagrid had come to rescue him from the rock in the sea. The half-giant's education had not been complete so he probably did not know how to do it properly.

Since then, he tried the spell on some of the captives. Sometimes he failed and they would end up only with some features of animals. After failing three times, he had advanced enough to transfigure them into animals with a thought. Ambar had pronounced him ready for whatever was out there waiting for him and bade him to keep practicing so that he could transform people into animals without putting much thought into it.

She also taught him transmutation as he had seen Moony do to the bike. He had to attempt it a number of times before he was proficient at it. He had enough in his arsenal to keep people on their toes with his pranks.

Achala had been teaching him all the charms that she knew. She had taught him the fidelius charm. Once he got it right, the spell was fairly easy for him to perform. It only required a fair amount of power and skill at his hands. After he had shown his prowess in Fidelius, she had started teaching him what was long promised. A way to slay dementors.

She taught him about a charm which had been made centuries ago and could not be performed by average wizards but only war mages. Since Harry was a war mage, she believed he would have no trouble in learning the charm. To do the charm one would be required to hold his wand in his hand, waving it in a circular motion while keeping his hand raised over his head and chanting with all intent, "Danav Sanharak Kshan Prabha Aavahanam" (Demon Slayer Kshanprabha, I summon you) and light would emerge at the tip of his wand like a blade made of it with serrated edges and whenever it connected with a dementor, it would cleave them in two or simply disintegrate them. She also told him to keep people around him who could cast the patronus because once he started the process, all the dementors who were in the vicinity would be attracted towards him like moths to light. Having patroni around him would ensure that he would not be kissed by them or faint while the dementors in his vicinity would not be able to escape.

This evening as he arrived at sword practice Pawan asked him, "What do you know about killing giants, Harry?"

Harry spluttered, "Gi... Giants... What do you mean?"

He shook his head, "Perhaps Guruji has not yet told you but your friend Hagrid's mission was a failure and he is now returning back to Avalon while 30 giants have allied themselves with that abomination. They too would reach Avalon in their own time and his army is bolstered by their numbers."

Harry was horrified. Adding giants to the fray was catastrophic seeing there was no one he knew who had slain a giant. He turned to the mystic, "Do you know how to kill a giant?"

He smirked, "As a matter of fact, I do. You see giants cannot be killed by magic because their blood makes them immune. So, to kill them you need to attack their weak spot with things like rock, boulder, swords (a very big, extra heavy and sharp blade) etc. or you can disable it by tying it down with heavy chains. After it has been disabled, do as you please with it."

He told him of a few stories he had heard about slaying giants by wizards and Harry dutifully wrote down all the ideas in his journal. Pawan also told him to share this information with his friends and the order because it could save a lot of lives.

One evening as he went to practice his spell casting and duelling with dummies, he did not find Vari there but Harsh who told him that he was going to teach him something. He asked Harry to not use his right hand but his left hand to cast the spells and he wanted to see if he was successful. Harry was able to use his left hand to cast spells but not with anything like the same accuracy and precision. Harsh ordered him to keep casting with his left hand. This continued for two days before Harsh gave him the old wand he had loaned him to use and told him to cast simultaneously. He wanted to see if he could cast with both hands at the same time. Harry had no trouble and then for two days, it was his work to do. He did parallel casting and simultaneous casting till he became proficient. Then Harsh took it up a notch by asking him to use different spells with each hand and for the last three days he had been casting different spells.

One evening, Harsh joined him at dinner and asked if he knew where the three heirlooms of the Peverell brothers were. Harry told him that he knew where the cloak is.

Harsh eagerly asked him to bring out the cloak and as he did, Harsh had to stifle his laughter, "How do you wear it Mr. Potter?"

Harry told him that it was given to him in this form and that he had no idea how to wear it. Harsh had smirked and taking the cloak, gave a twirl to his wand shot a spell at the cloak and it folded itself on itself and within a matter of seconds, there was a regular cloak in place of the blanket like cloak he was used to seeing. He handed it to Harry, "Here Mr. Potter. This is how you wear this cloak. This cloak can even absorb most hexes except for the unforgivables but since you would not be seen by anyone, there is little chance anyone would use them on you. This cannot be summoned nor can the homnum revelio charm detect someone who is standing under this cloak. Nothing can stick to it, therefore; it cannot become soiled nor retain your scent. It cannot be damaged or become worn from normal use or any form of common magic. Just take care not to misplace it or allow it to fall into enemy hands and it will never fail you."

He also told him about the battle of Bavaria where Dumbledore had duelled with Grindelwald for hours before he had emerged victorious. While Grindelwald was a powerful wizard, he was nowhere near as powerful as Dumbledore and had only been able to keep at it due to the fact that he had the elder wand in his possession. From there Dumbledore had taken the wand and kept it in his possession through all these years. He told Harry that the wand was his and when he went back to Avalon, he should ask Dumbledore to surrender the wand to him.

He told of the third hallow which was also with Dumbledore after they had destroyed one more horcrux in it. This hallow was important for him because they formed a set and anyone who held them together would emerge victorious against any foe. He warned him to keep them away from public eyes because there were people who actively searched for the hallows and it would not do to openly flaunt them.

He also told him that Slytherin's necklace had been cleansed of the soul piece and it was once again functioning as was intended. He told him that several mystics had been stationed in Avalon and if he came across any such horcruxes which were made of historical relics, he should send them to the mystics and they would relieve it of the taint.

**WAITING FOR YOU REVIEWS**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N- **So, a lot of people gave their awesome reviews regarding this story and I thought I would reply them here. Thank you Raymondjay, ObsessedwtihHPFanFiction, Anarion, Great of all and Reap the souls and Hypergym for your reviews.

Epicweaver- Thank you for taking so much time to read this fanfiction and giving your reviews.

Park 850G- Thank you so much for your detailed review of the story and I really appreciate it. The anomaly you pointed out. Nymphadora told him that he is her cousin through her mother but he did not knew it before. Sirius was reminiscing about whatever family he had left when he visited the Black Town House. Becoming a Lord does not automatically means that he would know about everyone. IF there are any other such anomalies which are bothering you, please let me know. Thank you.

Thank you Hypergym for editing this chapter before I posted it.

This chapter will end with Harry Potter returning to Wizarding Britain and after a couple of chapters we would be back to Hogwarts.

* * *

**A week later, India**

In the last week, as promised, Harry had been at the lake before dawn, swimming across it without magic, alternating between breast stroke, back stroke, butterfly and crawl. When he did use magic, he rocketed across the lake coming near the same speed he could attain when running. He kept getting stronger and the work outs just kept getting more intense. Yes, Harry had kept his word, but; "Constant vigilance!" but Vari still had to test and make sure that Harry was remembering his lessons. He didn't enjoy it much. The teen was getting the best of him most mornings. Harry had taken to creating very convincing illusions or creating animated replicas of himself, slumbering peacefully then protecting them with elaborate wards and traps which were well concealed. He had started adding other things to the wards so that once when Vari tried to enter the room he was petrified, another time he set off a caterwauling charm and another time, before he knew it, he had been stunned from behind. To add insult to injury, the boy wasn't even there. He was already in the lake.

The mystic grumbled about being shown up by an upstart. Not to mention that it was embarrassing, but; inwardly he was happy that the young warrior was taking his lessons seriously now. When he first saw Harry, he doubted that this small, skinny lad could have done any of the deeds that he was reported to have done. There was no denying that the lad had guts. But, he was so small and he seemed to have almost no skill. In the last few weeks, Vari had watched him grow in leaps and bounds, in every way. When he had seen, first-hand, how the lad had accepted every challenge, then rose to meet them with courage, determination and an inner strength which did not compromise, he began to understand how he had stood up to Voldemort.

As he watched Harry touch the opposite shore and turn around to swim across the lake again, he recalled the time when he expressed his doubts to Harsh.

_-Flashback starts-_

Harsh was busy reading some reports which had come in about the increased dark wizard movements from Burma and a letter sent by Chakrapani when Vari came to speak with him

"Guruji, are you sure this boy can defeat that abomination?", he asked Harsh.

Harsh replied in his usual jovial tone, "Varunesh, that boy is more than he looks like. He is a child of destiny which alone makes him more powerful than anyone. His magical core is big and it will grow as he has time to reach of age. He already has clashed with Tom Riddle or some form of him since starting Hogwarts and every time he came on top not to mention he recently escaped Tom Riddle again. He has slain a thousand year old basilisk already with a sword and drove away a hundred dementors at the age of 14. Not to mention he outflew a dragon and rescued a hostage from depths of black lake and bested creatures like Sphinx in the maze."

Vari's eyes grew wider as he heard each achievement. He still had some reservations. He remained silent for a few moments, gathering his thoughts before he spoke again. "These are incredible feats for anyone to perform, never mind at his age. Do you believe that he is capable to learn what we have to teach him? I have seen him and he looks malnourished, skinny and too small. The physical training alone may be too much for him."

Harsh smiled, "He will be able to do it. We would have to be extremely harsh with him and over-burden him with work and exercises but that is the only way it will work. Mother magic has agreed with the way we have to train him. There is a time of great change coming for Avalon and Harold James Potter will need to stand up to ensure that they are not for the bad. If I could I would have raised our army and marched in force against that abomination, but; Mother Magic has assured me that what we shall do is sufficient. We know better than to tamper with fate."

Vari nodded, "To expose ourselves would be like bringing chaos into already fragile society. The most that we can manage is to give a nudge here and there. I will train him but I want a free rein in this. I will treat him the way I like because treating him with kid gloves would only feed his ego and help no one. I see lot of potential in him but he is hindered by his moralities. To be a warrior he has to act like one."

Harsh smiled brightly, "you can train him anyway you prefer. Just remember that he must be able to duel and kill that abomination."

_-Flashback ends-_

Harry vaulted out of the lake and producing his wand, seemingly from nowhere, cast a non-verbal Homenum revelio before he even dried himself off. The charm did showed his result as negative however that was not very reassuring. As he ran, he set up a shield as a precaution, then worked his way rapidly through his detection charms. Finding no one, he increased his pace and remained alert. The entire last week he had spent duelling mystics while he ran. They would appear out of nowhere and engage him in a duel. Vari had set the rules that he was to defeat his opponent as quickly as he could and then keep running. Each morning, Harry Potter fended off at least 20 mystics in the four laps around the track and then he would proceed to his push ups which also had become torture. Vari had decreed that push-ups were becoming too easy for him so he started piling weight on his back while he did his push ups. That was really torture but Harry did not complain. He had long since accepted that Vari did not like him though he did not know why. The mystic never treated him as if he was the dirt on his shoes but he did not respect him like other mystics. Harry had not been able to win a duel against him either. Although Harry was getting better at it, Vari was the master of "The Slippery Fish" and Harry just could not hit him. Their duels often lasted for an hour before Vari would eventually win. Harry was trying hard and hoped to win against the mystic.

The potions master had long since given up on teaching Harry anything more but always encouraged him to do something innovative. He had introduced him to a lot of herbs and their properties and told him to work on it. When Harry had asked him, he merely shrugged telling him that he would love to see another potion added to the Potter's contribution to the art of potion making. The polyjuice was finished and worked perfectly as they had discovered when Harry pranked Harsh into drinking it and he ended up looking like Prathiman. However that had earned him the ire of Harsh who was taking every chance to prank him.

Five days ago, he and the potions master had made an excursion by night into the forest to catch a werewolf. He remembered how they had eventually succeeded in catching one.

_-Flash back starts-_

Prathiman had summoned him to the dungeons in the evening and he arrived promptly to find his mask and cloak was waiting for him. As he donned his gear, he asked, "Where are we going, sir?"

He replied casually, "We are going to catch a werewolf, Harry."

He spluttered, "What... Why... What do we need a werewolf for?"

The mystic smiled, "Harry, remember we are brewing a different version of the wolfsbane tomorrow? We will have to start our test on a werewolf and feed him the potion for a week to see if we are successful. I do not have to tell you that if we can find a suitable substitute for aconite then it will make it painless for many who have to willingly take the poison in order to keep their sanity."

Harry nodded. He recalled discussing this with the potions master earlier and now they were to do it. Remus had told him that the reason he looked so ill around the full-moon was that aconite is poisonous to werewolves. But, he had to take it because the alternative was too awful to even consider. He reminded Harry about the night when Wormtail escaped and how he could have attacked Harry, Ron and Hermione because he had not taken his potion that day. He would rather die than take that chance again. Harry was determined to find a better way. His hopes were pinned on this trial. If it worked, it meant a better life for Remus and a better life for all the afflicted who wanted to have something like a normal life.

The two of them walked out of Adrishpuram . As soon as they were outside of the wards, Prathimaan took Harry by the hand and they apparated. They arrived in dense woods which were nothing like Adrishpuram or the forest around the Takshshila School of Magic. These woods felt different from those forests.

He turned to the mystic, "Mr. Prathimaan, where are we?"

Prathimaan turned to him with a smile, "We are somewhere in what the muggles call Tarain or the foothills of the Himalayas. There is a settlement of werewolves not far from here. We are to catch one of them and take with us to Adrishpuram to test the potion on him. We will see if we succeed."

Prathiman continued talking, "Now Harry, we are going to capture one of the werewolves and take it with us. This may turn bloody but remember that you can kill him if you are threatened. The alpha of the werewolves called Kichak is a sadistic vermin who will get what is coming to him very soon. Guruji wanted to exterminate them long ago but Shravya Vahan stayed his hand on the promise of Kichak that he would not cause trouble. Recently we confirmed that they are turning young innocent children and so we take one of them captive and the alpha will do something stupid. Shravya Vahan who is a force in himself would have put him down while exterminating others if it came to this."

"But what about the innocent ones? Those who have not done anything? Would you punish them for other's mistakes?", Harry protested.

The potions master sighed, "You do not think that we would exterminate the innocents. Do you? The innocent ones are already ready to move and when we take one of them captive today, they will leave before Shravya Vahan comes down hard on them."

Harry had nothing to say because the mystics had thought about everything in advance. He was getting to understand their true character now. They were assassins, manipulators, guardians of ancient knowledge and much more than met the eye.

Before they proceeded any further, Harry applied a silencing charm to his feet and put himself under a disillusionment charm. The mystic nodded his approval and did likewise. Harry said, I don't know if disillusionment will do much against werewolf night vision, but; it can't hurt." Then when he concentrated on seeing into the darkness and his eyes became those of the snow leopard in response. As he turned and looked in the mystic's direction, he could plainly see that the charm did nothing against his vision and made a mental note for his next morning encounter with Vari.

They trekked toward the werewolf settlement stealthily, taking care not to make a noise. Harry had taken his sword in his right hand and his wand in his left, a curse ready on his lips. As they walked for a kilometre or more, they came upon the settlement and Harry saw a couple of werewolves patrolling the perimeter.

He raised his wand to cast the stunning spell and Prathimaan caught his arm signalling him not to do so. When he raised his eyes to the mystic, he pointed him towards the trees lining the perimeter and Harry could see the guards hiding there. The two of them could likely defeat the whole lot, but; that was not the mission and there was no reason to take the risk.

Harry thought that a diversion would do the job. He transfigured a convincing looking lion from a deadfall branch that was lying on the ground nearby. Then, with one of his best animations yet, the lion came to life, roared and pounced on one of the guards, making a gory mess out of his chest and face. As the other guards responded, the lion charged off along the path and they pursued it. Harry disapparated with the mystic and apparated somewhere further up the path where they were sure to cross the werewolves. They concealed themselves and waited for them to pass. A few moments later, the lion ran by followed by the werewolves. Prathiman picked off the second from the last by banishing a boulder at him. Harry took out the straggler with a hay-maker to the jaw. He could tell by the sound of crunching bone that he no longer knew his own strength. The two werewolves were levitated before they could make any noise hitting the ground. The mystic bound their prisoners using incarcerous and they apparated back to Adrishpuram before any of the other werewolves realized what was going on.

Werewolves heal fast and these two were no exception, however, Harry took the opportunity to practice some of the bone mending he had been learning to repair the damage to the two prisoners. The results were less than satisfactory as he had neglected to set the bones first. Something he would have to take up with the healer later, he thought.

Later they interrogated the werewolves and both turned out to be ruthless savage creatures. The worst of the worst. If Remus were there, he would have executed them himself. They were patrolling the borders because they had heard a rumour that they were going to be slaughtered by forces unknown.

Harry wanted to try mind magic on one of them. Prathimaan advised him against it. When Harry asked why, the mystic explained that a werewolf's mind was a dangerous place and if anyone tried to enter it, they would be torn to shreds.

Harry's recent training had given him other ways of gaining information. He practiced his torture technique on one prisoner while the other was forced to watch. This had the desired effect. When Harry explained that they were testing a new version of the wolf's bane potion and they were looking for volunteers, the second prisoner readily agreed, hoping that he would be spared the torture. His hope was in vain, but; there was no reason to correct him just yet.

_-Flash back ends-_

For the last five days, the potion seemed to work and what's more, without any toxic side-effects. Tonight was the night of the full moon and this would be the real test. If these two retained their minds that would be all the proof they needed to know that the new formula works. Sadly, these two were so completely savage in their human form, that it may be hard to tell the difference. If the stuff worked, it would mean a better life for Remus and many more like him. If it didn't, it may be years or even never before coming up with anything else that might work.

Another new trend that had cropped up in the past week was that whenever he was walking between classes one of the mystics would apparate in, shoot a spell at him and vanish with a pop. Sometimes he was hit, sometimes he dodged and at times, he managed to hit the mystic who had just attacked him. A couple of times there was a group of mystics who would apparate in, shoot spells at him from different directions and disapparate. While he scrambled to defend himself another pair of mystics would apparate in, shoot a spell and would be gone. These were the hardest because he had no idea what the mystics would shoot at him or from which direction they would come. Sometimes, he had even found them dropping from the sky and hitting him. It was all rather tiresome and when he complained to Harsh, the mystic told him that this was normal for other trainees and everyone went through this. This was meant to teach him to react faster than one can blink, and to test his defences.

There had been lessons of fighting from Horse (or Hippogriff back) where he had been taught to fight with staff, or sword or wand from the back of a beast. The mystics taught him to fight from Hippogriff back telling him that he could course through the skies and hex a lot of them at once this way. They also taught him the way one of them had jumped on his hippogriff in their first skirmish. All in all this had been a wonderful lesson so far and he wished to take the most advantage from it.

Then there was the celebration four days ago when he turned 15. He appeared to be sleeping when Harsh negated his wards, making note of a rather nasty set of jinxes that would have been set off the moment he set foot in the room, and levitated Harry's bed 20 feet into the air.

As Harry woke up he found his bed to be hovering around 20 feet in air and jumped down with leonine grace to find a large group of mystics waiting for him. It looked like every single mystic was present there. Before he could finish drying off, a crate of magical fireworks was let loose which formed the words, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY".

Harry was awed. He had never had so many people gathered to wish him Happy Birthday before. Then it was time for the gifts. Pawan had presented him with special tools to craft his runes. There tools included a calligraphy pen which acted with a thought and used one's magic to draw the runes. This was meant to draw runes easily into harder surfaces like stones, wood etc.

Ambar had gifted him a little chest containing vials of memories which contained applications of transfigurations and charms in battle (she had asked Achala for those memories) as she (and Achala) had done on numerous occasions. While this was not an ideal gift yet it was sure to be useful in the upcoming war. She confided in him that if he wished, he could share some of the most common transfigurations and their use in battle with his friends except the dangerous ones. She told him to keep up practicing at Hogwarts so that his skills would only improve with time.

Achala gifted him a bag which was like any ordinary bag that he had seen until she told him to open it. He opened it and his eyes spread in surprise. There were a number of books in the bag and yet it did not look like it. She explained him with a wink that she had enchanted the bag with an extension charm to make it bottomless and intertwined in a feather light charm to make it easy to carry. The pack contained what she called survivor gear which was the standard survivor pack for mystics. It included a tent, books, a change of clothes and a number of potions which could be used to save someone. The tent also had a kitchen which was stocked with utensils, a magical burner except for food but he could easily forage for it now that he had lived with the mystics almost for a month now. He knew where it came from and how to procure it.

Anal had gifted him what he found to be the most exciting. He had given him a sheath made of dragon hide fused with goblin silver and told him that the sheath had in-built runes so it would adjust to any sword. It also had a strap so it could be strapped to one's back. The mystic had told him to kill any werewolf he met who was on the side of Voldemort and that not all werewolves deserved his pity. He should not stay his hand when he met any creature of dark because not all of them deserved mercy. Most of them were driven by their inner desire and as such had to be put down. He also told him of a design for a catapult which would be helpful for slaying giants and cautioned him that the contraption would take time and energy to create besides requiring materials from the best builders possible.

Vari had likewise given him memories of his own and some other masters he had met in the tribe (there were mystics spread throughout the world and almost every country had some who would report to Adrishpuram if they needed help from them) and a set of battle robes like the one he had but these were more bulky. He told him that this set was crafted from the hide of a Ukrainian Ironbelly (the best body armours were made from its hide however since the dragon was on the verge of extinction, there were not many Ironbelly Armours available in the market). He also told him that Harry could always call upon the mystic and he would come to help him.

Harsh gave him a book titled, 'Onto Nothingness: A Journey' which was written by one Sarang Varun and Harry grinned because he knew who Saran Varun was. This book detailed the journey one must take to attain nothingness. Harry decided to look into it as soon as he could manage.

There was a huge cake which had been baked by Rachael for his birthday and it had been a delicacy after eating the mystic's food for a month. She also gave him a photograph of Charlus and Dorea with baby James in Doea's arms telling him that she had enough of their memories to remember them but he needed something to cling to.

He had been summoned in the evening by the wand-maker Shilpagya who eyed him for a while before he said, "Too mighty are you, boy? Wand lore does not fascinate you? Never came to see after I crafted a good wand for you."

He bowed his head, "Honourable wand-maker, I did not purposely ignore you. I have been well occupied these last few weeks. However I would willingly accept any gift of wisdom you may choose to bestow."

The wand maker softened a bit, "Just that never let your enemy disarm you in a duel because if you lose it, it would change its loyalties and then would not work for you. They follow the law of victor. To win back, you would have to defeat your opponent again. Just to be sure that such misfortune does not come to you I would advise you to go to Ollivanders and ask him to fit you for a new wand. His wand would be helpful to you for school work and your own wands can remain a secret."

"This is something that I did not know and would not have considered until it was too late. I thank you."

Harry thought for a moment then started, "But why would he sell me another wand? Would he not ask how I have been able to live without a wand for this past month or so?"

The wand maker grinned, "No. Just ask Dumbledore to write a letter to this effect. Talking of Dumbledore, ask him to return the wand of destiny to you. It is yours by right of inheritance."

Harry nodded in affirmative.

The wand maker tossed him two wand holders, "Strap them to your wrists and keep your wands in them. Such fine wands must be kept in wand holders and not stowed inside your pockets. They deserve to be treated regularly. Purchase some wand polish and treat them regularly. They are not weapons but your arms. Happy Birthday, Peverell."

After that the day had been very ordinary. Pawan had spent each day giving him a ward to make. When he was successful in doing so, he would be asked to make a cluster. He tested Harry on everything and often asked him questions about the seven languages, the rune symbols and how the wards worked. He also taught him to make the ward explosives which were made by stones which were found on ley lines. Since these stones absorbed the earth's energy from the ley line, they were already full of magic. There was a specific rune designed by the mystics of the past which would tap into the energy and give it the power to explode the wards. The rune was designed with three functions viz., to tap into the energy contained in the stone, to convert it into explosive energy, to destroy the wards by releasing the energy. He had spent good time the past week learning to create those stones and now had a respectable arsenal of ward explosives which he could use in battles. Pawan also had him practice some runes which could be used to attack some dummies and he had been having fun doing it. To see that they could be killed, disabled or even bound by runes was interesting and he regretted not having taken the subject before but that was short lived. He realised now that there was perhaps no student who would be able to best him in the subject.

Achala had taught him everything that she could and most of the time, she would pull a memory and they would watch it together and he would notice everything that she did or did not do.

Ambar was done teaching everything but she and Achala had started ganging up on him. They both teamed up on him to duel him and usually he ended up losing to them. In all the duels that they fought, he had lost to them but not before giving them quite the scare.

During their first duel, Ambar had sent a transfigured dog at him while Achala hit him with a smokescreen. Blinded by the smoke screen, he tried to get his bearings and could not hear things. He whipped his wand in front of him slashing the smoke screen in two. Achala was going to subdue him with a incarcerous and he rolled away before the charm hit him. Ambar conjured some birds to attack him and he conjured some hawks to kill those birds with one wand while he released pitch black smoke with the other. Soon no one in the room could see anything and even his leonine vision was no help. He tried the homnum revelio and it was of no use either. He conjured a snake and asked it, _"Where are the humans in the room?"_

The serpent hissed at him, _'There are no humans in this room except you, sspeakerr. There is a four legged creature and two clawed one which seeks to kill me. Our mighty enemy the falcon."_

Harry hissed again, _"where are they? Point them out to me."_

The snake replied, _"in the north-western corner, the four legged one is standing with the wall to its back while the falcon is flying, stalking me."_

Harry heard the rush of wings and the snake's pleas for help while it was being carried away by the falcon. He shot a couple of stunners in the air and a thud told him that he had found his mark. He shot a spell chain of petrification hex, stunner and incarcerous in the north-west corner and a thud told him he was successful.

He dispelled the mist to find the falcon sprawled on the floor while a fox was stunned and bound in chains. Grinning he went to enervate the fox and was stunned from behind.

As he was enervated, he found the two witches smiling at him and he was tied with chains. He cast a wandless finite and freed himself.

Achala was smirking at him, "Not so smart, are you Harry?"

Harry sheepishly smiled, "So you are both animagi, huh?"

Ambar laughed, "you did not think that we would tell you all our secrets, did you? You were brilliant but failed when you thought that the falcon was stupefied. You conjured that snake and that was some quick thinking. However, as you started throwing stunners around, I simply played possum, dropping to the floor making you believe that I had been stunned."

Harry lowered his head, embarrassed. He had never thought for a moment that they may trick him but the mystics were crafty in their ways and often pulled some surprises on him.

In yet in another duel, where he was pitted against the two of them together, he had raised a wall of earth between him and them and was hiding behind it to shield himself from the barrage of spells when suddenly his own conjured wall grew hands and grasped him. He apparated out of its grasp and reappeared a little distance away and as soon as his feet touched the earth, two hands rose to grasp his feet. He immediately used a reductor on them while Achala shot him with an ascendio and he was sent flying. Mid way, he pulled both wands and shot pavak (incendio) at both of them forcing them to dodge. As he landed, he pursued them with a barrage of pavak and they kept dodging his spells. As he became lax and dropped his guard, Achala returned fire with a flame freezing charm which froze his pavak charm and Ambar willed the earth to rise like a big giant cage around him and tendrils of earth captured him, pinning down his arms and for good measure she gagged him.

Duels like these continued throughout the week where he often was on the verge of defeating them and they would coordinate their attacks against him and pull some tricks at the last moment.

Vari duelled with him regularly and once decided that he wanted to test his shields. He gathered a bunch of mystics and they all shot all kinds of spells at him forcing him to raise a new shield every time a more sinister curse was used on him. At last, when they were using the most lethal curses in their repertoire of spells, he reluctantly conjured the golden mage shield which could stand against the onslaught of all lethal spells except the unforgivables. The mage shield amazed the mystics because it could not be lightly used by someone unsure of his abilities. It also required a good amount of energy to maintain one. Each time a curse hit the shield a gong like sound would reverberate. By the time he dropped the mage shield, a lot of mystics had gathered to see the spectacle. After the practice, Harsh had congratulated him on his feat telling him that maintaining a mage shield for that long and to remain standing was a testament to his extra-ordinary powers and no death eaters could stand against him now. Even Tom Riddle had not been able to maintain a mage shield for more than a few minutes when Harsh had fought him.

Another day, Vari decided that Harry would cast with abandon while the mystics would defend. They all started with the reflector shields which would reflect his spells back at him. After dodging his own spells a few times, he started firing high powered shield breakers which shattered their reflector shields and they conjured the protego maxima horriblis which was easily the best shield after the mage shield. They all joined their shields together and they fused to form a kind of block around them and no spell could pass them. He kept casting for an hour and all his spells were stopped. Vari later told him that to break such a shield he must use his most lethal spell with all his power. Since he was more powerful than most of the mystics, their shield would not be able to take it for more than a few hits.

Vari's duels were often tiring for him. The mystic never started a duel with a non-lethal spell but would use some dark spell which he would be forced to dodge. This would go for sometime before he got the chance to retaliate and often he retaliated in kind to him. He used all the spells that he had learned from the memories and the mystic would bark his appreciation whenever he would feel that Harry's execution of the spell had been flawless. However the mystic often would disapparate all over the arena and fire at him from whichever direction he preferred. He often made Harry keep moving and on his toes. During the duel, he would often surprise him with something which would cause him to be distracted and in that moment the mystic would win over him.

Once while the fight was very intense and they were trading spell for spell, the mystic sent a volley of conjured arrows at him. Harry conjured a wall to block the arrows then banished the wall towards the mystic. Vari transfigured and animated the wall into a stone golem that attacked Harry. As he was busy sparring with the golem, the mystic sent a spell chain of petrification hex, a stunner and a bone breaker. Harry was in a fix because dodging the spell chain would allow the golem to pummel him and getting hit would lose the duel. At the last moment he pushed his magic out and flew out of the way of the curses which hit the golem instead. Vari was anticipating his narrow escape and the incarcerous bound Harry before he reached the ground again.

The mystic freed him and grinned at him, "Don't worry about it lad. You are learning fast. However you could have used your other wand to blast the golem away while you shielded the spell chain I sent at you. You could have conjured a shield while you flew so the incarcerous would be ineffective."

Anal started duelling with him often using wandless magic. He could not even guess what the mystic would throw at him in such duels. Once when they were duelling, he shot a disarming hex at Harry and his sword clattered to the ground and the mystic kept him on his toes, forcing him to fend off like a muggle. Harry wandlessly conjured another dagger while he was dodging around and used it to block his sword strikes. The mystic shot a incarcerous at him and he jumped out of its way but the rope kept following him no matter what he did. Finally he cast an incendio causing the rope to burn and found the mystic to be laughing hard.

He pouted, "What was that sir?"

When Anal was finally able to control his laughter, he answered, "It is a slight variant of incarcerous where the caster keeps guiding it to the target unlike the normal ones. Remember it. It may come in handy some day for you." He showed Harry the movements and the necessary requirements for the spell.

Harry had become more adept at transforming his body to his snow leopard form, but; he still had a way to go before he could transform completely at will. There were some parts on which he was still working and hoped to finish the transformation soon. He was able to morph his hands and legs into paws whenever he desired like his leonine vision and sometimes, while he was duelling with Anal, he would morph his hands and attacked the mystic with his claws which would throw him off balance giving him a chance to score a win.

Anal was the only mystic that he had been able to defeat a couple of times. Each time that Harry had managed to defeat him, it was because Harry had found something in the environment to give him an advantage. To Harry's surprise, Anal seemed happier on the occasions when this happened.

Harsh had been giving him some more lessons in fighting where he had taught him the art of taking over someone else's animations like he had seen Ambar do against him. He had duelled with Harry for sometime only using transfiguration and Harry had animated a stone statute to attack Harsh but Harsh enchanted the animation to attack Harry instead and then he sat explaining the intricacies of taking over another's animations. There was not much to it but a slight variation to the animation spell at the end which would allow one to control other's animations.

He taught him another beautiful technique where he taught him to flick aside other's spells. It was hard at first and Harry was hit with bone breakers twice before he got the gist of it.

-Flashback start-

Harsh met him in the arena while he was practicing with the dummies, using different spells with different wands in each hand. He watched Harry for some time before he called, "Halt!"

He turned to the mystic, "Yes Guruji? Is anything wrong?"

The mystic smiled, "No Harry. It is just that I wish to teach you something that can be useful and kind of intimidating for lesser enemies."

He asked curiously, "What is it, Guruji?"

The mystic grinned at him (he had started to hate it when a mystic grinned for no reason), "Fire your most lethal curse at me."

Harry blanched for a moment. He knew that his most lethal curse would reduce any normal wizard to a rapidly expanding cloud of vapor if used at full strength. What if Harsh didn't block it? Instead, he cast a bone crusher, knowing that he could heal it if the spell actually struck home. The brilliant violet spell made straight for Harsh's chest.

Harry did not need to worry. With a motion that was nearly too quick for Harry to perceive, the mystic flicked his wand and batted the curse aside, saying, "Keep them coming, Harry."

Harry shot every spell that he knew and all were batted aside by the mystic. Finally, he had to leap to one side when his own bone breaker came straight back at him.

He shouted in indignation, "Were you trying to curse me, Guruji?"

The mystic chuckled, "No, Harry, I have seen you dodge. There was no chance that would hit you. I was teaching you an art form which would give you some leverage over your enemies if you find yourself in conditions where you are hard pressed to dodge or shield or there are multiple foes and you have to bring them down while defending yourself at the same time."

So he started to teach him the art of batting aside a spell. "The trick is to have quick reflexes since some of the curses are really fast while some give you decent amount of time to ready yourself and retaliate. You must be able to see when your opponent cast a curse at you and move your wand so that you are able to bat it aside. Remember speed and agility is the key to it."

He started casting spells at Harry asking him to bat them away or send them back. To send them back, he was to move his wand in an arc like motion with a jab at the end. It took two bone breakers to the wrist before the lesson set in.

-Flash back ends-

The healer had also taken this week to teach him some healing. He told him that possessing some healing skills may come in handy someday when he was hard pressed and there was no healer around. He gave Harry a book on counter curses to most dark curses and told him how to perform them. He even had some of his mystics hexed and then showed him the counter curses by performing them. While it was hard, he was confident that Harry would be able to pick up at least some rudimentary skills which may save some lives one day. He also encouraged him to approach Poppy Pomphrey to ask for some healing tricks because there was so much to healing which could not be taught in a day.

All the week, he would call Harry for a lesson and together they would attempt the counter curses on mystics who were hexed and most of the time, he would leave Harry while he would merely watch though he did step in if it looked like Harry was getting something wrong.

A few nights ago, he had started studying the concept of nothingness in the book which Harsh had gifted him. The book was a little complicated and very interesting. Harry had been engrossed ever since he started. What most intrigued him was the concept of nothingness. It said:

_"Nothingness is not meaning nil but it is a state beyond our physical presence. In this state the physical matters not but only our essence. Every one of us is made of some essence which is magic. Magic is what remains and what matters. Magic is our driving force and without it, we cease to exist. The physical form can change, a person can obtain a new body and the old can become young if they know of the concept of nothingness. _

_Not all mystics have been able to achieve nothingness but most have some degree of proficiency in it. When one is ready to let go of this physical form, willing to surrender their essence to mother magic then mother magic can be really kind to them blessing them with nothingness however most of us are somewhere conscious of this physical form and the ties associated with it so we are afraid to give up. _

_Mother magic may ask one of his willingness to give up his identity and if they hesitate even for a moment, that may be their downfall since then they would not achieve nothingness. But for that happy moment to come, one must have accepted their identity truly. They must accept what they are before the choice is presented to them._

_So, dear reader, this begs us the question, 'Do you know who you are and do you accept this truly?'_

_Remember that knowing your true self and accepting it are two different things. You may see yourself as chivalrous, valiant and generous person while in reality you may be mean, coward and cruel to others. Sometimes knowing our true self can cause us agony and you must be ready to face all that comes if you want the state of nothingness. _

_I entered the state when I was going through a very hard time in my life where I had lost everything which I ever held dear, my loved ones were dying and I was standing alone. I knew I was coward because I could not convince myself to stand against injustice and unjust violence which resulted in everyone dying around me. Mother magic took pity on me and gave me a chance to serve her."_

The reading had been eye opening for him. He had to think exactly who he was and that was a question that he had to answer for himself and no one else could. Sure he was brave because he was a Gryffindor, he loved his friends and family, he stood for what was right rather than what was easy but that was it. There was nothing more to it, was there? Who was he really?

The question had been pestering him since he started thinking about it and even talking to Harsh had yielded no result which was surprising since the mystic always sort of knew of the right thing to say.

The mystic's answer seemed rather cryptic, "Harry, this is your quest to decide who you are."

This was a big question which would need to be answered because it was now a question about his essence, in a very literal sense.

**Longbottom Castle**

The last week, Alice and Frank had been declared fit by the healer and Frank had wasted no time in showing her the door though she had promised that she would return eventually. From the time they had been declared fit, Frank had started to use magic and the first few days had been very hard because his magic was unstable and difficult to control from not being used for years. His spells were over-powered or of no use at all and there was nothing in between. When, out of desperation, he called healer Lynn back, she grinned and told him, "I told you I would be back."

She gave them exercises to do before they were to start using magic telling them these were recommended so that their magic would be in control again. After a few days of exercise, their magic was more stable and they were able to use it but Healer Lynn had cautioned them not to overwork themselves and start small like the stinging hexes, stunners etc and gradually try the more complicated things.

Neville had been able to return Frank's wand to him. It felt as comfortable and familiar as an extension of his arm. However, Bellatrix Lestrange had destroyed Alice's wand years ago and being imprisoned in her own mind ever since, there had been no need to replace it. Augusta brought a number of wands from the family vault for Alice to try. Not one of the wands felt as her old wand did. She chose the best of the lot and it served her well enough for now. She vowed to visit Ollivanders to get another wand as soon as she could. She was already trying to remember where they kept the floo powder.

For now their primary concern was to get fit in time for the next session of the Wizengamot which was scheduled for the 15th of August where they were to make an appearance before the wizarding world. They were fit enough to walk and had even taken to doing some exercises to get their bodies back into shape. There were a lot of things to do and not much time to do them.

They were practicing the easier spells and getting used to the feeling of magic coursing through their veins again. The thrill of using a wand, seeing Neville everyday and to be able to talk to each other was all that they wanted for now. Turning the entire wizarding world on its head could wait just a bit longer.

Neville came everyday and often stayed late into the night and they would trade stories, anecdotes from their times at Hogwarts. One thing which had angered them was Severus Snape's attitude towards their son. To hear of all the things that he had said or done to him made their blood boil and setting him straight was definitely on their agenda.

Neville thought that this was a good time to tell them about the bogart. "Professor Snape got a bit of his own back", Neville began. "You see, Professor Lupin was teaching us how to deal with boggarts in my third year. When he asked me what I thought the boggart would become for me, Snape was the very first thing that came to my mind. He took me aside and asked me how I would make that seem silly and I had no idea. You see, I found the thought of him too frightening. And then he asked me about Gran and, well, I thought that he would look silly in Gran's clothes, stuffed vulture hat and all. So, when that greasy git came skulking out of the closet, I pointed my wand at him, pictured just how silly he would look and, 'Riddikulus!', poof and we were all laughing at him."

They all had a good laugh at the story, and when they came up for air, Neville said, "He was even nastier when he heard about it. But, I just kept picturing him in Gran's clothes and he's never seemed quite so scary since."

He also told them how he had stood up to the golden trio, trying to stop them from going after Quirrell in their first year. Frank told him that Neville was no different than himself because he also had at times tried to stop the Marauders from going on their mischief making spree and at times had told on them to the teachers. Whenever he went to the teachers, the marauders mercilessly pranked him till he went to them asking for their forgiveness.

They also heard about how Minerva was still tough but fair. They had another chuckle when Neville described how thin a line she could make with her mouth when a student displeased her with sloppy work. No matter how hopeless Neville had been at transfiguration but it was his favourite subject because it presented him a challenge before but now with his own wand and the training he received, he hoped to breeze through it.

They heard of Flitwick who was still there and teaching generation after generation of students with the same enthusiasm, making things fun for them and being the most adorable teacher as he used to be.

Frank also wanted Neville to learn basic occlumency and mindscape. Frank's own mindscape had been severely damaged over the last 14 years and he had to set it in order before he could teach Neville himself. For now, Croaker would have to teach him the basics and help him get started with the skills. Neville had a long discussion with the unspeakable and Frank. After thinking hard and a long discussion, they decided upon making a mind scape mixed of Hogwarts and Longbottom Castle with many other features. There were a lot of details involved and Croaker even gave some parts of his mindscape the touch of the department of mysteries. In the last week, they had made the mindscape where the castle had seven floors plus dungeons. The outside of the Castle resembled Castle Longbottom. The seven floors contained memories in order of importance. The entrance to the castle was not like the double doors but the entrance of the department of mysteries where you had to speak where you want to go. The Dungeons were his worst memories which he never wanted to bring up, so the entrance had been barred by a solid wall after he sorted his memories. The first floor was about his life yet, his memories, and his friends. The second floor was his school years which he had spent on the fringes, watching everything and yet not getting embroiled in anything. The third floor was all the knowledge of his family magic which he had obtained in the last month or so while the fourth floor was dedicated to all his other knowledge or memories. The fifth floor contained secrets and he had a lot of them considering that he only sat on the side-lines. The sixth and seventh floors were vacant and would remain so with only traps and snares which Croaker had come up with. There was a central staircase which would vanish for anyone who would try to intrude in his mind sending them tumbling to their deaths, or would snare the intruder and treat them horribly. The first floor was guarded by a legion of trolls who while they were idiotic, they were also magic resistant and hard to kill, the second floor was guarded by a battalion of suits of armour and the entire floor was covered with magic suppression runes, something Croaker had suggested, the third floor was guarded by elves solely and there were a lot of them. The fourth floor was guarded by the three headed dog that he had seen in his first year and like the second floor it was covered in magic suppression runes. The fifth floor had some serious protection, like the arcane magics protecting the prophecies in the hall of prophecy in the DoM, the brains which would latch themselves to anyone living and cause them grievous injuries. The entire castle was warded with wards the likes of which were found only in one place in Wizarding Britain i.e. the Department of Mysteries. The sixth floor had a number of traps which were meant to incapacitate anyone who was foolhardy enough to walk into them and the seventh floor had a replica of the death veil for an entrance.

The entire mindscape was surrounded by death veil like walls and anyone who tried to cross it would face some other defences which would activate with any foreign intrusion like fiendfyre or devil's snare or some more dangerous plants which could prove fatal.

Beyond the entrance to the mindscape, the first level of defence was plants which could kill. Then there were the hippogriffs as were raised in Longbottom castle and the beasts were wild. They would cheerfully trample anyone with the slightest provocation. There was a big dragon which prowled the grounds and there was a boggart hidden somewhere in the mindscape.

Frank taught him the basics of the mindscape and how to detect an intrusion and while Croaker tried to penetrate his mind, he would often give tips to Neville about detecting foreign intrusion, how to fight it, how to distract it and finally how to shut someone out of their mind.

**Hogwarts, Headmaster's study**

Albus Dumbledore was counting the days now. There was about a week left before Harry Potter would return from his time with the mystics. Getting set up to defeat Voldemort was going to take a lot of work and there wasn't much time to get it done. He was also eager to know what the mystics Had taught Harry and he was willing to do some passive legilimancy to be absolutely certain that Harry had not turned to the dark side. Albus had no problem with the teen killing dark wizards but he hoped that Harry Potter would not turn insensitive to death because that was a path which was fraught with darkness. Besides, Albus wanted to learn some of the mystic's secrets and even a glimpse into their world would be like an old wish coming true. He wished he could have joined them when he was young. (Of course Albus had no idea that the mystics had watched him for a long time before they gave up on inviting him to become a mystic).

His main concern was that this year students should learn enough to be able to survive in the coming war. War never came looking for someone of particular age or blood status but it was indiscriminate. It came for everyone and devoured every offering yet would remain hungry for more. There had been so much death and strife in the last year but Albus hoped this time there would not be so much heartache.

Minerva had vowed to be more considerate towards her students and try to understand them more since she had learnt that Neville had been using his father's wand yet she never realised it. She hoped the teen would not hold a grudge against her for not being more helpful towards him.

Albus was thinking to introduce duelling again in Hogwarts but Pundariksh had discouraged him saying that there were children of death eaters in the school who would use the knowledge against the defenders in case there was an intrusion. Besides once they graduated, they would join the abomination's army and that would only cause more troubles for them. So, Albus had dismissed the idea but resolved that if he lived through this war, he would introduce some classes which were removed years ago. Hogwarts standards had fallen a lot and it was about time that he did something about it.

As Albus was pondering over the events which had passed and events he anticipated, an owl flew into his office. It bore the Longbottom crest on a silk collar around its neck. Albus accepted the letter and as he opened it, he smiled, "And so it begins."

**India**

Harry Potter woke up before dawn broke and remembered the meeting last evening with Harsh who had summoned him to talk about something. The mystic told him, "Harry, the chief of Nagas had visited me a few days ago as I had told you. Since we have taught you almost everything that we could within this short period of time and now he want to train you in parsel tongue and I have agreed to his proposal. You will leave as dawn breaks and will return every evening to Adrishpuram. You will not hesitate to learn anything that they are teaching you and will not balk off at anything. However, before you leave you will finish your physical exercises every day."

Harry nodded his head and Harsh continued, "After a week, you have to return to Avalon and this time I will not be going with you."

"What do you mean?", Harry asked him, "How will I go then?".

Harsh said, "I have arranged a portkey for you under the name of Jameson McAllister and it will take you to Port of London where the mystics who are placed in London will meet you. Vari will be escorting you all the way for your safety till you reach the Black Town House."

Harry felt very tense all of a sudden, "Then where are you going, Guruji? Why will you not go with me? And what about Blackstorm?"

The mystic smiled, "Harry we have the world to look after and something or other keeps taking my attention. I have to go deal with some problem which had arisen in Africa and I am told it is rather very grave. Perhaps another battle and as such, we are taking the Marichika with us. This is why I have arranged portkey for you but do not worry. I will be there when you will need me. Your hippogriff will be sent to Wizarding Britain and from there to Hogwarts, if he does not reach you by 1st September."

As he remembered that the mystics were moving out today, he rushed out after his daily oblations and saw more mystics than he had seen assembled to fight the previous battle. Vari and his other trainers were not going however and he asked Vari, "Why are so many mystics here and where did they come from?"

The mystic muttered, 'Portkeyed during the night from all over the world. We have headquarters in almost all the countries around the world. The situation in Africa is grim and will require a lot more planning, effort and resources and as such, we have called for additional troops. Guruji himself will be taking up residence there till we  
can be sure that the situation has been sufficiently addressed. Nobody knows how long that will be."

Harry was curious, "How many mystics are out there?"

The mystic smirked, "You think I would tell you that? No, lad. You are not entitled to information because it exists."

As Harry looked, hundreds of mystics left by portkeys or by the mystic's means of transportation and in an hour, the settlement was almost empty. Harry was thinking of all the things that Harsh had taught him and the enchanted thread which was still on his wrist when a powerful stinger jarred him out of his musings and rubbing his backside, he glared at Vari who was openly smirking, "Don't think I will cut you some slack. Start running Potter, there is too much to do and so little time. The Nagas are impatient people."

After his daily routine of being pummelled and getting a chance to pummel the mystics at the track, Harry left for the Naga village where they were apparently waiting for him.

**Naga Village**

As he materialised in front of the chief, the man gave him a smile which Harry knew too well and it never bode well for him. The same smile that Vari gave when he had some new torture planned for him.

_"Welcome Harold, son of Peverell"_, the Naga chief said.

Harry hissed back, _"I am Potter."_

The Naga chief smirked, _"Are you sure you are Potter and not Peverell? I have heard otherwise. Are you still trying to find you?"_

Harry said nothing but processed the Naga's words. These words sounded like someone was answering a question he had but could not find the answer to it. The only question that he had been pursuing lately was "Who am I?"

He shelved the thought for later and answered the chief, _"That is a question I am trying to answer myself. I am trying to find myself and when I do, I will answer to you. For now, I wish to learn some parsel magics from you."_

The chief replied, _"You come from a family which had some prominent speakers in its blood line but the ability was lost to inbreeding. In their delusional attempt to keep their magic pure, they have lost the benevolent gifts of mother magic. You are part of some very powerful bloodlines therefore Mother Magic saw it fit to bless you with this gift."_

Harry nodded. He had little instruction in these matters which basically fell into the domain of magical research and these facts were not publicly available and yet here it was. He lapped up eagerly all that he was being told.

The chief was continuing,_ "For your instruction, it is necessary that you can learn the language without being faced with a snake. While if you were brought up in your family in days of old you would have been taught to control this but since there has not been one who could speak the language for generations now, I daresay there are none who could teach this to you."_

He instructed Harry to go and make small talk with everyone who was there in the Naga settlement in the snake tongue and that others were instructed not to say anything unless he opened the conversation between them. When Harry expressed his inability, the Naga told him that he had to simply will his magic forth and it would be easy.

Harry spent the next few hours trying to coax his magic out while trying to talk to others in the Naga settlement. At first he was hesitant as to what would they think of him. But his suspicions and doubts vanished as he talked with the first man. He was hunch backed and looked ancient and talked with him very jovially, even giving him a few tips on how to speak the language without putting too much stress on his magic. After that it was easy and he even sat with a group of men and talked about life in Wizarding Britain, his family and little things just to ease into speaking the language. After about 5 hours, he was spent and hungry. The upside was that he had become fluent in speaking the language.

Lunch was another affair and he found that it was a communal lunch in that the entire tribe sat together and partook of the food without caring too much about him. In fact he was included in their revelries as much as they engaged their own.

After the lunch, the chief took him aside and asked him, "What do you know of spell casting in Parsel tongue?"

He hesitantly explained, _"I never tried to. In Avalon wizards look down upon those who can speak the language and therefore I did not use the tongue so much among them."_

The chief said nothing for a few moments before he replied, _"Harold, it is not a matter of embarrassment. As I have explained to you, being able to speak to serpents is a blessing and it is foolish to scorn of such blessing simply because you care about people's opinion which changes every day."_

Harry nodded his head. He had seen how fickle the wizarding world was and how it could make him a hero one day and a villain the next.

The chief was saying, _"Now Harold, casting in parsel tongue is easy. You can say the words of spells as you know from other languages in parsel tongue and your magic will work for you. For example if you use pavakam or incendio in parsel tongue, you will get the same result with the only difference being the effect. You put even minimum power in the spell and the effect would be fourfold. We often use spells in Sanskrit and use minimum power and yet get exemplary results because both are magical languages."_

After that Harry practiced what the chief had just taught him. He tried stunners, stingers, bone breakers and while he did not put much power into it, the spells were powerful only because they were being cast in parsel tongue. He tried to imagine what would happen when he had achieved fluency in Sanskrit because it was also a magical language.

Unlike parsel tongue , however, Harry had no innate gift to speak Sanskrit and he would have to learn it the hard way. It would take some time before he was fully fluent like the mystics. He decided to cast those spells he knew though. For the next few hours, he cast every spell that he knew and was often amazed at the results. The drain on his magic was minimal and that would give him a definite advantage in battle.

As he was leaving, the chief asked him, _"Did Lord Harsh put you through the Kayakalp ritual?"_

When Harry replied in the affirmative, the chief asked, _"Would you go through another ritual which we do? This is not anything special but it would help you decide who you are. It is an awakening ritual which wakes up one's consciousness and opens the door to the answer to this question. However I must remind you that you would still be presented with the question and you will have to have firm conviction in your answer because if you wavered, the ritual would be useless."_

Harry thought for a moment before he spoke, _"I want to think this over because this could be a life changing decision for me. I want to ask a few others whose opinions matter to me and who have the right to be informed about every such decision."_

The chief nodded and said, _"Take all the time you want, just as long as you have an answer for me when you return here tomorrow."_

Harry understood from the chief's words that this was an important decision and it should not be put off. He bowed to the chief and replied, "_As you say, Honourable Chief_." And Harry disapparated without a sound.

**Adrishpuram, Harry's Chamber**

Harry made a brief visit to the library to try and obtain a copy of Harsh's book in the original Sanskrit. "Ah, yes, Mr. Potter. I have been expecting you", said the mystic attending the library as he produced the volume from under the counter. "May you find it enlightening", He said as he placed it in Harry's hand.

Harry gave the mystic a bow, muttered a thank-you in Sanskrit and headed to his Chamber to read. His grasp of the ancient language was still shaky, but, he thought, He had already read the book twice in English and maybe this would help with his understanding of the written form of Sanskrit and his understanding of the book itself.

He had the two volumes open, side by side on his bed, making notes and reading the original text as quickly as he could manage.

Prathimaan appeared at his door and said, "I have good news Mr. Potter." And there was a huge smile on his face.

Harry looked up from his work and pointed his wand at the potion master's chest and asked him, "What potion did Prathimaan gave to Harry Potter to brew for the first time when Harry Potter came for his first class?"

"That, Mr. Potter, was a pepper up potion with some of my own alterations", He said without hesitation.

Harry lowered his wand, "Please excuse my rudeness, Mr. Prathimaan. It is just that you have never visited my chamber before."

"You speak the truth, however, you failed to come and visit me this day and being an impatient man, I have come to see you", his eyes smiling at the formality.

Harry conjured a chair and invited the potions master to sit and be comfortable.

"What is the good news, Mr. Prathimaan? Will you accompany me back to Britain and take up the post of Potions Master at Hogwarts, thus ending the reign of terror of the dungeon bat? Have you come up with a potion that will restore the hair on a muggle's head and you are prepared to make a fortune? Are they forming a quidditch league here at Adrishpuram and they want me to be a team captain? What is it? Wha-wha-what?!" Harry spoke faster and faster with each word bouncing on his bed like a hyper-active pre-schooler.

By this time, the mystic was nearly falling off his chair laughing. Between gasps as he recovered, he said, "Any of those would be good news indeed, my fine young student,", and he pulled his best doleful expression, "but alas that is not my news.".

Then, much more sober, Harry asked, "Is it the Wolfsbane potion?"

The genuine smile returned to Prathimaan's face, "Yes, Harry. The sixth dose has gone well for our volunteer. If the final dose goes as planned tomorrow night, you may place your name upon the alteration", he said rising from his chair and patting his student on the shoulder.

"But, Mr. Prathimaan, That's not right. This was at least as much your work as mine. I insist that my name will go on the alteration only if yours appears first", Harry said earnestly.

Prathimaan's expression became a rueful smile, "My young friend, it was my quest for glory which lead to me becoming a mystic. I have had my fill of glory for one lifetime. No, my name shall not appear on this alteration and not on any other. Besides, it was your love for your friend which made us take this risk and to this discovery and Mother Magic has rewarded you for that."

Harry could sense the man was not content with his lot in life and asked, "Are you satisfied with being where you are?"

The potion master merely sighed, "I am happy here, Harry. I can tinker with potions to my heart's content and no one bats an eye lid. It's just that I have not been able to find myself yet. I did not find answer to the question, 'Who am I?'".

Harry raised his eye brows at the mystic, "From the way that you always seem to be happy and smiling and have no complaints about your life, I would have thought that you had answered that question for yourself. In fact I am more worried about me because I do not know who I am and now I have to tell a Naga if I have full conviction in whatever answer I have found because he wanted to do a ritual for me."

The mystic's eyes spread in wonder, "He offered you the nothingness ritual? That is offered to only a selected few and not even all of his Nagas are offered this. However I understand your dilemma. Any wavering in your conviction to your answer and the ritual is useless. My answer is that you try to find who you are really. Try to find this answer by lining up your faults, your qualities, what mother magic has decreed for you. When you have got an answer, stay firm by it no matter how bitter it may sound to you because this is all the answer that anyone can give to you."

Harry called the marauders who had been true to him every time he asked them something. He pulled out the mirror, tapping it and called 'Padfoot' and Sirius's grinning face appeared in the mirror. He was walking on a road somewhere and Harry immediately went berserk, "Are you insane, old man? Whatever possessed you to go out when there is a manhunt going on for you?"

Sirius barked out a laugh, "I will have you know that I am only in my late 30s pup. I am not an old man. Besides what is life without a little adventure? By the way, you do not have the moral high-ground to preach to me considering you are the same bloke who smuggled a dragon illegally out of Hogwarts, who arrived at the school in a flying car and almost destroyed the whomping willow, who fool hardily went into the chamber of secrets to slay a thousand year old basilisk with nothing but your wand and it never even occurred to you to use a rooster. As I remember you are the same bloke who stunned Snivellus, who used a time turner, who fought a hundred dementors single-handedly and broke me out of Flitwick's office on the top of the castle, the same runty bloke who outflew a dragon, dived in a lake without knowing how to swim to save his friend who was in no danger at all and then fought all sorts of creatures in that accursed maze. So tell me son, how you can lecture me about it?"

Harry shot back, "Padfoot, although it's true that I took a lot of crazy chances, in every instance, I did it because I saw no better alternatives. In most of those examples, I was trying to save people I care about. So, then tell me what life-saving mission you are on and I'll forgive you for taking stupid chances."

Sirius waved his concerns away, "Do not worry about it, son. I have ditched the Order and bamboozled the ministry. Besides, I am in Italy, far out of their reach. I needed some fresh air and to look up one particular wand maker. I need something special and I don't think that old Ollivander is quite up to the task."

Harry thought it over for a moment then said, "Not rescuing someone in imminent peril, but; getting yourself a decent wand will have to do as an excuse for going walk-about. Just be real careful. I don't want to hear about you being hauled-off to Azkaban or worse", Harry said with real feeling.

Sirius gave him a real toothy grin, "Don't worry about me, Pup. I'll be fine. How is your training going anyway?"

Harry's demeanour immediately fell, "I am trying to find the answer to a question and I have no idea what to do about it."

Sirius realised something was not right and asked him kindly, "What is this question, Prongslet?"

Harry sighed, "I am trying to find who I am."

Sirius said, "huh... what does that mean? You are Harold James Potter."

Harry shrugged, "A lot of things have changed Sirius. I visited a place where it is said that Mother Magic is most sentient and she identifies me as Harold James Peverell."

Realisation dawned on him, "And you are struck about not being a Potter anymore? You think that it would change your identity?"

Harry nodded, "That is my concern, yes. I am afraid of this change."

Sirius adopted a warm demeanour, "Look Harry, I told you before and I am telling you now. It will change nothing and you will be what you always were. A beacon of hope to many helpless wizards and witches, a source of joy to me and Moony who consider you family, a friend and non adopted son of the Weasley's, a brother from another mother to Hermione, something to Ms. Bones though I do not know what (he winked at him making him blush), and above all you will remain James and Lily's son."

Harry felt at peace with himself after talking with Padfoot and he realised he had found his answer. He knew who he was and how it mattered. Telling Sirius to take care, he slashed at the mirror breaking the connection. After performing his daily Occlumancy exercise, he retired to bed.

**The Naga Village, The next day**

When Harry appeared before the chief of the Naga, he showed that he was not a being to mince words, "Are you ready, Harold James Peverell?"

Harry looked the chief firmly in the eye and said, "Yes. I am ready."

The chief led him deep into the forest to a clearing where there was a symbol carved into the ground. Harry did not recognise the symbol. There were people sitting  
on the symbol at specific points.

The chief spoke to Harry, "You see, we have anticipated your answer and all is in readiness. Mr. Potter or whoever you have decided that you are, you will remove all  
of your clothing save the bare essentials. When you have done, sit yourself in the centre of the symbol and face toward me. You will then enter into meditation. I warn  
you not to open your eyes until we stop chanting. No matter what happens, what you see or hear, continue your meditation. When the time comes, remain true and steadfast to your answer. If you waver, the ritual will fail."

Harry followed the chief's instructions to the letter. As he sat down, the people stationed around the symbol began to chant. As he meditated, from the words that he understood, they were chanting about waking up, praying to some primordial god asking for blessings. First the chanting felt alien to him but as time passed, he eased into it and after a few moments, everything ceased to exist around him except for the pitch black darkness which threatened to engulf him. He stood for sometime before he decided to explore. He could swear that it was getting darker which would have been ridiculous because there are no shades to dark. However in that moment, he felt like it was dark. His fears danced in front of his eyes, his nightmares tried to haunt him, every instance when he was mistreated or abused by Vernon or Petunia tried to claw its way to the front of his mind. Voldemort's red eyes seemed to be glaring at him in the dark. Harry wanted to run away or to hide but he somehow knew that this was some sort of test which he was determined to pass. None of this was real, he told himself, and even if it was real, so what? He had faced it all before and that was a part of him which made him strong. He heard Dumbledore's voice, "It is our choices which make us who we are.", and it was gone again.

Determined to find out what comes next, Harry strode off into the thickening darkness. When the darkness seemed so thick that he could no longer breathe, he saw something which made him almost cry. He saw that the ground was littered with the bodies of every one he had ever loved or cared about. The Weasley's were dead, there was Sirius who was sprawled on the ground, a big wound open in his chest, there was Moony who had his body bent at a crude angle and his eyes were lifeless. Dumbledore, Minerva, Hermione, Susan, the Longbottoms... everyone he loved was dead. He wanted to cry, to hold them but he told himself that it was not true. They were all safe in wizarding Britain and he would see them in a week.

Suddenly the darkness was dispelled as if it had been waiting to see what he would do and a woman stood there. Harry thought of her as a woman, but her features and figure were continually shifting, changing appearance to his view. Harry gazed at her face and watched, fascinated as her features continued to change from moment to moment. When she giggled, Harry realized that he had been staring at her for some time. He cleared his throat in an effort to say something but could not find his voice. The woman took pity on him and spoke, "who are you, child?"

Even her voice was pure melody. It was such a sweet voice the likes of which he had not ever heard.

He stuttered, "My lady, may I have the honour to know your name first?"

The woman laughed a girly laugh, "Is it gentlemanly manners to ask questions while not answering questions asked of you? Who are you?"

Harry said, "I am Harold James Peverell, scion of Potters. I am called saviour by some; brothers by others, a few even call me son, some may call me their world and some call me their enemy. I am something of everything and yet nothing. I am what mother magic has made me and beyond that I have no identity."

She giggled, "I made you? I do not remember ever making you, Harold James Peverell. Are you sure you are nothing more than this or that you do not exaggerate?"

Harry blanched as the woman called herself mother magic but he felt that she was speaking the truth. Her presence had made him feel at peace with himself. Such peace as he had never experienced in his entire life. He realised this was the moment where he had to have conviction, stand firm and he said without a trace of doubt in his voice, "I believe every word of what I have said here in your auspicious presence and it is the truth. I am what I say I am and nothing more nothing less."

She smiled, "Well answered, Harold James. You have my blessings and nothingness will become yours in a matter of time. To do so will be easy since one of my favoured children has already given you the way and I have accepted you into it. Never stop being true to yourself, your essence. Your physical form for the world matters nothing to me but your essence is mine. Remember child, when nothing is left all that matters is magic."

Harry bowed low before the entity who called herself magic and she touched his head, causing his magic to swirl wildly in him and he passed out.

He woke up in the hut he had bunked in when he was on his way to find Adrishpuram and looked around to find the worried faces of Vari, Prathimaan who had their wands clasped in their hands firmly and the Naga chief who was grinning from ear to ear.

Vari grunted, "Are you alright, Potter?"

Harry felt hungry but could hear his magic singing. He said to the mystic, "Physically I am good, magically I have never been better but I am feeling very hungry."

Everyone present in the hut laughed. The chief had some food brought in and Harry tucked in with gusto.

**A week later**

The last week had been very fruitful for the raven haired teen because he had learnt the mystic's ways of travel however he was disappointed to find that his nothingness did not work any wonders with other aspects of his training and he still had to work on his skills as he had been doing. Prathimaan confided in him that if the ritual had done that, Harsh would not have sought him out to train to defeat Voldemort.

The Naga had taught him to duel wandlessly and to perform magic with his actions only. The Naga were what he called 'sons of earth' meaning they did not need any wands or staff to do magic. While Harry did not get the ability, they taught him to summon earth, to force it to do his bidding with only a thought and no wand waving or any fancy stuff.

They taught him to change someone's spell mid-flight and direct it back at them while changing its nature which would have been tricky if Harsh had not taught him the art of flicking aside other's spells. The trick was to hiss a word at the spell while flicking it and it would change its nature. He even showed Harry how to do this by asking Harry to cast a stunner at him. When Harry did, the Naga just waved his hand and hissed at the spell and in place of his stunner a bone breaker was flying back at him. Only his instincts made him jump aside from the path of the spell.

They taught him a few curses and jinxes in parsel tongue which all had some properties of snakes like one spell would spew snake venom at the enemies while other would entangle them in coils like a python which would get tighter as one struggled against it. There was the bone weaving spell which could be used to give some first aid in case someone's bone was broken or their bones had been vanished (*Lockhart* wink wink).

Another break through which had come for him was that the alternate component which they used in place of aconite in the wolfsbane potion had been a resounding success and the werewolf had been able to keep his sanity for the night. In return, the mystic kept his promise to set him free. He was indeed set free the next morning with the mystics hunting him and needless to say what had become of him.

Harry also heard from Vari that Shravya Vahan and some of his teachers had eliminated Kichak and his werewolves. Shravya Vahan had come with a huge army of 100 wizards which were teachers from the Takshshila School of Magic and killed all the werewolves. That is, the ones who did not flee after two of their numbers had been abducted by Harry and Prathimaan.

This morning Harry arose and felt sadness in his heart. He had come to love living in this place despite how hard Vari made it for him. In this place he was treated as ordinary as he wished to be and in fact they treated him like family. They did so many things for him without asking and showered so much love on him.

His portkey had been set for evening when it would be afternoon in London and he decided to make the most of the time he had remaining. He donned his best dress that was in his trunk and first went to Racheal. As he knocked on the door, she opened the door sleepy eyed and her hair in a bun on her head. She yawned widely before she curtsied, 'Lord Potter, how may I serve you?".

Harry was embarrassed with her curtsying all the time and decided to call her on it, "My lady, you are my grandmother's friend and in this place, you are my elder. It will always be my place to bow to you."

He spent an hour together with her and listened to her speak while she wiped her eyes when she thought he was not looking. She may have been formal with him in his instruction, but she had come to love him as her own child.

As he was leaving, she murmured, "Remember the request Harold. Seek Terrence out and save him if he can be saved but if he has sold his soul to the abomination then let him be at fate's mercy."

He went to Prathimaan next. He had a little trunk ready for him which contained the five plants he had found during his stay in India and the plants whose leaves could keep him warm (he had put them under stasis charms), a large number of potions which he had brewed in the course of his education and a lot of samples of the plant they had used to replace aconite in wolfsbane. It was a common plant called Cyperus Rotundus and Prathimaan had been doing experiments with it to determine if it could be used successfully. After an hour with Prathimaan, he said his farewell knowing full well that perhaps he would never meet the potions master again.

Ambar had hugged him telling him that he was the brightest student she had taught and that he should send her a letter and if possible photos when he had achieved his animagus transformation. She confided in him that she had every faith in him that he would be able to kill that abomination. After an hour when he left, she also told him to keep writing so he would not forget that he had a family among the mystics.

After Ambar, he went to Achala who did not say much but her moist eyes told him everything that there was to know. The charms teacher told him to work hard and bring some pride to her name.

Pawan bear hugged him telling him that he was honoured to have taught a student like Harry and that may be someday they would meet again and trade stories of werewolf slaying over drinks. Harry had no proclivity to drinking and he wished to keep it at the minimum knowing how much the Wizarding world savoured this particular habit.

Lastly he went to say farewell to the animals and Pashupati who was morose. He whined to Harry that not all mystics cared about animals and rather looked down upon it. He confessed that he loved talking about animals with Harry and that he would miss the most out of all the teachers because they all had recruits while he was generally free unless he was sent aboard the Marichika and with the Marichika sailing to Africa, he was stationed in Adrishpuram. He also told Harry that Blackstorm would be sent to Avalon sometime in the next week and that Harry would be able to see his Hippogriff after about two weeks. After grooming Blackstorm for about an hour while making small talk with the mystic, he took his leave to reach his chamber and packed his trunk giving necessary attention to details.

Some of the space in the library had been put under the Fidelius charm by him where he kept the mystic journal, the books the mystic gave him, the trunk he received from Pashupati, the caskets of memories he had received, the penseive and Salazar's necklace in a beautifully carved box etched with runes. These things were too dangerous in the hands of anyone else and he wanted no one to have them.

As he finished packing, he shrunk the trunk and stowed it carefully in his pocket.

He made his way to the library to return the copy of Harsh's book in Sanskrit which he had borrowed at the beginning of the week.

The mystic who was stationed there, said, "Mr. Potter. I am surprised to see you here. You had best make haste or you will miss your portkey."

Harry produced the book and laying it on the counter said, "I have come to return this. I don't know if I can pay overdue fines from Britain."

The librarian handed the book back to him, "Mr. Potter, this book is gift to you. Guruji wishes you to keep it."

Harry said, "Please thank him when you see him.", looking at his watch, " I must go.". And he ran from the library.

**Green Hues **

Neville had received Dumbledore's answer this afternoon and the headmaster had agreed to start training him when the next year started so that no one would find it odd. He intended to announce that Neville was his apprentice at the end of his training because announcing it before hand would put him under the lens of the wizarding world and it would not be conducive to his training.

Frank and Alice had returned to Green Hues because they complained that they got bored in the castle with nothing to do. As soon as they arrived there, Frank found their old Auror manuals and they started reading them, no doubt preparing to train themselves as soon as the healer pronounced them to be fit.

The healer had confided in them secretly that she had been told of the ritual by Harsh who had visited her a few days ago to check on their health. She had taken an oath not to disclose it. It would not have mattered anyhow because neither she nor anyone else she knew was powerful enough was nor knowledgeable enough to do the ritual.

**London**

Harry Potter started moving as soon as he felt the portkey had stopped pulling him and landed on his feet. He and Vari were met by several mystics and their leader Himvat (Harry recognised him from earlier) who put his fist to his heart and intoned, "Dharm aur Maan.". Vari reciprocated the gesture while Harry pulled his wand out and levelled it Himvat, "What was the name of the man who met Harry Potter in St. Mungo's when Himvat was escorting him?"

The mystic smirked, "He was an old bloke named Octavius Ryne whose family was killed in the last war and he has only a grandson left who works as a technomancer in Germany."

Harry lowered his wand muttering, "Sorry, had to check that you are who you claim to be."

Vari grunted, "Good move Potter." He turned to HImvat, "Did you bring me the secret to Black Townhouse?" he asked Himvat.

The other man produced a piece of parchment which Vari read quickly and burned with a wandless Pavakam.

Vari turned to Harry, "Remember Potter, you must stay vigilant in whatever you do. One of us will always be around you and it is upon you to find us. We will see if you can recognise one of us."

Harry nodded. He had suspicions that the mystic would keep someone around him and he would have to be pretty careful about the people around him and those who lurked in shadows.

Vari took his hand and they both disapparated to apparate in the middle of an Order meeting in #12, Grimmauld Place where a lot of astonished faces were looking at him.

Finally Harry Potter was home.

**REVIEWS PLEASE**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N- **This chapter took a little long because I was busy in some other works which kept my attention. I hope you all will like it.

* * *

**Black Town House, London**

There was a meeting of the Order going on where Dumbledore was appraising the Order of everything that was being done by them and what he sought to be done further when suddenly two men just appeared without any sound. Mad-Eye, in his paranoid way, shot a bone breaker which was flicked aside by one of the men.

Kingsley, Nymphadora, Hestia, Emmeline also had their wands out pointed at the new comers while Albus sat back in his chair, relaxed and waiting to see how this would turn out. It was true that he could not recognise the two men by their looks but he recognised the magical signature of one of them. It was all too familiar for him, the magical signature of one Harry James Potter.

Alastor had seen his effort go to waste and his wand was levelled at the new comers with a menacing look on his face. Remus Lupin was there but he simply sat in his chair and looked amused like this was a spectacle that was going to be interesting. Sirius Black was not there having sent a message to Dumbledore that he was taking a leave of absence going to look for a wand maker in Italy. Albus understood that the younger man did not want an off-the shelf wand but there were wand-makers who could make a custom wand in Britain too. Why he needed to go to Italy for a wand, he could not understand. Severus was also not present in the meeting as he had been summoned by Tom. The Weasley Twins were at the Burrow. They had begged-off saying that they had some essential errands to run. Hermione Granger was camped-out in the library reading a book which Remus had brought for the students just today. Ronald was also at the Burrow while Ginevra was in her room in the Black Town House. Mr. Longbottom and Miss Bones were at their respective manors.

Minerva was there, her wand out but she looked very relaxed compared to Moody who was taut as a bow string. The other order members were sitting in their seats but Albus had no doubts that they were fingering their wands in their cloaks ready to begin casting if it came to it.

Finally one of the intruders said, "Looks like you have this covered, lad. I will see you again. Farewell."

With that, the man disappeared while the other one looked around at the others and said, "What! This is the welcome home I get? Did no one really miss me at all?"

They all looked Harry up and down. How could this six foot tall, well muscled, young man possibly be Harry Potter? And, where were his glasses? But, there were the green eyes, the permanently untidy raven black hair and the scar on the forehead. And the voice, though deeper and more powerful, sounded like the raven-haired youth who had only spent a few weeks away from them.

Dumbledore chuckled while Minerva said uncertainly, "Harry?"

The teen smiled a jovial smile, "It is very pleasant to see you too, Professor." And as he smiled, they could all see that his teeth were white and strong and even.

Moody who still had his doubts growled, "What did I say to Harry Potter when he was leaving for India?"

He smiled, "You told me that you wanted me to be able to duel you, master Auror. I am waiting for you to decide the time and place."

Mooddy barked a laugh, "I like it, lad. You have got spunk."

Molly Weasley who had been sitting in her chair all this while, rose and ran to him shouting, "Harry!"

Harry took hold of her by her shoulders, kissed her forehead and said, "Hello Mrs. Weasley, I missed you too."

Remus stood up from his chair and embraced the teen murmuring, "It's good to see you cub. Life was not the same without you around."

Harry looked around and did not find Sirius and asked Remus, "Where is Padfoot?"

Dumbledore answered his question when he realised that Remus would not say a word, "Sirius is away to Italy looking for a wand-maker and has not reported since then."

Harry wanted to pull out his mirror and give a tongue lashing to the marauder but decided to do so in person which would be more satisfying and turned to Dumbledore, "So what is this meeting about?"

Dumbledore pointed him to a seat, "Take a seat. We are about to start and are waiting for a couple more of our members."

Harry sat on Dumbledore's right hand side and after a few moments the door opened and Amelia entered the room. She found a stranger sitting on Dumbledore's right side and asked, "Do we have a new member today?"

Everyone at the table chuckled while the stranger's eyes were gleaming with mirth. He stood from his place, came towards her and gave her a perfect bow, taking her right hand and pretending to kiss her knuckles, "Madam Bones, Harold James Peverell at your service."

His proclamation caused total silence in the room. His demeanour, his manners and the grace with which he conducted himself already screamed "Pureblood" to everyone. He introduced himself as Harold rather than Harry and using Peverell rather than Potter made them realise that this was not the same boy who had gone traipsing off to who knows where. Most of them did not know about the name Peverell except a vague idea that it was one of the oldest houses and had 5 votes on the Wizengamot.

Amelia who had just realised who he was, hit him on the shoulder playfully, "Did I not tell you that you are to call me Amelia or Aunt Amelia but not Madam Bones? You may have attained the manners of a pureblood lord but you do not yet have the same charisma that your father had."

"And you know that, how?", said a voice from the door and Sirius Black had just entered the meeting room.

Harry ran to the man, picked him up by the shoulders and whirled him around three times before putting him down and embracing him, laughing all the time, "It's great to see you son. I have missed you so much."

Alastor who had been sitting quietly growled again, "If the pleasantries are over, we have a meeting to be getting on with."

Albus sobered up and asked the members to sit while inwardly he was bursting to know all that the teen had learnt with the mystics. As Harry Potter sat, he tried to scan his surface thoughts and was astonished to see that he could not learn anything at all. Harry Potter's mind had no surface thoughts whatsoever.

He turned to Sirius, "Do you have anything to report, Sirius?"

Sirius turned to him, "I found the wand maker alright and he fitted me with a wand that my grandfather had made. An excellent combination of Ebony wood and Chimera claw tied with a Dragon heartstring. It is a strange thing that it had not chosen anyone yet but the moment I touched it, well, let's just say it's better than my old wand ever was. I tried to contact some of my friends and family acquaintances to solicit their help in the war but right now the Italians are adopting a wait and see approach. I presume they would intervene only when they are sure that we are already winning."

The people at the table made noises of scorn and disappointment but Albus silenced them, "Silence please. We know that the Italians are not very forth coming and usually do not jump into the fray unless it is imperative to do so. We must not be disheartened. We can contact the French through Miss Delacour whose father is head of International Magical Cooperation in France. Likewise we can look for some associates in Bulgaria where Mr. Krum's family is very prominent. I believe Harry had cultivated very good friendships with them during the Triwizard tournament."

As everyone fell silent, he started again, "We have achieved some headway in bringing about Tom Riddle's downfall and we are a step closer to it. The Wizengamot Session is just four days from now and we have to make sure that we are ready to turn some heads. The guard at the Department of Mysteries will continue for the foreseeable future until we see fit to remove the guard entirely. Croaker has promised his help to us in guarding the secret that Voldemort (everyone except the Marauders, Harry and Amelia flinched or shuddered or gasped) is after."

After that the meeting turned towards other topics like how many believed the order and things like that until Dumbledore dismissed the meeting telling people to keep eyes and ears open to listen to every rumour.

Most of the members had left, leaving only a few behind when Harry asked the question he had on his mind, "Headmaster, when are you going to tell me the whole prophecy?"

Dumbledore sighed, "I do not think that we can postpone this anymore. We soon will make a journey to the Department of Mysteries to pick it up."

Remus who had been sitting quietly asked, "What does the prophecy say? Can we hear it?"

Dumbledore turned to him, "It is Harry's secret. He will have to decide if it is appropriate to share it or not."

Sirius who had been sitting quietly turned to Harry, "So Pup, what you have learned with them?"

Remus guffawed, "He has become the perfect pureblood."

Sirius mock grimaced, "The horror! I tried to stay away from it and my son becomes the perfect pureblood lord. Oh how will I show my face to the world now?"

While everyone chuckled at his antics, Albus felt compelled to and shot an inaudible wandless legilimens and tried to scan the teen's mind who had been looking at Albus for some reason, too curious to see if what he had sensed was indeed true. He found the mental shields easily enough and found that they were down. He was disappointed but could not resist the opportunity to explore and crossed the concentric walls around the mindscape easily but before he could get a good look, a memory flashed in front of him. A memory of a hundred Dementors swooping in, trying to administer the kiss and Albus Dumbledore was thrown out of the mindscape. He looked up to find impassive faced Harry Potter (or was he Peverell now?) looking at him but there was mirth in his eyes which clearly said that he had caught the headmaster with his hand in the lemon drop jar.

Harry said to him, "Head Master did you like what you saw?"

Head master said nothing but Sirius asked, "What do you mean, pup?"

Harry smirked, "Head master here just now tried to catch me off guard and entered my mindscape. He thought he was unopposed and I just shocked him with the memory of 100 Dementors swooping in and trying to administer the kiss."

Sirius looked ready to brawl. "You used legilimency on him?", he roared at Albus.

Harry placated him, "It's alright Padfoot. I shot him with a compulsion charm to do so. I had to start my pranking spree on someone, after all."

Everyone laughed at this while Dumbledore looked embarrassed that he had been hit with a compulsion charm and did not realise it. He resolved to stay wary of the teen in future or he would become easy prey for his pranks.

Amelia turned to him then, "So Harry, do you remember the message I delivered when you were leaving Wizarding Britain?"

Harry well remembered the message from Susan and nodded and she continued, "I really would be disappointed if you forget to meet her tomorrow and end up on the wrong end of her wand. Just to let you know, she has become formidable with her wand work."

He cringed at the tone of her message though he knew he probably would be able to defeat Susan in a few moments.

As the meeting was winding up for the night, Harry found that Mr. Weasley had been sitting very quietly since he arrived, eyeing him as if he wanted to say something yet could not bring himself to do it. Harry addressed him, "It is good to see you too Mr. Weasley but you do not seem excited to me at all."

The older man snapped to attention, "It is very pleasant to see you again Harry but I had something on my mind."

It was as he had guessed. He turned to the older man, "Please do go on. If you have to hesitate in saying anything to me then I would assume that things are very bad between us."

Arthur said, "Nothing like that, Harry. I had a small request for Lord Black that is all. It can wait for tomorrow."

As Albus dismissed the meeting and people were going to leave, Alastor barked, "If it does not inconvenience everyone, I have something to say."

Albus smiled, "Please do go on, Alastor. I presume I speak for everyone when I say we all are interested in hearing what you want to say."

Everyone made noises of agreement and Alastor continued, "Not everyone knows that Potter or Peverell or whatever name he goes by now, is back. So, let's keep it a secret from everyone for today. Tomorrow, he can enter the class wearing a mask and duel with the students giving them a taste of duelling with an accomplished master."

Harry grinned, "That is a prank worthy of a marauder. Are you sure you are not secretly a marauder, Master Auror Moody?"

The mystic glared at him, "I am not a menace like your fathers and your uncle."

Everyone chuckled at his protests however they agreed that it would be amusing to see what would happen the next day at the Cottage on the hill. Harry was eager to be back among his friends, but; for the sake of this prank, he could put off meeting them for one day, so he agreed.

The only dissenting voice was of Molly Weasley who protested, "No, he has just returned. At least let him have something to eat first."

Harry chuckled, "I missed you Mrs. Weasley and your delicious three course meals but does it look like I have been starved by them? I promise I will eat a three course meal filled with your motherly love, tomorrow."

She eyed him up and down and probably was satisfied with what he saw because she nodded reluctantly, "I will wait for you at dinner tomorrow then." She turned to Sirius with her hands on her hips, "You will tell those elves to make themselves scarce tomorrow because I don't want them to interrupt me when I am cooking." Sirius cringed

Dumbledore gave him a piece of parchment to read. Harry took one look, flipped it to make sure there was nothing on the other side. The next moment he drew his wand from his holster, flipped the parchment into the air and muttered, "incendio", and the parchment vanished in a puff of flame.

Taking Sirius and Remus by their arms, he disappeared leaving others in shock.

**Cottage on the Hill**

Dinner that night was prepared by Dobby who was excited at seeing his master back and hugged his leg fiercely all the while saying, "The great Harry Potter is back.". After dinner the marauders tried to corner him about what he had learnt but he kept stalling them.

As Harry looked around the cottage, he remembered that he had a bone to pick with his adoptive father. He turned to Sirius and accused, "Where do you get off leaving the safety of the townhouse? Have you forgotten that if they find you, you are under a death sentence?"

Sirius just sat there doing his best to look shocked and offended until he couldn't stand it anymore. Then, taking pity on Harry, Remus handed Harry a copy of The Daily Prophet from the day after Sirius's trial.

Harry looked at the front page to see Sirius' smiling face looking up at him and the headline, _**"SIRIUS BLACK EXONERATED"**_

It only took Harry a moment to scan the article, read the date on the paper and realize that Sirius had been pardoned nearly a month ago and had not bothered to share that news with him. Harry rolled up the paper as it enlarged in his hand. He started swatting Sirius about the head and ears with it repeating, "Bad dog! Bad dog!..."

Sirius started trying to cover his head with his hands, then got into the spirit of the thing and transformed to his dog form, yelping as Harry swatted him about the flanks with the rolled-up newspaper.

After a few more seconds of that silliness, the paper returned to its normal size, Sirius returned to his human form and the three of them shared a good belly laugh.

As Harry wiped the tears from his eyes, he asked, "So, you thought it would be amusing to keep this from me and then go wandering about, making it look like you were taking insane chances?", he zapped Sirius with a non-verbal, wandless stinger, "There's a down-payment on what you have coming, Padfoot."

Sirius started to say with complete nonchalance, "It was in all the papers. It's not my fault you don't read or your friends did not see it fit to inform you."

Then the marauders both noticed that Harry didn't have his wand out. They looked at him open mouthed in astonishment.

Harry asked, "What? Why are you both looking at me like I have grown two heads?"

Finally Remus found his voice, "Nothing is the matter, cub. Not just any wizard can use wandless and inaudible magic with such fluency."

Despite becoming a ferocious war-mage he could not control his blush, "It is no big deal. I can cast most spells wandlessly now."

Sirius had been giving Harry an appraising look all this time, "If I were you pup, I would not go around showing off my skills. The big deal behind me and James being Animagus was that we had done it without any help from anyone and kept this secret for years."

Harry smirked, "Don't worry about me. Nobody can enter my mind unless I let them. Is your mind secure?"

Sirius said off-handedly, "My skills are a little rusty but with a little practice, I can get my affairs in order. Thank Merlin that my mindscape survived the Dementors. It was one of the reasons that I could keep my sanity. By the way, I noticed you did not ask Moony the same question."

Harry replied in amusement, "That's because I don't need to. I know that any information I give him will be safe because to enter a werewolf's mind is suicide. The wolf in him would tear the intruder to shreds."

Sirius looked at him with his jaw hanging open while Moony was trying to hold in his laughter. As Sirius looked at the werewolf to confirm this, Remus lost it finally and started laughing bent at the middle.

Not long after that, he herded the marauders out of his room at the cottage to start working on daily mental exercises. Before he went to bed, he put wards around his bed more out of habit than real need and went to sleep.

**Cottage on the Hill, the Next Morning**

Harry woke up just before the crack of dawn as had become his habit and sat wondering for a few minutes about why Vari had not entered his room this morning before he realised he was back in Britain and he was sleeping in the cottage. He sneaked up to Sirius's room and found the Marauder asleep and Moony was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he had returned to Grimmauld Place sometime in the night.

He went outside and realised that Hogwarts was nearby and if he wished, he could visit the school. Changing his mind and deciding not to, he started running around the property but it was not as exciting as it was at Adrishpuram because there was no one to shoot spells at him every step of the way. After running four laps around the property and finishing his push-ups, he scrambled to his bed again, waiting for Sirius to come and spring the traps around his bed. Sirius entered his room after some time rather boisterously singing at the top of his voice and as he stepped on the wards, he found himself dangling upside down, his skin the colour of burned copper and he had grown two horns on his head.

Harry rose from the bed and guffawed at him, "What is the matter, Padfoot?"

Sirius scowled at him, "You will regret this Prongslet as soon as I get free of this trickery."

He rolled his eyes, "Promises, Promises. Let's see you do your best."

Sirius smirked and called, "Kreacher, Winky."

The elves arrived with two loud cracks and Kreacher who looked much better now, gave a deep bow to Sirius, "What Kreacher be doing for you Master?"

Sirius eagerly said, "Free me from this, Kreacher."

Before Kreacher could do anything, Harry interrupted him, "Kreacher, Winky, I Harold James Lord of House Black forbid you from helping him to get free of his current predicament."

Kreacher turned to Sirius and shook his head, "No can do, master. Lord Black forbids it."

The elves bowed to Harry before they popped away and Harry left him dangling upside down. Sirius pulled his wand out of his sleeve and sent a patronus to Moony who arrived after 15 minutes, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and asked him, "Who got the jump on you, Padfoot? I thought the Weasley menaces had retreated and were licking their wounds."

Sirius growled, "It is not those two Moony but Prongslet who has been pranking everyone ever since he returned yesterday."

Remus was amused, "He did it, didn't he? It looks like we will have to stay clear of him if he is this proficient. How did he do it?"

Sirius sighed, "I would happily retell the entire tale to you if you would be kind enough to bring me down."

As Remus raised his wand to try and break the ward, Harry materialised out of thin air behind Remus and shouted in his ear, "BOO!"

Remus was so startled that he jumped, yelped and dropped his wand. Before the werewolf could recover, the teen shot him with a cushioning charm, ascendio and a sticking charm. Before Remus could do anything, he rocketed to the ceiling and was stuck there. Had it not been for the cushioning charm, he likely would have broken most of his ribs from the impact.

The wards expired after 30 minutes and Sirius dropped to the floor with an undignified thump. Using his wand, he helped his fellow Marauder out of his predicament. The two of them went to wreck their revenge upon the whelp. He would pay!

They found Harry at the breakfast table, working his way through enough food for a small army. As the aroma of the food hit their nostrils, revenge was postponed as they pulled up chairs and tucked in.

An hour later, Moody entered to find the marauders sitting on the sofa in the entrance hall and no sign of Harry Potter (or Peverell or whatever). He growled at the duo, "Where is the lad?"

Sirius smirked, "Constant Vigilance, Alastor."

Alastor felt someone was behind him and as he turned, a wand appeared out of nowhere and shot him with a banishing hex throwing him across the entrance hall and before Alastor could get on his feet, he had been disarmed and bound with chains. Harry Potter emerged from under an Invisibility cloak (he could swear that his magical eye was failing him) smirking at Alastor, "I believe I just won the first round, Master Auror."

Harry hauled him back to his feet by one arm and proffered his wand tip first, saying, "I am waiting for the honour to duel you at your chosen time."

Alastor grumbled, "Soon lad, soon. You will get what's coming to you."

Sirius and Remus merely chortled.

Soon, Minerva and Flitwick arrived with Dumbledore and surprisingly Amelia (they were told to be present for this session as it was bound to be interesting). Sirius welcomed them into the classroom that they used to teach the students. The students arrived sometime later from their respective abodes. Harry had already disappeared under his cloak and waited in silence knowing that none of the teachers had been told about him.

Moody immediately took the reins of the session, "All right, here is what we are going to do. These two (he pointed to the Marauders) will be leading a charge with another person who has kindly agreed to help us with training the students today. Minerva, Filius and I will be at different points of the property lines, defending it while the students will be on their own. Your aim is to stop these three from entering the cottage and taking a trunk which is in there. If they take the trunk, you lose. If you capture or disable all three of them, you win. You may use any spells you know, any tricks you can come up with. The only rule here is no permanent damage. Amelia and Albus will be the judges for this session."

As the teachers apparated to different parts of the property, the students were left alone. Fred opened the conversation, "So, has anyone got a plan?"

George added, "Because we have none, if we had known..."

Fred said, "We would have thought of something."

Neville raised his hand stopping them, "let's think of something. We have 7 students and 3 teachers on our side while they have only 3 on the other team. Does that seem unbalanced to you?"

Ron said, "Of course it does. It means that the three on the other team are more than a handful for us."

Hermione who had been thinking hard turned to Ron, "So what do you propose?"

Ron gave her a grin, "Let's pair up. Fred you go with Neville, George you take Susan with you and Ginny, you are with me and Hermione."

Neville said, "Ok, you've divided up the party. Now what?"

Ron smirked, "Mad-eye told us to do what we can to keep them from taking the trunk. Three of us will guard the trunk. You four go back up the teachers and try to hunt them down before they get in here."

They decided to look in different directions for the intruders and sometime later, horse neighing was heard from across the property line and George grinned, "They have tripped the caterwauling charm on the eastern side. Let's go." Before he and Susan could do that, a lion roaring was heard in another direction and they took off to the south where the second caterwauling charm had been tripped, knowing that teachers would already be rushing to the east.

Unknown to them, Harry Potter had exited the property and was standing on a little hill to the northern side of the property. He had his mystic mask on and was hiding under the cloak all this while. As soon as Sirius tripped the charm on the eastern side and every one rushed in that direction, he stowed the cloak in his pocket and jumped down landing with the grace of a cat. He drew his wand (he had returned Harsh's wand to Charak at Adrishpuram) and started casually walking towards the cottage in the distance when Moody appeared in front of him, "Going somewhere in a hurry, lad?"

He grinned, "No. I was itching for a competent fighter for good practice. Good thing that you came looking for me."

Harry's wand became a blur as the tip described a rapid series of short arcs and a chain of bone breakers and bone crushers raced toward the grizzled veteran. Mad-Eye raised a shield faster than thought with only one good leg, he couldn't dodge like he used to). Harry kept the power low on his spells, so they did not go smashing their way through the shield, but the bombardment did not let up. He had the ex-auror pinned down. The moment that Harry let up, Moody went on the offensive, but the teen side-stepped every spell effortlessly, making it look like a dance. The grin on Harry's face told Moody that he was enjoying himself. He tried some high powered stingers, hoping that the faster spells would catch him by surprise, but, he just kept side-stepping and grinning. Alastor tried mixing them up and still nothing connected. Then one of his own stunners was coming straight back at him. Alastor dodged the stunner but, Harry judged the dodge perfectly and a bone breaker smashed the ex-auror to the ground. Harry finished him off with a stunner and an incarcerous. With the grizzled veteran tied up and unconscious, Harry picked up the dropped wand and mended the damaged ribs before casually walking forward.

Neville had stopped Fred from running to the east as the caterwauling charm was set off. Fred looked at him, "Neville, mate, what is the problem?"

Neville said, "Remember Mad-Eye said there were three intruders? There is no guarantee that they are together."

Fred looked at him with a sense of realisation dawning, "Blimey, you are right, mate. What if they are coming from three different directions?"

Neville grinned, "I say we wait and keep an eye on Moody. He can watch everyone around him with that eye of his and he will go in the direction where we really need to go."

So they had followed Moody and saw him disappear before appearing before the intruder and trash talking with him before engaging him in a duel. They saw how the teen had turned the tables on Alastor and walked forward nonchalantly.

Fred grimaced, "That must have hurt the grizzled Auror."

Neville said, "I agree. It is not like him to lose to anyone so easily. So, what strategy do we adopt against this one?"

Fred's face was set in determination, "Only one strategy "I will cast and you will defend."

They apprehended the teen who was walking along leisurely like he owned the place and Neville challenged him, "Halt! This is not going to be so easy for you."

The opponent grinned, "Big words, Longbottom. Can you back them up?"

Fred started casting everything that he knew including some prank spells for good measure and just like when he faced Moody, he did not bother to shield. He barely even moved as he just side-stepped every spell. After Fred had failed to get a hit on him, he hollered to Neville, "Longbottom, let's combine forces and teach him a lesson."

The two together started casting curses at their opponent and he merely raised protego maxima between them and stood there, smirking at them. Fred used a contraption to bring down the shield and immediately their opponent started casting at them. His casting speed was blinding and before they were able to defend themselves from a spell, another would be there. They raised shields to protect themselves but in a few shots, their shields were broken. As they raised another shield, he sent an incendio at them followed by a shield breaker and then a stunner. Fred jumped in front of the shield breaker and was knocked out by the stunner. Neville was left alone to fend for himself and his opponent sent an incarcerous at him which he tried to dodge but the rope kept following him and eventually tied him up.

Flitwick, who had been watching the fight with some appreciation (Susan and George were keeping Remus busy) decided to confront him as he saw him using the incarcerous creatively on Longbottom. Win or lose, he anticipated that this would be someone who would give him a good fight.

Flitwick sent a incendio at the boy (he could sense it was a teen, probably in early 20s) and the teen batted it aside and turned to find the charms master standing with his wand in his hand and bowed to him, "Master Duellist Flitwick, I would be honoured to duel with you."

Flitwick said nothing but shot another incendio at the teen who swatted it back at him. Flitwick had to dodge to save himself. As he straightened, the teen had conjured a firewhip (Krishanu) and waved his wand at Flitwick who had to raise a shield to avoid being snared in the whip. The teen gave a jerk to his wand and Flitwick's shield was broken. The Charms master opened a hose of fire at the teen who jumped aside and used a flame freezing charm freezing his fire hose then started sending bolts of fire at him (Pavakam) in an almost unbroken chain. Flitwick was hiding behind a shield and waited for someone to come to his rescue but others were equally engaged. When Harry saw that Flitwick, feeling secure behind his shield, was looking around for help to come to him, Harry sent a shield breaker, followed a split-second later by a disarming charm from his open left hand. Before Flitwick could react to his shield being shattered, his wand was flying through the air to Harry's outstretched hand. Finally the teen conjured a cage of earth, summoned the charms master, guiding him into the cage and fixed him there with a sticking charm.

After disabling the charms master, he went in search of others and found McGonagall about to overwhelm Sirius who was hiding behind a shield while she was using animations against him. Thinking it was as good a time as any to try the trick Harsh had taught him, he claimed one of McGonagall's animations and sent it back at her. McGonagall turned around to find her own animation attacking her and looked around flabbergasted till her eyes found Harry, who was standing there grinning at her.

While she inwardly felt proud of the display he was putting on, she had a reputation to maintain and she started sending all sorts of spells at him which sometimes he dodged, sometimes flicked aside. As she sent conjured arrows at him, he conjured a metal shield and the arrows impaled themselves into the shield. He immediately transfigured the shield and arrows into javelins and banished them at the Professor who conjured a wall of stone to stop the javelins. While she could not see him, her sight-line being cut-off by her own wall of stone, Harry took the opportunity to disapparate silently and apparate behind her. With her back turned to him, he transfigured her into her cat form. Sirius immediately transformed to keep the professor busy with the cat and dog game.

That left Remus who was duelling with the duo of Susan and George.

Harry sent a stunner at George who dodged it and grinned at him, "It won't be that easy to stun me."

Harry grinned, "I have just come from stunning your twin who was saying the very same thing."

George started casting without thinking when Susan stopped him, "he is just egging you on into making a mistake."

Harry grinned and sent some of McGonagall's animations (he had commandeered all of them) at the pair of them while grinning to Moony, "you have it covered now. Stun them and join me inside."

Before he walked inside, he sent a homnum revelio spell inside showing that the three were hiding in what they considered strategic locations. Ron was hiding behind a tapestry which concealed a door way while Hermione was standing in a dark corner under a disillusionment spell and Ginny was hovering in the air on a broom!

He thought hard about tackling this issue and decided to deal it in the way of a typical Gryffindor. He disillusioned himself and charged inside, sending a petrification hex into the corner and a stunner at the tapestry and dived under a table to save himself from the bombarda from above. He summoned the trunk to himself and as he expected, Ginny descended as soon as the trunk travelled the length of the room to his hand. He immediately sent a petrification hex with a stunner followed by a cushioning charm at her. While she was able to dodge the petrification hex, the stunner hit her with such force that she was thrown from her broom. Before she could sustain any serious injury the cushioning charm hit her and she fell unharmed to the ground. He picked up the trunk and came outside to applause from Dumbledore and Amelia.

10 minutes later after everyone was revived, Alastor who was still grimacing from pain (his bones had been mended by Harry) turned to everyone gathered, "Alright, one boy got the jump on all of you and me too. Let's listen to where it went wrong."

Flitwick went first, "I was over-confident. I thought I would Duel him with charms only. He had an answer for every charm of mine. He broke my shield with a fire whip putting me on the defensive. When I was on the defensive, hiding behind a shield, I took my eyes off of him for a split second to see if any help was on the way. That cost me my shield and my wand. Defenceless, he conjured some sort of cage and stuck me in it."

Minerva said, "He did not even defeat me properly. He just commandeered my animation to attack me and used transfiguration against me easily, something that I have seen very few people do. He turned every attack right back at me. At one point, I summoned a stone wall to stop a particularly nasty attack which obscured my line of sight to him. The next thing I knew, I was a cat and this dog (she pointed to Sirius) was chasing after me."

While everyone laughed hearing of her predicament, she pursed her lips in a thin line. Moody himself started then growling, "This one here started firing bone breakers at me relentlessly not giving me a chance to reply. When I finally had a chance to reply to him in kind, he did not even have the decency to dodge my spells properly but he kept side stepping them as if I was some amateur. Evidently when I had amused him enough, he sent back my curse at me forcing me to jump aside and fired a bone breaker at the place I was going to be. I have never faced such a powerful bone breaker in all my Auror service."

Then Neville started, "We decided that following the Master Auror would be our best chance to engage the invaders. Imagine our surprise when we saw this one put him down with ridiculous ease. Since we were engaging him two on one, Fred cast while I defended. After some time, it was clear that Fred could not hit him. He kept doing that side stepping thing. When we attacked him together, he raised protego maxima which we brought down. He sent a spell chain at us which Fred took on himself and was stunned. Then he sent some weird incarcerous at me to tie me up."

Susan spoke for her and George, "This one sent all of McGonagall's animations at us forcing us to deal with them and then had Remus stun us."

Hermione spoke for the three of them, "He must have cast the Homnum Revelio because he knew exactly where we were in spite of the fact that we were well concealed. Before we even knew that he was there, he sent a petrification hex at me, a stunner at Ron and dived under a table. When Ginny descended to deal with him, he stunned her, knocking her right off of her broom while hitting her with a cushioning charm so that she would not sustain injuries."

Sirius started howling with laughter while Dumbledore looked in contemplation. If the teen had dealt with all of them only using non-lethal spells, he shuddered to imagine what he would do to those who provoked his ire. Amelia was smirking trying to imagine Susan's reaction when she would realise who had shown all of them up. Flitwick was thinking of the charms and the way the teen had used them. It reminded him of a witch who was an accomplished master he had once met. A formidable opponent, if there ever was one but that had been 50 years ago.

Dumbledore who had been playing spectator all this while, said, "Now it is time to see who is hiding under that mask. My boy, if you will."

**Hermione's Point Of View**

Yesterday, Hermione had seen the inhabitants of Black Town House in better spirits than they had been since she had come to live at the Townhouse. While she was not allowed in the Order meetings (none of the students except the Twins were) but Molly's smile was more dazzling than other days as if she had been given a gift she coveted above everything. The headmaster had greeted her very jovially and that was out of character for the old wizard who had looked grim and contemplative for the past month.

Mad-eye was looking disappointed as if someone had defeated him in a duel but there was no one who could get the jump on that old Auror in a fair duel. Was there? She was surprised to see Madam Bones in the meeting considering the head of DMLE had never attended any meetings as far as she knew. The rest of the members that she had seen were looking happy but, she knew it was pointless to ask them why. They were under strict orders from Dumbledore not to tell the students anything about what happened in the meetings. If Dumbledore thought that something should not be told to the students then it was fine with her. He was after all Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the greatest wizard in all of Britain. If there was anything that they needed to know, he would see to it that they were told.

Mad-eye told her to floo call the students telling that there was a practice tomorrow where the students would team up with the teachers. They had never teamed up with the teachers on their side yet in a duel and she was excited.

This morning when Moody announced the fight that he had staged, she was excited to show her prowess and clever wand work, hoping to cement her place as the tactical thinker for the group but the boys had made strategy among themselves and acted on it. She had hatched the plan for the three of them to hide in different places in the hall where the trunk was kept and she was fairly certain that the intruder would miss at least one of them and could be taken down.

What she had not planned for was for the intruder to cast a homnum revelio before he entered the house and he had discovered their positions. She was certain that she would not be discovered because she was in a dark corner and under a disillusionment charm but the intruder had shown his extremely sharp reflexes with his wand, sending a petrification hex at her and following it with a stunner too quickly. She watched as he stunned Ronald and jumped under the table forcing Ginny to come down when he summoned the trunk to him. He had shot the spell chain at her without any effort as if he knew where she would be. To be successful in such close quarters he must have practiced hard at aiming his spells, something which none of the students had practiced before.

When Dumbledore asked him to take his mask off, the face which emerged seemed familiar to her. But how could this be the same bloke? He must be about half a foot taller, no glasses and where did he get all those muscles? It wasn't just the physical changes either. This fine, young man stood up straight, carried himself with confidence and had the manners of a young lord. She looked again. There was the familiar raven-black untidy mop of hair. There was the scar, though just a thin white line, a mere shadow of what it used to be. And finally, those emerald green orbs. Once she looked into them she was sure. This was her best friend, Harry James Potter looking back at her. There sure were a lot of changes, but she was sure, she could get used to it.

Before Hermione could react, a stinger had left Susan's wand and she realised that she too had made the same connection and realisation was dawning on others as he gave his lopsided grin to all of them. Everyone who had been at the receiving end of that grin knew it too well. As she watched, Harry just swatted Susan's stinger aside with his hand and Susan followed it with a volley of hexes such as petrification hex, stunners and even a couple of bone breakers too but none of them seemed to connect with the way he was just side-stepping her spells. Finally Harry disarmed her with his wand (What was it made of?) and Susan pounded him with her fists shouting, "you moron Harry James Potter! You are such a prat! You did not come to see me when you returned."

Finally Amelia had to pull Susan away from the boy who had been laughing while Susan had been pounding him, enraging her. As Susan was subdued, Hermione lunged and hugged him tight, muttering, "you ever pull this on me again prat and you will be dead. Deal?"

He only kissed her head and said courteously, "Miss Granger while you make an interesting offer, I fear that I shall have to decline."

Everyone around them chuckled and then there were Neville and Ron who were hugging the teen.

"Blimey!", exclaimed Ron, "You're nearly as tall as me, Harry! What happened?"

Harry muttered something like, "Growth spurt. That Indian cooking is good for you."

Ron's enthusiasm was contagious, "It is good to see you, mate. There was no one to play chess with me."

Harry chuckled, "you mean there was no one you could defeat again and again?"

Finally as they let go, Neville grinned at him, "It is good to see you again, brother". Harry clasped his hand in sign of brotherhood of old.

Finally, he approached Ginny and bowed to her, taking her right hand and pretending to kiss her knuckles, "It is good to see you too Miss Weasley."

Ginny did not squeak or try to run as she used to but blushed a little, "Since when did you become so smooth and where did you learn the pure-blood manners?"

Sirius seized the moment to put his two knuts in, "As I said yesterday Prongslet, the horror is unimaginable."

Harry finally turned to the twins, "You two, it's good to see you too. I hope our venture is not doomed."

Gred said to him, "you stunned your partners..."

Feorge added, "You will pay for this..."

Together they said, "we declare prank war on you."

Harry said nothing but Sirius muttered, "be careful you two. He is on a spree. He even bloody pranked Dumbledore."

Dumbledore said nothing but just grimaced.

**Blacktown House**

Everyone had gathered in the townhouse for dinner when Arthur returned from the ministry. Arthur had sent for his sons to be present (with the exception of Percy) for what was to transpire in the evening. Harry was sitting in the meeting room reading a book while Sirius was lounging in a chair and Hermione sitting, engrossed in a book when Arthur entered the room followed by his brood.

They stopped at a respectable distance from Harry and he waited for them to say something however Arthur remained silent for some time. Finally Harry looked up at him to see him fidgeting, wringing his hands and he recognised that perhaps the Weasley patriarch wanted to say something but had no idea about how to proceed. He broke the silence, "If you want to say something, please do Mr. Weasley. You do not need so many people at your back to talk to me."

Arthur went on one knee and addressed him formally, "Lord Black I have a favour to ask you."

Harry immediately straightened, recognising that Mr. Weasley had come to him as a supplicant, "State your wish Arthur of House Weasley and if it is in my power, I will grant it."

Arthur said clearly, "My Lord, my mother was a daughter of your house and was cast off from the family by Lord Orion Phineas Black for marrying a blood traitor. He further asked the other houses to shun us and we were deprived of our family seat on the Wizengamot."

Harry pondered over this for a moment and then said, "Your mother Cederella Black was a daughter of this house and married for love. That is not an offense in the eyes of Mother magic and as such her banishment is illegal and is not sanctified by mother magic."

Arthur shook like he was ready to cry but Harry was not finished. He said royally, "I, Harold James, Lord of House Black hereby reinstate Cederealla Weasley nee Black in the family with all the rights, privileges and status that are due to her for being a daughter of the family and recognise her marriage with Septimus of House Weasley."

Arthur lost control and started to cry his face tear streaked and looked at Harry who had stood, "Do you Arthur Septimus of the House of Weasley accept your admittance in the House of Black?"

Arthur replied with his voice hitching from tears, "I do."

Harry said further, "Do you swear to serve the family in its best interests and to protect its members as they would do to you?"

Arthur replied, "I do."

Harry asked, "Do you swear to serve the family and your Lord with unwavering loyalty as is expected of a member of family as the family would do to you?"

He replied, "I do."

Harry solemnly declared, "I Harold James, Lord of House Black welcome you and your brood into the family as an extended part of the family whereby your family will be a cadet line to the House of Black and the House will petition to restore the lost honour of your family so that the House of Weasley can again sit upon the Wizengamot in its capacity as the Ancient and Noble House of Weasley. So I say so mote it be."

Tendrils of golden light rose from Harry's magic which had been covering him like a cloak and it engulfed all the members of the House of Weasley in its folds before it dissolved into their bodies.

Harry however had not yet finished and said, "As your mother was not given her customary dowry and all other emoluments as are due to the daughter of House Black, reparations will be made. I will procure rings for all the members of House Black which will connect them to me so I would know if one of them requires my help."

Arthur who still was on his knees stood shakily and Sirius embraced him, "Congratulations Cousin. Welcome to the family."

A three course dinner followed and Harry was served three helpings which he ate with relish. As he ate he realised that the conversation around the table had gone silent and looked up to see everyone looking at him with surprise? Amusement? He could not discern their expression however it unnerved him and he asked, "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

It was Hermione who answered, "Nothing Harry. It is just that we have never seen someone outperform Ron in eating."

While others chuckled Ron's ears turned red but he only muttered, "Damn right."

The table roared in laughter while Molly glared at others, "He is a growing boy. He will need all the food he can eat."

As dinner was winding down, Dumbledore entered the town house followed by many members of the Order. As Dumbledore was calling a meeting, Harry performed passive legilimancy on many of the order members and was disappointed to see that most of them did not even have basic mental shields and he could read their thoughts like an open book. He tried it on a few of them before he stopped because they had not many secrets which he could learn. While he hated to do this, he had to make sure that they were loyal to the Order.

Dumbledore called the meeting to order, "This meeting has been called to assess our preparations for the upcoming session of the Wizengamot. As was decided, Lord Harold James Peverell will be taking up his family seats on the Wizengamot. A meeting of the members of the alliance of the House of Potter needs to be called beforehand however since I am the Chief Warlock and as such I cannot take part in these meetings, therefore Madam Bones in the capacity of Regent of House Bones has taken it upon her. I yield the floor to her now."

Amelia started speaking, "We are meeting the members of the alliance at Bones Townhouse tomorrow where the old alliance will be re-forged. In the capacity of Regent of House Bones and as legal guardian of Harry Potter, I invited them for a meeting and the House of Macmillan, House of Boot, House of Longbottom, House of Acton, House of Addington, House of Ainsworth and minor houses of Dayton, Marlowe and Livingstone have assented to attend the meeting."

There were loud cheers at her proclamation and Dumbledore quietened every one before he started again, "Is there any other news that you all want to share?"

Arthur said, "Lord Black has reinstated Cedrella Weasley nee Black back into her family and has instated House Weasley as a cadet line of House Black in addition to agreeing to petition the Wizengamot for reinstating House Weasley to its position."

The order members congratulated Arthur, toasts were raised, wine and butterbeer was poured and the meeting was over on a happy note with the members of the order leaving after saying their good-byes.

Harry took the opportunity to connect with his friends as he had hardly talked to them during the day. They joined him in his room and as he had expected, Hermione went in her rapid fire mode, "Where have you been Harry? What did you learn from them? How did you learn to fight like that? What were your teachers like?"

Harry smiled and shook his head at his friend's tireless barrage of questions. He took both of her hands in his left, patting the backs of them with his right, saying, "Hermione, breathe. I am sorry, but I cannot answer any of those questions. There are some things that must remain unknown. What I can say is that I learned something of charms, transfigurations, potions, herbology, care of magical creatures and runes."

She asked, "But Harry, you didn't take runes as one of your electives. How could you study runes?"

He smiled, "I had some very good teachers. They taught me enough to catch me up. So, I'm going to drop divination and take runes for my OWLs."

She beamed at him, "That's great Harry! Divination is a sham anyway."

Harry shook his head, "Hermione, most so-called practitioners of divination are nothing but scam artists. Sadly, even though Professor Trelawney has at least some of the true gift, she has no control over it and resorts to their methods to try and hide her inability. She is to be pitied, not despised. There are real seers out there and their power is both arcane and ancient. Sadly, unless one has the gift, there is no way that they can learn the true art."

She was hanging on every word of his as if he was in a class and when he finished she said, "You really believe that there is a thing such as sight? I thought Trelawney as making it up."

Harry smiled, "As I said, most of what she does is just mumbo-jumbo to dazzle and distract while she tells you only what can be learned or guessed from keen observation and some good guesses. She has no control over her gift, but; her gift is genuine. She has made, I think, two real predictions. True seers are very rare and there are only a handful of them in Avalon."

She asked, "Avalon?"

He shrugged, "Britain was once called Avalon in Ancient Times when the world knew of magic."

Ron who had been quiet all this while asked, "You said there are seers in Britain. Who are they?"

Harry smirked, "That is a secret which I would not give up."

She glared at him, "Why not? What harm will it do?"

He sighed, "Hermione some secrets better remain secret. It is not wise to go poking into every nook and cranny to find some secret. Some things should remain forgotten for the general good of the world."

Hermione asked again, "What happened in the evening with Mr. Weasley? What was all that bowing?"

It was Ron who answered this time, "Father petitioned Lord Black to reinstate grandmother into her family. In the next session the House of Weasley will be restored to its hereditary seat on the Wizengamot."

Hermione was confused, "Lord Black? But Harry is not Lord Black and when did you become Harold?"

Harry laughed, "It was always my name. My parents had named me thus and to answer your question, I am Lord Black."

Just then Kreacher popped in, bowing to him and presented a box, "Your rings, Lord Black."

As Harry put his rings on, Hermione could not resist asking, "What are the rings for?"

Harry sighed, "Alright, Hermione. I'll answer this one, but that will be all for today. These are the rings of Head of House. The head of House wears them."

After that, they sat making small talk during which they filled him Harry in on how they had been training in the last month and were better prepared for whatever was waiting out there. As it was getting late, Harry herded them off to go to sleep and sat working on his transformation. His animagus was coming nicely and he was sure that in two months he would be able to finish it. He could transform his torso now but he had been having problems in transforming his head to look like a leopard but hoped that with the blessing of mother magic, he would be able to finish it quickly.

**Bones townhouse**

The Bones townhouse was situated in the London suburbs and was a good place to have a meeting of the alliance. Amelia wanted restricted access to the manor in these perilous times and thus she had convened the meeting here. She had asked Susan to come along because the meeting would be good training for her when she became Lady Bones.

Yesterday as Susan had returned to the manor with her, she had expressed her anger to Amelia about not telling her that Harry Potter had returned to Wizarding Britain. She had not spoken to her at all till this morning but Amelia let her stew. She knew that Susan's anger would cool down as fast as it had come. Not disappointing her, Susan had told her this morning that she was sorry for her rant because since the object of her ire Harry Potter was not there she had taken it out on Amelia.

Right now they were waiting for said Harry Potter to arrive before the meeting could start. The Bones elf popped in, "Mister Harry Potter be in parlor, Mistress and Miss."

Amelia had to restrain Susan from running to the parlour fearing for the safety of the boy concerned. As they entered, he was sitting in a winged chair, looking rather imposing in his finest Acromantula silk robes. As they entered, he stood and gave a bow and Amelia frowned, "Harry, you are not a stranger to me. You will not bow every time that you see me."

Susan glared at him, "So the mighty Harry Potter has finally deigned to visit us?"

Amelia frowned at her tone but chose not to interrupt leaving it to the two of them to sort out their issues.

Harry gave a lope sided grin to Susan, "Miss Bones, I apologize for not seeking your company the moment I returned to Britain, as was my intention. There was a certain veteran auror whose request I granted instead. I ask your forgiveness and will make reparation in any way you choose."

She giggled, "You have become a charmer indeed but you do not need to show your pureblood manners everywhere. Where did you learn them anyhow?"

"From a hard task master who seemed to take offense that I was behaving like an ordinary wizard despite being heir to the House of Potter", he replied smiling, "She seemed to take offense that I have not learned even the formal manners for a Lord and was thus besmirching the good name of my glorious ancestors."

She raised an eye brow at him, "She?"

He shook his head slightly, "Sorry Miss Bones but I cannot tell you about her. Suffice to say that she is someone who taught me a lot about my family history."

Amelia who had been listening intently asked, "What else did you learn with them? I must confess that I was impressed with the way you duelled with everyone but I was expecting something more."

Harry laughed, "I am not supposed to bare all my secrets for others to see, Aunt Amelia."

Amelia still persisted, "At least tell us that they taught you to be able to fight and defeat Tom Riddle."

Susan asked, "Who is Tom Riddle, auntie?"

Harry answered her, "Tom Marvolo Riddle is a half blood wizard born of a squib daughter of a pure-blood family and a muggle. He attended Hogwarts from 1938-45 and was head boy in his time. He had opened the chamber of secrets for the first time and released the monster of Slytherin and a student named Myrtle was killed in the Girl's bathroom on the second floor where she still haunts it. Tom Riddle disappeared after Hogwarts and re-emerged as Lord Voldemort."

Susan squeaked, "He is a half-blood?"

Harry smiled, "Ironic isn't it? He claims to be champion of pure-bloods and is son of a muggle."

As they were talking, the elf popped in telling Amelia that the guests had begun to arrive and were being seated in the visitor's room around the table. Harry accompanied them to the room and found the Dowager Longbottom with Neville, Lord Macmillan, and Lord Acton sitting around the table. Harry introduced himself to the lords and they reciprocated his gesture very warmly.

After the others had arrived and were seated at the table, Amelia opened the meeting, "we all know that you-know-who has returned from the dead and is active among us again. How he did it is beyond my comprehension but I can guess that he used some dark magic to this end. The minister of magic is acting like an idiot and refusing to hear anything that we have to say. He also has been refusing to increase the budget of the DMLE nor allowed me to recruit more Aurors despite the fact that we do not have enough Aurors for even the regular jobs. So, I have called you all here to revive the great alliance as it existed before the first war because Cornelius Fudge has outlived his utility as the minister and now is becoming more of a hindrance. We need someone else in that position who would not balk at making hard decisions nor would shy away from the grim realities of war lurking on the horizon."

Lord Boot raised his hand, "What is to say that we would be able to replace him as the minister?"

Harry who was sitting quietly replied, "I am glad you asked this question, Lord Boot. I have some surprises in store that will give us significant leverage over the minister when the Wizengamot convenes on the 15th. The politics is going to become interesting and our great alliance will be the centre of it. We already have a significant number of votes on our side and our block forms the majority of the original houses on our side."

Lord Macmillan who was not quite convinced said, "Of the original houses there are Bones, Black, Potter, Macmillan, Sayre, Greengrass and Nott left out of which only Potter, Bones and Macmillan are represented in this meeting. How do we have the majority?"

Amelia took the conversation from there, "Because Harry Potter being the godson of Sirius Black is his heir. Since Sirius Black is the blood heir of House of Black, Harry Potter has ascended to Lordship of the House of Black. House of Black will sit in the great alliance on the Wizengamot in the upcoming session."

The members cheered at this proclamation and the meeting was dismissed with the promises of ousting Fudge from his seat however the question remained as to who would succeed him. They both decided to discuss it in the meeting of the Alliance later.

After that Amelia left the two of them to have a little talk and Harry who had no practical experience of talking to a girl outside of Hermione or Ginny knew of nothing to say and was sitting quietly till Susan broke the ice, "what was it like in India, Harry?"

Harry beamed, "It was a pleasant experience except for the training part. The trainers I had were ruthless task masters and they ran me ragged everyday however I did learn a lot more there in one month than I ever did in 4 years at Hogwarts."

She giggled, "Did you even try to learn anything at Hogwarts other than Defence and Quidditch?"

Harry mock scowled, "I will have you know Miss Bones that I was very good at charms too. I mastered the summoning charm enough to summon my broom from the castle all the way to the arena. I could cast a Patronus at the age of 13."

She chuckled, "I am just having some fun, Harry. Don't worry."

Left without anything to talk about, he asked again, "How is Hannah? Did you visit with her during the summer?"

She shrugged, "I had decided that I would call her once you forgive her. I send her letters every now and then but we haven't met yet."

He urged her, "Then floo call her. It is not wise to stay away from your friends for so long especially your best friend."

She smiled brightly at him. She did not want to let on to Harry, but she had missed her best friend terribly. She had been practicing with the Gryffindors while Harry was off with the mystics, but that just wasn't the same. She inwardly hoped that things would be fine between Hannah and Harry.

She went to the entrance hall where she picked up a jar from the mantel and threw some floo powder in the fire-place and said, "Abbott Home'. A minute later, Hannah's face appeared in the flames and Susan grinned at her, "How soon can you come over here?"

Hannah started, "Oh, I don't know. I have to wash my hair, iron my shoe laces, and finish my shop..." And Susan had to get out of the way as her friend stepped out of the fireplace.

As Hannah stumbled out of the floo and followed her friend into the parlour she playfully growled at her, "About time, Bones. I thought you had forgotten about...", her words trailed off as she found the stranger sitting in one of the chairs. The stranger seemed familiar but she could not quite place him. She raised an eye-brow at Susan who just smirked at her. The stranger was about 6 feet in height and while he wore robes, she could guess that he had an excellent physique and his eyes glowed with power. While he cut an imposing presence, she felt he was not older than her or Susan.

The stranger rose from his seat, gave her a perfectly executed bow showing off his pureblood upbringing and took her right hand pretending to kiss her knuckles, "Miss Abbott, Harry James Potter at your service."

Hannah thought she had heard wrong and could not connect this person to the boy who had been studying with her for the last 4 years but there was no doubt about it that he was indeed Harry Potter because those emerald orbs were not so common in the wizarding world.

"Miss Abbott," his words jolted her from her reverie, "How are you and how has your summer been so far?"

She hesitated to say anything. She had not yet asked his forgiveness for the last year and he was being nothing but cordial towards her. She stuttered, "Ha.. Harry, I have something to say to you."

He inclined his head slightly, "Oh? Please do go on."

She gathered her courage, "Harry I am sorry that I caused you unnecessary trouble last year when your name came out of the goblet. I am sorry that I resented you for entering your name into the tournament when it was not you. I didn't realise my folly till it was too late and could not gather courage to say sorry."

Harry smiled serenely, "Hannah, we are children. We are bound to make mistakes and we will fall and rise while we are growing up. Cedric was a Hufflepuff, the finest champion Hogwarts could have hoped for and a good and loyal friend. We all feel his loss deeply. I can understand why you and many others felt resentment when it looked like I was trying to take away from his glory. I have forgiven you entirely."

Susan watched the conversation and smiled, happy that her best friend and her betrothed had become friends at least.

**Gringotts, the same evening**

Harry Potter and Sirius Black were sitting in front of Griphook in the bank. Harry had been looking for time to go and claim his family Grimoires so that he could study them.

Harry opened the conversation, "How are you Account Manager Griphook? I trust things are well. How are things going with maintaining my account?"

The goblin replied, "Lord Potter, when you left after claiming your lordships we had a lot of business to conduct and you were in haste. As I have audited your family accounts, I found that a large chunk of your money is loaned to different families and never repaid. I have sent missives to them to ask them to pay the borrowed amount with interest. I have also made some investments on your part in several businesses and as a result you own many businesses and majority shares in a quidditch team."

Harry sat up a bit straighter, "A Quidditch team? Which one?"

"That would be the Puddlemere United, Lord Potter", said Griphook, looking like such details were completely beside the point.

Now Harry was grinning widely, "That makes things interesting. Now my former captain Oliver Wood plays for my team".

The goblin sighed. "Now, can we get down to business?"

Harry asked him, "Excellent. What about my estates?"

Griphook pulled a bulky stack of parchments and looked into it before replying, "The Potter family has many homes spread throughout the world which include Potter Manor, Potter Castle and of course the cottage in Godric's hollow. Except for the cottage at Godric's Hollow which has been declared a national monument, the rest of the properties are preserved under Stasis charms which would need to be lifted and it depends on you whether you want to do so. The same goes for properties of your other houses except House of Black which is being managed by Ripthroat."

Harry turned business like then, "Griphook, how many companies manufacture the wolfsbane potion? What is their financial condition? I want you to look at them and find out one such company which is in the middle of an economic crisis but can be bought and with little restructuring we can run it successfully."

Griphook looked sharply at him, "You have something in mind, Lord Potter?"

Sirius who was sitting quietly turned to him, "Are you planning to take over one such facility, pup? Wolfsbane requires costly ingredients and is sold slightly above the manufacturing cost not to mention there are only a few potion masters who can successfully brew it. I would only advise you that if you are planning to take over one such facility, think about it before you make a decision because running an enterprise is not an easy task while you are in school."

Harry was already getting an idea about how business worked, already knew that you can't make potions without ingredients. There was a certain supplier which seemed to have the market cornered in aconite and they were gouging.

"Well", Harry thought, "they are going to be in for a rude surprise when they find out that their poison is completely worthless."

He turned to Griphook, "We will need greenhouses. We will not have any supply issues."

To Sirius, he said, "I have discovered alternate version of the Wolfsbane Potion which will need to be registered by ICW before we can start its mass production however I have perfected it already. It does not use Aconite but another substitute. We will be using my process to brew the potion but I will not be looking after the day to day operations. That will be supervised by my Steward."

Sirius was confused and it was evident on his face, "Ok, you have got me confused here. Who is this Steward and when did you appoint him?"

Harry grinned, "I have not appointed him yet."

Sirius asked sighing, "Ok I will bite, whom do you have in mind?"

Harry smiled, "Moony, of course."

It took Sirius a few minutes before he could stop laughing. Then he sobered up, "While this is a good idea, do you think he will accept it?"

Harry gave him a conspiratorial look, "Leave that to me."

Griphook who had been sitting quietly muttered, "While all this is good and cosy, time is galleons and a minute wasted is a galleon lost."

Harry turned to him, "Right. So, your instructions are to find one such facility and buy it. Also look into my estate to find if there are greenhouses and if there are any, we will lift the stasis charms on those properties. Once you do then I will have further instructions for you. Now I have a question for you, Griphook."

Griphook said off handedly, "and what is the question, Lord Potter?"

Harry smirked, "How would you like to make some quick galleons, say 1,00,000 G?".

Griphook's countenance immediately brightened, "I am listening."

Harry said, "I have a slightly decayed 1000 year old Basilisk's carcass which would get me a lot of Galleons. Greengotts would be paid 10% commission to broker the deal to the highest bidder."

Griphook's eyes were big as galleons, "And how long is the carcass? How did you come across it?"

Harry said off-handedly, "Around 60 meters or so and around 4 meters in diameter. Not quite in perfect condition as its eyes and one fang are gone. It was the monster in Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets and was petrifying students. I killed it with the Sword of Gryffindor."

Griphook was literally salivating now, "What do you want in the deal in return for Gringott's rendering the corpse of the beast?"

Harry smirked knowing he had the Goblin hanging on his every word now, "That depends upon what Gringotss is offering me. I can give you a memory to see its size and let me know how much it is worth."

Griphook produced a pensieve and Harry pulled a memory out of his head and handed it to the Goblin who replicated it and returned the original to him. He delved into the pensieve for a few minutes and returned ashen faced, "You slew it with only a sword? That is incredible. Gringotts can fetch you 10 million Galleons for the carcass of the beast after deducting the rendering charges."

Harry contemplated his words for sometime before he spoke again, "Put that in writing for me if you please. I will offer 10% of the amount being offered to me as payment to Gringotts for sale of the parts of the beast. I will want some portion of its body parts for some of my potions. There is also a ton of shed skin which I have been told can be quite useful for making armour and I want two dozen armours prepared of the skin while I will take some of the skin for getting a special set of armour manufactured for me."

Griphook who had been noting all of this with diligence, looked up at him when he started speaking, "Will there be anything else, Lord Potter?"

Harry smiled, "Indeed. I will want to visit all my family vaults after I have had my meeting with Ripfang. In the meantime, get this contract drafted so that you can render the basilisk tomorrow."

5 minutes later, they were sitting in front of Ripthroat who asked, "Lord Black, how can I serve you today?"

Harry said, "I am trying to prune my family tree ridding it of some obnoxious members and adding some respectable members at the same time."

The manager raised an eye brow at him, "Meaning?"

He replied coldly, "I have decided to cast Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black off the family tree and dissolve her marriage for bringing shame to the name of family and for swearing loyalty to a wizard who is nothing more than a mass murdering psychopath and claim her vault in reparations to the Longbottoms for the torture that they had to go through. Also I want you to send a demand notice to Lord Lestrange to return the dowry paid to him by House Black in her marriage."

Sirius had filled him in regarding the topic when he had returned from Bones Townhouse and they had decided to do it before the Wizengamot session so that if Rolondo Lestrange came to know of it, he would not be able to move the contents of the vault.

The goblin nodded, "As soon as you cast her out of the family, I will make the move to get the contents of her vault confiscated. When I have done that I will send you a list of the contents."

Harry pulled out his wand and grasped it in his hands, "I, Lord Harold James of House Black hereby dissolve marriage of one Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black with Rodolphus Lestrange and cast her out of the family on the grounds that she brought infamy to the family name by becoming a murderer and committing sacrilege against Mother Magic. From this moment forth, she will be known as Bellatrix nameless. So I say so mote it be." A circle of white light engulfed him.

The goblin nodded, "Bellatrix Nameless is not a member of the Black Family anymore and I will start to confiscate her vault. Do you want anything done to the erstwhile Regent Lord Malfoy?"

Harry had thought about it hard and asked the goblin, "Did he make any alliance for House Black in his capacity as Regent or misused the Black fortune?"

The goblin grinned, "No. A regent cannot draw money from such a vault. Only when the heir, for whom he is acting as Regent, comes of age can withdraw any funds from that fortune. While he flaunted his position as Regent for House of Black, he had the sense to not make any such alliance in that capacity."

Harry sighed, "Damn! Here I was thinking I would be able to send him to Azkaban without fighting him."

After that, he instructed the Goblin to record that House Weasley was now a cadet line of House Black along with the Tonks family and as such, they were under his protection. He further instructed him to pay the customary dowry to the Weasley's vault for the dowry which was denied to Cedrella Black after the Wizengamot session. He also instructed him to get rings made for each member of the House of Black which would be connected with his ring and inform him if any of them were in danger and required his assistance.

Ripthroat escorted them to the trolleys and the trolleys went in deeper than he had ever seen. It went into such depths that he had not even imagined that it was possible. Finally they came to what he thought was the lowest level where the Vaults numbers were in single digits and some familiar names appeared to him like Potter, Bones, Black, Greengrass etc. The cart stopped in front of a vault with number 6 and an adder was inscribed on the door. As he put his hand to the handle, it scanned his magic and opened noiselessly a second later. The vault was huge. It was magically expanded and looked about three storeys high. There was a mountain of Galleons on one side with an equally big mountain of Silver Sickles and Bronze knuts however Harry was here for only one thing, the Grimoire.

It was kept on a pedestal in the centre of the vault. As he picked it up, the air around him rushed for a bit before relaxing. He handed the Grimoire to Sirius who shrunk it and slipped it into a bag. As Harry scanned the vault's interior, something else caught his eye. There was a glass cabinet full of daggers and he pulled them out for inspection. Sirius who had noticed this said to him, "Interested in them, Prongslet? Most of them are forged with a curse built into them. Anyone unfortunate enough to even get touched by the tip would die horribly. These are a family secret."

Harry instantly picked up the entire cabinet, shrunk it and pocketed it.

The next Vault was #4 Potter which had a Griffin on it. Like the Black Vault, it was full of Galleons but that did not catch his eye. He collected the Grimoire and went to inspect the swords which were beautifully arranged in a big display cabinet. He tested a few of them before a sword caught his eye. It was forged of the nearly indestructible Goblin silver, its double edged straight blade, nearly four feet long, still razor sharp with a basket style hand-guard, pommel and grip balanced to wield it with one hand or two. The entire weapon looked like it had been forged in one piece. There was an emerald, the same colour as Harry's eyes set into the pommel. The grip was wrapped with some sort of snake skin which seemed to shape itself to Harry's hand as he gripped it. There was the figure of a griffin worked into the basket guard. The whole weapon felt surprisingly light, warm and alive in his hand. He grinned broadly as he placed it in the scabbard the mystics had given him and it adjusted itself to a perfect fit. Then he shrunk them, scabbard and sword, and tucked them away in his cloak.

He looked through the family portraits of which there were many, but; not one of his parents. Later Sirius told him that James did not have one made when he died.

The Peverell Vault was set on another level altogether where there were a few vaults with symbols of families that Harry could not recognise. The Peverell vault had the thestral on it and the Vault was full of gold Galleons (money would only grow when it is being invested but not being spent) but that did not catch his eye either. He collected the Grimoire and was about to leave when a piece of armour caught his eye. It was made of goblin silver and looked very imposing. He shrunk the armour too.

The same happened with Rosier and Weber though their vaults were not as spectacular.

**Blacktown House**

As Harry Potter reached his room after a big dinner, a pile of presents was waiting for him with grinning Ron, Hermione, Neville and Susan there. They told him that they had brought their gifts for him for his belated birthday. The top of the pile was a gift from Sirius and Remus which was an album of photographs of him with his mother and father (he had some in his personal vault), him with the marauders and a set of books. Hermione predictably had brought him a book on defensive magic. Ron had brought him a big packet of Chocolates which he said he had brought from the amount he earned by working for Fred and George. The twins had given him a packet of their latest inventions and directions about how to use it. Susan had brought him a bracelet which contained some built-in charms meant for safety. Neville gave him a set of books like others.

After an hour of idle chat and merry making with his friends, he went to sleep after placing some wards on the door.

He woke up early and as he opened the door to his room, Sirius was there stuck to the floor. Harry grinned at him, "Bested again, Padfoot?"

Sirius scowled, "Cheeky Brat. I swear that those people have changed my son with another person. You were not so paranoid before."

Harry descended downstairs while waving his hands around and hollered to Sirius, "They just made me aware of the world around me in more ways than one."

Sirius sent a patronus to Remus who arrived promptly but as he stepped on the last stair, the step disappeared and his leg passed through and the step reformed instantly catching his foot. He roared to Sirius, "Curse you Padfoot. You get stuck and drag me into these pranks. This is twice that Prongslet has got the jump on us."

Sirius did not say anything but sent a patronus to the twins hoping they would be able to help them, promising them to help with some pranks if they would come and rescue the Marauders. When the twins arrived, they laughed at the Marauders for a bit before they apparated (Sirius had lifted the anti- apparition ward for this) near Sirius and one of the twins found himself to be standing in a swamp (one of the twins products which was in the gift box) while the other was stuck waist deep in what appeared to be quicksand. They all roared in chorus, "We will get you for this Harry."

Meanwhile Harry Potter was at the cottage, running laps around the property and imagining how things would be playing at Black Townhouse and he could imagine that they would be vowing revenge against him.

When he returned to the Townhouse, he found a guest sitting at the dinner table. He was a red-head, well-muscled, with partially healed burns on his arms and calloused hands. Harry had no problem remembering Charlie Weasley, the dragon handler.

As he entered, Charlie stood up and bowed to him, "Lord Black, it is good to see you."

He immediately scoffed, "Please call me Harry and none of this bowing unless it is absolutely necessary. I won't stand on formalities with you or your family. When did you arrive?"

Charlie replied, "I was working in the reserve and received an owl yesterday from father asking me to come home as soon as I could manage. I grabbed the earliest portkey out of there today and here I am."

Arthur who had entered the kitchen just then said, "Harry, when you petition for reinstatement of House Weasley on the Wizengamot, I seek favour from you to petition them to allow Charlie here to take the mantel of Lord Prewett since there are no Prewetts anymore and by reason of being their daughter, Molly and her children are entitled to ascend."

He nodded, "I understand that however why not Bill?"

Arthur smiled, "Considering that Bill is my heir, there is no other option than Charlie."

Charlie muttered, "That means I will have to find a job at the Reserve in Wales here."

**Headmaster's office, later that day**

Harry Potter was sitting before the headmaster after they had a tiring day. He had taken the Head Master and McGonagall with the Goblins to the Chamber of Secrets where they had collected the skins shed by the Basilisk then spent four hours rendering the Basilisk. As they were collecting the ingredients, Harry had asked for a vial of Basilisk venom which was now sitting in his cloak. As the goblins were leaving, Harry had taken Griphook aside and gave him the piece of armour telling him to meld it with the basilisk skin so that he could have armour like Pawan had suggested.

Dumbledore who could not control his curiosity asked, "My boy, why did you ask for the Basilisk Venom?"

Harry said nothing but produced the scabbard and sword from somewhere in his cloak. He returned them to their natural size then drew the sword, its polished blade and the gem-stone catching and reflecting the light in the office. Harry placed an impervious charm on the top of the headmaster's desk and laid the sword there. Then he took the phial from his robes and being careful to keep the blade lying flat, he poured the venom, drop by drop down the length of the blade. When the venom was absorbed by the marvellous material, he flipped the blade over and repeated the operation on the other side. The blade momentarily flashed the same colour as the venom then returned to its normal sheen. When he was done, he looked at Dumbledore who understood what he was doing.

The headmaster smiled, "Of course you are readying it as a way to destroy Horcruxes. Now how can I be of service?"

The operation completed, Harry replaced the sword in its scabbard and shrinking it, tucked it away in his robes again. There was still some venom remaining in the phial, so he stowed that away for future use before he answered. His visage turned grim, "Head master the mystics told me that Hagrid's mission was a failure and 30 Giants are on their way to Wizarding Britain to join Voldemort's ranks."

Albus turned grim likewise, "This is bad news indeed. Did they tell you a way to deal with Giants?"

He smiled, "I am glad you asked this Professor. They told me about the vulnerabilities of Giants and gave me a design of a catapult which can be used to bring them down, however such designs can be made only by the Goblins and not without a cost. I will finance the construction of the catapult and then we will need to train some students to operate it."

Dumbledore smiled in satisfaction that the mystics were taking care of the problems and were ready to help as needed. He turned to the teen, "Any other news that you might want to share?"

Harry shook his head, "No other news but I want you to write a missive to Olivanders to fit me with another wand."

Dumbledore asked him, "Surely you have a wand. Why do you need another?"

Harry smirked, "Let's just say that I know about the rights of the Victor in wandlore and want to avoid any such situation. Speaking of wands, I want you to return my heirlooms to me- the wand and the stone."

Dumbledore sighed, "There is nothing that escapes you, is there?"

He opened a drawer and pulled out a wand and a stone. The wand had beads throughout its body and was larger than other wands that he had seen. He of course knew that it was made from Elder wood and Thestral hair. As he took the wand in his hand, he could feel his magic flaring, a feeling of rejuvenation passing through his body. The stone was warm in his hands and gave him a comfortable feeling. The heirlooms of Lord Peverell had returned to him at last.

Harry produced a very ornate looking box and passed it to Dumbledore saying, "Lord Harsh Vardhan has sent this gift to you."

Dumbledore eagerly opened the box and was stunned by the necklace of Slytherin. He employed his wand in casting several diagnostic spells and none of them returned positive meaning that the necklace was not a horcrux anymore.

He looked at Harry to find him smiling and said, "My boy, by rights this belongs to you. Why are you returning it to me?"

Harry shrugged, "For the same reason that the sword of Gryffindor is not mine. This is a common heritage of the Wizarding World to be treasured and appreciated by all. I would have no use of it at all."

Dumbledore slipped the box in a cabinet and closed it shut and put some protective spells on the cabinet to stop anyone from finding it. Dumbledore wrote a missive for Ollivanders telling him to fit Harry with a new wand and the teen left happily.

**REVIEWS PLEASE**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N-** I had this written and it was being updated while I was busy with other task during the last week. This chapter will mark the end of summer and we will reach Hogwarts and some new characters would walk into the story. I hope you all will like it.

Thank you Hypergym for the edit.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR AWESOME REVIEWS. I AM OVER WHELMED.

* * *

**The Wizengamot**

The Wizengamot was a circular chamber where the old houses were given seats in the centre signifying their importance while other houses were sitting in their spaces in other adjoining rows. The Minister had a seat beside the Chief Warlock and the head of DMLE had a seat on the other side of the Chief Warlock.

The older houses were each allowed a chamber in the Wizengamot and as such, there were chambers for the houses of Black, Potter, Longbottom, Bones etc, in a row. The regents or the Lords could stay there until the session was called or they could floo into the chambers directly, saving them from the hassle of coming through the ministry entrances.

This morning, Harry Potter flooed into the chamber of the House of Bones since his house's chamber would not be opened until after he had been invested. Likewise Sirius and Remus had accompanied him with the Bones Ladies to their chamber. Harry was wearing the traditional robes for the Wizengamot members with his house crests on the right side of his chest under a disillusionment charm (it was to be lifted after his investment became official). Arthur had also arrived with Bill and Charlie and was sitting in the spectator gallery. The spectator gallery was meant for people who wanted to see the proceedings but did not have a seat on the Wizengamot. There was a small enclosed sitting area which was meant for Heirs of families and all the heirs who were at school like Draco Malfoy, Terry Boot, Michael Corner, Ernie Macmillan, Daphne Greengrass, Tracy Davis etc and some grown-ups too were sitting in that section waiting for the session to start.

After an hour-long wait, Amelia left them in the chamber for House Bones telling Harry and Susan to come when their names were announced. The teens were nervous at the prospect but they were assuring each other by gestures that everything would be alright.

The Chief Warlock banged his gavel, "Let the session of the Wizengamot for the month of August 1996 begin. Before we proceed to main business, is there any preliminary business to be conducted?"

Amelia stood from her place, "Yes Chief Warlock, it has recently come to light that a new lord has come into his heritage and as such, it is time to invest him into his rightful seat on the Wizengamot."

Dumbledore, who obviously knew the first bomb was about to be dropped, adopted an impassive expression and said, "Who is this lord, Madam Bones?"

Amelia smiled, "Ladies and Gentleman of the Wizengamot, I present to you Lord Harold James Potter."

Harry walked in the chamber confidently projecting his magic outwards, his face impassive and his eyes shining with power, his cloak billowing behind him while the chamber erupted in outrage. The first to find his voice was obviously Cornelius Fudge, the minister of Magic who bellowed at the top of his voice, "Amelia, this is not a place to jest. He is a minor. He cannot be invested."

Amelia's voice adopted a cold demeanour, "It is Madam Bones to you, Minister. I am the chief of DMLE and Regent of House Bones and you will address me as such."

Fudge who cowered before her stern gaze, rallied valiantly, "But he cannot be a lord. He is a minor."

Harry smirked, "Of course you would resist my investment Minister. But the Council of Lords, the predecessor of the Wizengamot had it decreed that if the Lord of a House is not alive or is otherwise incapacitated and unable to attend to his duties, then the heir can ascend to the position of Head of House and to the hereditary seat of the family at the Wizengamot. Also, I was forced to compete in a tournament against my wishes during the last academic year at school, a competition which was solely meant for wizards of age meaning I am now of age now in the eyes of magic. Also the family magic has accepted me as the Lord."

He flashed the Potter Family ring on his finger to Fudge and smirked evilly at him, "This means Minister that I am invested now and eligible to sit on the seat." He sent a stack of Parchments to the Chief Warlock who banished copies to everyone, "This is an official document from the Goblins regarding the investiture of Lord Potter."

Dumbledore turned to the chamber in general, "Does anyone have any more objections before we proceed?"

When no one said a word, Dumbledore turned to Harry, "Lord Potter, you may take your family seat now."

Harry climbed to the centre aisle and took his seat beside Lord Macmillan who smiled at him and he returned the gesture while Fudge was sweating bullets. Having the boy on the Wizengamot would lead to his downfall and he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. He just hoped there would be no more bad news for him today. Of course he had no idea how wrong he was.

Dumbledore started again, "Are there any more matters to be addressed before we proceed?"

Harry stood up and Fudge cringed. Harry employed Occlumency so that he appeared outwardly to be calm and impassive, while inwardly he was revelling in the minister's discomfiture. He was just getting started.

Harry turned to Dumbledore, "Chief Warlock, I have with me a parchment which contains the results of my inheritance test conducted by Gringotts. By the right of inheritance, I claim the seats of Peverell, Black and Rosier."

The chamber erupted in chaos with everyone trying to say something at the same time. Lucius Malfoy looked like he might burst a blood vessel. Fudge was looking pale as if he had lost all the blood in his body. When the chaos did not settle down for a few minutes, Dumbledore banged his gavel loudly and roared, "Silence! This is not how this auspicious body is supposed to work. Those who have objections to his claims can make their objections known one by one."

Lucius stood first, "How dare he claim the Lordship of Black? He does not have any right to it."

Harry stood and waited to be recognized by the chief warlock then said, "I am aware of Lord Malfoy's claim. While Sirius Black was illegally incarcerated and later hunted, he was unable to ascend as the rightful heir apparent when Lord Black passed on. Draco Malfoy then became the heir apparent in his stead and not yet being of age, was also unable to ascend. As his parent, Lord Malfoy assumed the regency of the House of Black. Since then, Sirius Black has been exonerated as per the emergency session of this august body the previous month. Being the primary blood heir and there being no Lord Black, he immediately became the de facto Lord Black. As such, he blood adopted me and named me as his heir apparent whereupon he immediately abdicated his lordship in favour of me. By this process, I am the Lord Black. This has been confirmed as the family magic has also accepted me as the Lord Black. It also follows that since there is now an able and active Lord Black that the regency of House black is terminated. I hope that this answers Lord Malfoy's question", and he resumed his seat.

Lucius roared, "No half blood can claim lordship of the House of Black."

Watching Malfoy's outburst, Harry just laughed inwardly. The more the man ranted, the more he looked like an idiot. Nobody had forgotten how he stomped out of the previous session of the Wizengamot. Outwardly, Harry remained impassive as he stood and waited to be recognized again. He began, "Please, correct me if I am wrong Chief Warlock. But does not the ancient law provide that anyone who is child of two magicals is pure blood and not a half blood?" He sent another stack of parchment to Dumbledore who distributed the copies to the members.

Harry continued, "Lord Malfoy, if you will review the document which has just been distributed to you, this is a certified copy of my inheritance test. It clearly shows that Lilly Potter nee Evans, my mother was adopted. By birth she was the daughter of Vincent Rosier and Emilia Weber Therefore, I am a pure-blood wizard on both sides of my family" and he sat down again.

All the members started reading the document with great interest as if it were some very interesting book. After a few minutes, Lucius stood indignantly, "I still object to his claim as Lord Black.".

Harry scanned the lords and ladies and thought to himself, "How long will Malfoy be allowed to act like that? He had been out of order three times now and not even given a warning." Well, he wasn't going to feed into Malfoy's game he would continue to be above it.

According to procedure, Harry stood and waited to be recognized again. "Lord Malfoy, I have given satisfactory answer to your every question, with supporting documentation. However if you believe that your son, Draco Malfoy is still the rightful heir to the house of Black then let him summon the spirit of the family magic. If he can do it, I will abdicate my claim." Having dropped the challenge, he sat down again.

Lucius was in a fix. If he allowed Draco to try to summon the spirit of family magic and he failed, he would be subject to ridicule from others. If he didn't that also would make him the laughing stock of the Wizarding World. Finally after some contemplation, he turned to Harry, "Let us see you summon the spirit of the Black Family magic and if you can do it, I will abdicate my claim."

Maintaining his impassive expression, Harry stood and waited to be recognized. He had Lucius right where he wanted him and now was the time to make him the subject of public ridicule. He raised his wand and chanted, "_domine deus meus familias magicas_' and an ethereal adder appeared beside him. As everyone watched in fascination, the adder bowed low to him before disappearing. Those who understood were in awe of the teen's power as not all Lords had such power over the spirit of family magic. After some time, Harry turned to Malfoy and raised an eye-brow at him, "Now, Lord Malfoy, if you please. Would your son care to make a similar demonstration?" And he took his seat again.

Lucius hung his head and whispered, "I abdicate my claim, Lord Black" and he finally sat down.

Dumbledore knew that he could have ruled Malfoy out-of-order at least three times already, but did not intervene. He was deeply gratified to see how young Lord Peverell was dealing with the bellicose bullying Malfoy. He knew that the lad was winning a lot of hearts today so he let it go on. With Malfoy soundly defeated and humiliated before the whole Wizengamot, it was time to put an end to this show. He turned to the assembly and said, "Lord Potter has also claimed the seats of House Rosier and Peverell. Are there any objections?"

There were none however everyone looked at the top most tier of the central aisle where the seats of the three oldest families namely Le Fay, Pendragon and Peverell were kept vacant because there had not been a lord for those families in centuries. The seats were usually covered but today, the Peverell seat was uncovered, something that had not been seen in living memory. Those who understood family magic were also wary of this new wrinkle because they all had heard legends about the Peverell magic being the magic of War mages. If the magic had accepted him, things would go pear shaped for the dark side very soon.

Harry walked up to the Peverell seat and sat on it. An attendant approached him with a golden pin which was to be pinned to the front of his robes identifying him as a member of the Wizengamot giving him unrestricted access to the Ministry of Magic except for the Department of Mysteries.

Dumbledore cleared his throat in an effort to get the attention of the chamber, "Is there any more preliminary business before we move to routine matters?"

Cornelius was hoping that there were no more such matters. He had already taken more than he could take for one day. In fact he was sure that the effects of the happenings of this day would be talked about for years, if not decades. He was ready to bolt from the chamber when Augusta raised her hand. He was sure that there was a pattern to these happenings because all the members of the former Great Alliance had taken this day to make it a catastrophe. He cast a glance at his Undersecretary Weasley who was focused somewhere and as he followed his gaze, he found Arthur Weasley to be sitting in the stands. Arthur never came to a session unless it was imperative. For some reason, Fudge had a deep feeling of foreboding about him being here today, though he did not know why. He also noticed Andromeda Tonks sitting in the stands and this sent a chill down his spine. He was sure there were more catastrophes coming his way.

Augusta stood and addressed the chief warlock, "The House of Longbottom is ready for its Lord to return to his position as the head of Family. I abdicate my duties as regent in favour of Lord Frank Jeremy Longbottom who along with his wife has recovered from the effects of over exposure to the Cruciatus curse."

Frank Longbottom and his wife strode into the Wizengamot and everyone including Dumbledore was gaping in surprise and wonder at them. Dumbledore found his voice first, "Welcome Lord and Lady Longbottom, the Wizengamot is honoured to have you among us again. I cannot express my happiness enough to see you up and about."

Dumbledore was truly surprised because Harry and Harsh had not informed him about the successful ritual. Neville also had not informed him either. He had so much on his mind that he had not asked Croaker either. To sum it up, it was a prank which was played on the entire Wizengamot and no one knew what to say about it.

Frank bowed his head a little and smiled, "Thank you Chief Warlock. I am thankful to you for your warm words."

While Alice and Augusta went to sit in the seats reserved for family, Frank ascended to his seat where other Lords welcomed him boisterously, shaking hands with him and congratulating him.

Dumbledore said one more time, "Are there any more preliminary matters before we proceed to the daily business?"

No one raised a hand this time and he breathed in relief however he was sure that the day was far from over yet. He raised his voice, "Now we will proceed to the houses to see if they have any declaration to be made."

As the House of Abbott, Ainsworth and few others had no business today it passed quickly until he turned to Harry, "Does the House of Black have any declaration to be made this day?"

Harry stood up and Fudge really wanted to run. He had already had enough for one day. Percy also had understood from what was happening that this perhaps was the day that the minister would be thrown out of his mighty chair and Percy would go down with him. What he did not understand was why his brothers were here. Charlie had a job in Romania and he did not believe that he would leave it just to watch a session of the Wizengamot. The answer to his question which he had been pondering was that Harry Potter had been preparing the downfall of Cornelius Fudge.

Harry turned to Dumbledore, "Chief Warlock, the House of Black has reinstated Andromeda Tonks nee Black into the family and her family line will be considered a cadet line to the House of Black henceforth. Additionally, the House of Black also recognises the marriage of Septimus Weasley and Cedrella Weasley nee Black and as such, the house of Weasley will be a cadet line for House Black henceforth. Also the marriage of one Bellatrix to Rudolphus Lestrange has been dissolved and she has been cast out of the family. Henceforth she will be known as Bellatrix Nameless."

Dumbledore nodded, "Very well, Lord Black. Is there anything more?"

Just in case anyone thought that they were going to be able to pull anything while Harry was occupied at school, the next announcement will relieve them of that delusion. He grinned in anticipation as he answered Dumbledore, "Since I am a student and cannot give proper attention to the Wizengamot session as is required of me, I hereby appoint Andromeda Tonks as Regent to House Black till I come of age and am ready to resume my duties."

Dumbledore replied, "Very well Lord Black." He turned to the chamber, "Is Madam Tonks here?"

Andromeda rose and Dumbledore asked her, "Do you accept the responsibility given to you by Lord Black?"

Andromeda replied firmly, "I do."

Dumbledore turned to the chamber in general, "Is there any business from House Bones to be announced?"

Amelia stood up and even Dumbledore had to wonder how catastrophic this session was going to be. She addressed him, "Chief Warlock, The House of Bones is ready for its heiress. Susan Bones has been accepted as Heiress of the House of Bones by the family magic and will be invested as such."

Susan entered the chamber amidst warm applause from the members of the Wizengamot and went to sit in the enclosed area for heirs of the houses.

Dumbledore addressed Lords Boot & Greengrass who had no declarations at the moment and he came to Lord Longbottom who stood, "The House of Longbottom is ready for its heir, Neville Frank Longbottom who has been accepted as such by family magic."

Neville entered the chamber amidst warm applause from the members of the Wizengamot and went to sit in the enclosed area for heirs of the houses.

Then the Chief Warlock turned to other houses who had no declarations to be made at the moment till he came to Peverell and Harry stood, "The house of Potter, Peverell and Rosier have a declaration. In order to effectively dispense my duties towards this auspicious chamber, I appoint Sirius Orion Black as Regent for House Rosier, Remus Lyall Lupin as Regent for House Potter and Amelia Susan Bones as Regent for House of Peverell."

Murmuring spread through the chamber and finally Lord Nott stood, "Remus Lupin is a werewolf."

Harry glared hard at the man, "Lord Nott, there is nothing in the charter of the Wizengamot nor in the house charter of House of Potter that anyone afflicted with lycanthropy cannot be appointed as Regent. Even the anti-werewolf laws written during the first war do not provide anything which would preclude this decision or stop me from making this appointment."

As much as anyone may have wanted to object to the decision, and there were many including among the alliance, they held their peace. There simply were no legal grounds to object. With all these changes, people in the assembly were beginning to wonder how the day was going to play out. With Harry Potter directly controlling seats for four houses, it seemed that something major was still to come.

Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "Very well. Are Mister Black and Mister Lupin present here?"

Sirius and Remus entered the chamber and Dumbledore asked them, "Lord Potter here has appointed Sirius Black as Regent of House Rosier, Remus Lupin as Regent for House Potter and Amelia Bones as Regent of House Peverell. Do you all accept this responsibility?"

The three of them stood and said in chorus with each other, "We accept". Remus walked to the Potter seat, Sirius went to the Rosier seat while Madame Bones resumed the seat for DMLE Head.

Dumbledore again rapped his gavel, "Are there any motions to be presented by any of the Houses before the session moves to administrative matters?"

Harry stood again and everyone sighed. This was beginning to be one of the most tiring and exciting sessions ever. No other Lord had before presented so many motions before the Wizengamot in one day and yet they could not do anything but listen. Harry turned to the Chief Warlock, "Chief Warlock, I want to address a matter which is of significance to this august body."

Dumbledore replied, "The floor is yours Lord..."

Harry replied, "I hereby request this august chamber to henceforth recognise me as Lord Harold James Peverell as has been decreed by mother magic and accepted by the family magic."

Dumbledore, who was considering all that this announcement implied, was thinking about having a long talk with Harry about it later, said, "So recognised, Lord Peverell. The floor is yours."

Harry turned to the gathering, "Lords and Ladies of this august body, a few decades ago an injustice was perpetrated in this chamber towards one of our Ancient and Most Noble Houses by one of my predecessors Lord Black only because a daughter of the house married for love. A motion was passed by the Ancient and Most Noble and Ancient and Noble Houses whereby the said house was ousted from its rightful position from this body and since then they have been subjected to scorn by the Wizarding World. Despite belonging to the Sacred 28, the family has been treated as being inferior to other houses. I say that they have been punished enough. I am of course talking about the House of Weasley. Let us right this wrong and restore them to the Weasley family seat, here in this assembly. They are also entitled to inherit the seat of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Prewett by reason of Molly Weasley nee Prewett being the last scion of the said house. I move for reinstatement of House Weasley to its hereditary position and status of Ancient and Noble House to them which would be upgraded to Ancient and Most Noble should they continue contributing for the betterment of the Wizarding world."

As he sat, there was applause for his speech which kept going for some time before Dumbledore banged his gavel again, "Does anybody second Lord Peverell's proposal?"

Surprisingly Lord Cyrus Greengrass stood up, "I second Lord Peverell's proposal. It is only right that a family like Weasley's should be given their rightful place upon the Wizengamot."

Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "Now, before we vote on the issue, if anyone one has any objection then come forth or forever keep your peace."

When no one objected, he announced that the voting will take place. Of 160 members of the Wizengamot, the light faction led by Dumbledore and Lord Harold Peverell (he was the de facto leader for the great alliance) had 50 votes now. Lord Greengrass with 60 votes of the neutrals voted in favour of the motion while there were 40 votes against with 10 abstaining.

Arthur was called up and given a set of Wizengamot robes with the House crest stencilled on the front of his robes and Arthur took his seat on the Wizengamot and Bill was named his heir. When Dumbledore asked which of his sons would be invested as Lord Prewett, he proposed Charlie to be named as such and Charlie was invested as Lord Prewett and given a set of robes bearing the house crest. Instructions were given to the scribe (ironically who was one Percival Ignatius Weasley) to send a missive to Gringotts to open the family Vaults of the Weasley family and the Prewett family and to give access to the contents therein.

Fudge had a sense of dreadful unreality. This session of the Wizengamot seemed like a nightmare from which he could not wake. Dumbledore banged his gavel for what he hoped to be the last time before they moved on to administrative matters. But no, there on the other side of Dumbledore, Amelia Bones stood up.

Percy just had no words to express his astonishment. Previously, he had the perception that Harry Potter (Peverell Now?) was nothing but trouble for his family. But, there he was, keeping a cool head, showing nothing but perfect manners and an absolute rigid determination to follow procedure no matter what Fudge and Malfoy did. And he had returned the Weasleys to their rightful place. Yes, Harry is trouble, but for Fudge and Malfoy, not the Weasleys. It looked like Fudge was having a really bad day, courtesy of Lord Peverell, and the day wasn't over yet. "Perhaps", Percy thought, "this would be a good time to accept that he had made a grave mistake in not trusting his family."

After she stood, Amelia paused just long enough to let the tension build before she spoke loudly and firmly, "I hereby present a motion of non-confidence against the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge on the grounds that he has utterly failed to serve the public interest as he has sworn to do."

The chamber fell silent. The spectators were gawking in wonder while the Lords and Ladies who were in the know were smirking at what was to follow. The other Lords were quickly assessing their position and deciding whom to support because while Fudge was incompetent he was also a fool who was useful. To lose a fool and for him to be replaced by a cunning and shrewd person was risky and they were deciding the perks and risks before they would throw in their lot with one side or the other.

In the heir enclosure, Draco Malfoy could feel heat coming off his neck and was feeling shown up by Potter of all people. He had ousted Draco of his rightful inheritance, humiliated his father and now was on the verge of ousting the Minister of Magic.

The other heirs were sitting in contemplation of what would happen eventually. For all intents and purposes Harold Peverell was now a force to reckon with and none of them had been able to recognise him at once. He had changed so much in the last month and it looked like he would change more as time passed. He was no longer the little underfed boy who had trod the corridors of Hogwarts but someone whose manners screamed Pureblood from afar. The way his magic was being projected outwards as he made his entry had chilled them to the bone. Then he had taken the Black Lordship and showed up Lucius Malfoy and now they were sure that he was behind Madam Bones's demand for Fudge's head on a platter.

They all knew that by the time the day was over, Cornelius Fudge would be history. The other event had been Lord Longbottom's return and taking up his seat and the return of House Weasley and House Prewett to the Wizengamot and together, this all made up for rather interesting day.

Daphne Greengrass was thinking and thinking fast. Her father had made the right move to support reinstating House Weasley considering that Harry Peverell was partial towards them and this would put Cyrus Greengrass in the good books of the light faction. Peverell had shown up Malfoy and she was watching him eliminate the Fudge factor all together. Next there would be a new minister of magic by the end of the day. Tracy was looking at her intently knowing what she was thinking and preferred not to say anything saving her jibes for later. Right now, the Wizengamot was amusing enough.

Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "Is there any second for the motion?"

Lord Macmillan stood up, "I second Regent Lady Bones' proposal."

Dumbledore announced, "The motion is seconded. We will continue with this business after a two hour recess for lunch."

Harry looked at his watch and found it had been 4 hours since they had been sitting. Dumbledore took him to a large chamber which was set apart from the others with a thestral on the door. Harry touched his ring to the lock and it opened. The room was twice the size of other chambers and was bare save for a large table with chairs around it. While it was kept locked, the room was surprisingly clean. As Harry sat at the position of Head, Amelia, Sirius, Remus arrived followed by other Lords of the alliance. As they were sitting down for lunch, the heirs of the houses also arrived and Dumbledore called an elf which was assigned to take care of the chamber. The elf produced more chairs then brought refreshments for everyone. Lunch followed shortly. As they were getting started, an elf brought him a missive from Lord Greengrass which invited him, Sirius and Lord Longbottom for a meeting before they went to vote. Since Dumbledore was acting as Chief Warlock, he made himself scarce lest he be accused of being partial towards them.

Lord Macmillan opened the conversation, "Lord Peverell I must accept that I had not expected things to change so quickly. We had only hoped for ousting Cornelius Fudge but you made the alliance the biggest block on the Wizengamot. Quite a few surprises you had up your sleeve."

Harry smiled, "Please call me Harry, Lord Macmillan. I intended to turn the Wizengamot on its head and so I did. Now we have to decide who will be our ministerial candidate after Cornelius Fudge is thrown out."

Lord Ainsworth asked, "Do you have someone in mind, Harry?"

He shook his head, "Since we are all allies here, I did not wanted to presume until we could all meet and discuss it. We all need to agree on this decision."

Sirius who had been sitting quietly said, "We have the ideal candidate with us for the post."

Amelia asked, "Who are you talking about?"

Sirius said, "Who better than you?"

Amelia shook her head, "No Sirius, I will not do it. I am already Regent for two houses along with being head of the DMLE and that is a huge task in itself."

Arthur dropped his two knuts in, "May we consider Lord Longbottom as the next minister? He is very popular and can lead us in these times with his experience, determination and bravery. Besides we all remember his valour in the last war where he escaped you-know-who three times."

Frank looked at him mock- scowling, "Arthur, I will get you for this."

Remus smirked at him, "But will you do it?"

Frank shrugged, "I will do it if Alice has no objections."

Alice who had been sitting in the room immediately said, "Don't you dare use me as an excuse to try and wriggle out of this Frank Longbottom."

Harry looked at the other Lords and asked, "Is there anyone here who has another name to put forward as a potential candidate?" And he waited a minute to let them think it over.

Of course, nobody was putting forth Dumbledore. He had made it clear that his position as Head Master of Hogwarts was much more important to him. He knew that being the Chief Warlock that could not be bribed or coerced was essential for maintaining order in the Wizengamot. He was most effective right where he was.

Looking around the room and seeing that nobody had anything to add he then asked, "If any of you have an objection or concern with putting Lord Longbottom's name as candidate for the post of Minister of Magic please say so."

None of the Lords raised any objection since everyone knew that Frank was from one of the old families and had been extremely popular in his day as an Auror.

As they ate lunch, it was decided that Frank would indeed accept the nomination as was proposed. As the lunch was winding up, Cornelius Fudge sought a meeting in private with Harry and Amelia. While the other Lords took a cue and left, Sirius, Remus and Frank remained behind.

Seeing Fudge close up, he looked like he had aged 20 years in the last four hours. Far from the bigger than life bullying prat who had opposed Harry's ascension to Lord Potter at the beginning of the session this morning, he now looked stooped, frightened and had approached Harry with his green bowler spinning through his hands, "Lord Peverell, I would like to make a request of you."

Harry said, "Please do go on, Mr. Fudge, I am listening."

Fudge noted that Harry had not addressed him as minister. In Harry's mind, this was already a done deal. The green bowler spun faster as his face went from apprehension to anger to pleading, "I- I want you to stop this non-confidence motion."

Harry decided to have a little fun at Fudge's expense. The man may be a corrupt fool, but; you didn't get to be the minister of magic without knowing who is really pulling the strings and Fudge had gone straight to the source. Harry adopted an air of mock innocence, "Mr. Fudge, you surprise me. The motion was brought by DMLE Head Madame Bones. What makes you think that I could block it?"

The hat was spinning faster now, Fudge was looking sick, "Lord Peverell it will serve no purpose. Besides I have not done any harm to you."

Harry dropped his innocent act and became earnest now, "The purpose it will serve, Mr. Fudge, is to replace you with a person who will be effective, diligent and honest in his duty to serve and protect the public trust. As for having caused me harm, here are a few incidents: At the end of my third year at Hogwarts, I told you that Sirius here was innocent. Something you could have easily verified with a memory from any of the four witnesses who were there when Peter Pettigrew confessed. You instead chose to bring in Dementors of all things to execute him. And when he escaped, you continued to hunt an innocent man.

This year, you have been conducting a smear campaign to discredit Albus Dumbledore and myself in an effort to cover-up the return of Voldemort, delaying vital preparations to stop him, placing the entire wizarding community of Brittain at risk . Again the facts could have easily been proven by a simple memory check.

You have also allowed several death eaters to remain free who were witnessed returning to Voldemort's side the moment he called for them. Many of these individuals are working to undermine the ministry, even now. May I remind you that the only reason Pettigrew was captured is that I captured him while I was running for my life from the graveyard? That is why Sirius is free now. Not due to any action of yours.

Finally, you have consistently blocked funding for the DMLE, recruitment and training of new aurors when they are already understaffed and there is a war coming. Now, Mr. Fudge, why should I support you?"

Fudge had stopped spinning his bowler, but he had to try again, "Lord Peverell, this is simply unimaginable that..."

Harry cut him off, "That is the first thing you have gotten right all day, mr. Fudge, it is unimaginable that you have let things go this far. No thanks to you, they will go no farther. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a meeting to attend." He led the charge as the four of them brushed past and headed towards the Greengrass chambers.

The previous evening, Harry had met with Lord Greengrass and his guest at the Rosier Manor house in Whales. Harry and Sirius had chosen the location for the meeting and lifted the stasus charm from the property the night before. During that meeting, Lord Greengrass had pledged his support to Harry and the alliance for what was happening today. He reaffirmed his promise as they told him that the light faction was putting forth Frank Longbottom as the next Minister.

There was a fair amount of murmuring in the assembly hall as the lords and ladies of the Wizengamot made their way back to their seats after lunch. Debates and gossip which had been the topics during the entire break were now spilling over into the session time. When Chief Warlock Dumbledore could see that most members were in position, he wrapped his gavel smartly and called the session to order. The stragglers quickly found their seats and the noise ceased.

Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "A motion of no-confidence is before the Wizengamot. If any member wishes to speak to this motion, now is the time."

To make a long story short, Madame Bones presented a long list of failures of the minister to adequately fulfil his duty to the public. She added charges of liable and slander in his smear campaign against Lord Peverell and the Chief Warlock and multiple abuses of his office to assert undue influence and deliberate suppression of evidence that would have exonerated an innocent man. She stated that this is not the person to lead the ministry and called for his immediate dismissal from office. Her remarks were greeted with a loud, "Here! Here!" from most of the members of the assembly. There were one or two feeble remarks against the motion, which gave more of an effect of damning the minister with faint praise than anything else. These remarks were greeted with a combination of polite applause and grumbling.

After a scant half hour of debate, Dumbledore wrapped his gavel again, "Does any other member wish to speak to this motion?" he paused, "There being none, I now call for a vote. All in favour?"

A forest of hands rose from the light side, accompanied by not a few of the neutrals, led by Lord Greengrass, and even a few on the dark side. They may be Voldemort's supporters, but it didn't hurt to join the landslide when it was already a done deal.

When the count was done, Dumbledore spoke again, "All opposed?"

The remaining hands on the dark side went up and a few, scattered neutrals.

When the count was done, Fudge had been ousted by a vote of 100 to 40 with 20 abstaining. Dumbledore wrapped his gavel again, "Carried". He turned to the former minister of magic, "Thank-you for your service, Mr. Fudge. Please take a seat in the spectator stands till the session is adjourned."

All eyes in the room watched Fudge make the walk of shame back to the stands where people scooted away from him.

Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "The post of Minister of Magic being vacant, we will now hear nominations for the office."

As had been decided, Lord Ainsworth stood up, "I nominate Lord Frank Longbottom for the post of Minister of Magic."

Dumbledore spoke, "Lord Ainsworth has nominated Lord Frank Lonbottom for the post of Minister of Magic. Will anyone second that nomination?"

Charlie Weasley (Lord Prewett) rose to his feet, "I will second that nomination."

Dumbledore wrapped his gavel again, "Let the record show that Lord Prewett has seconded the nomination". Then he addressed Frank, "Lord Lonbottom, do you accept nomination?"

Frank rose to his feet, "Yes, Chief Warlock, I accept nomination."

Dumbledore wrapped his gavel again, "Thank-you Lord Longbottom. Are there any other nominations for the post of Minister of magic?"

Lucius Malfoy rose, "I nominate Lord Irwin Yaxley for the post of Minister of Magic."

Dumbledore, following procedure, spoke again, "Lord Malfoy has nominated Lord Irwin Yaxley for the post of Minister of Magic. Will anyone second that nomination?"

Walden Macnair, known death eater and would-be executioner of Buckbeak rose, "I will second that nomination."

Dumbledore tapped his gavel down, "Let the record show that Lord Macnair has seconded the motion", then turning to Yaxley, he said, "Lord Yaxley, do you accept nomination for the post of Minister of Magic?"

A tall well-muscled man with cold, cruel eyes rose from his seat, giving a defiant glance in Harry's direction before turning to face Dumbledore, "Yes, Chief Warlock, I accept nomination."

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled briefly then he said, "Thank-you Lord Yaxley. Are there any more nominations for the Post of Minister of Magic?"

There was a pause for a minute while people in the room began to talk among themselves, but; nobody addressed the assembly.

The Chief Warlock wrapped his gavel twice to call for order and the people fell silent once more, "There being no further nominations, I give you your candidates. Please come forward my lords."

Frank and Yaxley made their way down to the floor. One death eater and one auror. The two opposing sides could not have been better defined. They turned and bowed to the assembly.

Then Dumbledore spoke again, "My Lords, Lognbottom and Yaxley, we will return from recess tomorrow morning at 8:00 Am. Yu have until then to prepare to address the Wizengamot", The Then addressing the assembly, he said, "There being no Minister for Magic at this time, we can do no business. I, therefore, declare a recess. We will re-convene at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning at which time we will hear from our candidates." He tapped the gravel twice and the members rose from their seats as the noise level in the room began to climb.

As they were leaving, Harry asked others to go on while he went with the Longbottoms to Diagon Alley. When Sirius asked if he would be safe, he cryptically told him that he was being guarded every moment he was out of the Townhouse. He sent a patronus with instructions to Himvat and proceeded to Diagon Alley with the Longbottoms He took the floo because he did not wish to advertise that he could apparate.

As they arrived in the Leaky Cauldron, he gracefully stepped out of the floo. Tom who had watched the party arrive did not recognise Harry or Frank and Alice at first glance and Harry was rather thankful for it. Harry accompanied the Longbottoms to Ollivanders and this time, he could sense the magic pervading the shop making his skin tingle very distinctly. He could also feel Ollivander's magical signature coming from behind one of the shelves where the wandmaker was stocking wands.

As the wandmaker came out, he said, "Merlin's beard! I had not hoped that I would live to see this day. Lord Longbottom and Lady Longbottom, it is a pleasure to see you up and about."

He turned to Harry, "Welcome back Mr. Potter. Holly and Phoenix Feather, eleven inches, a powerful wand indeed. How is it working for you?"

Harry hesitated telling him, "Regrettably, Mr. Ollivander, my wand was destroyed in a duel at the third task last June."

His brow furrowed, "So he is indeed back. Send him back where he came from, Mr. Potter."

Neville took that moment to interject, "It is Lord Peverell now, Lord Ollivander."

Ollivander's eyes opened wide in surprise, "Lord Peverell! That is an interesting development indeed."

He then turned to Neville, "Finally you come to be fitted for a wand, Mr. Longbottom. Are you not a bit late?"

Neville chuckled, "I am using a family wand which serves me well, Lord Ollivander."

Harry gave Ollivander the missive from Dumbledore which he read and his brow furrowed in confusion, "You have a wand in the holster attached to your arm Lord Peverell, admittedly better than I make them. Why do you need an off-the shelf wand?"

Harry was a little surprised that the wand-maker knew about the wand in his holster but hid his surprise well and wordlessly scanned the shop for wards and found one which would send an analysis of a person to the wand-maker when they entered. Really ingenious, he thought. He had left the Elder Wand in his trunk in the part under Fidelius because he did not want to advertise to others that he had it.

Ollivander was smirking, "Albus is an old friend and so I will fit you with another wand. If you would not mind too much, Lord Peverell, may I inspect the wand you are carrying?"

Harry remembered that he had been cautioned about showing his wand around, but he was curious to hear the wand-maker's opinion about Shilpagya's work. Reluctantly he summoned the wand and gave it to Ollivander who inspected it thoroughly and cast one or two detection spells and kept muttering, "Ingenious."

Harry had a hard time hiding his smirk but he employed occlumency and his face returned to its impassive expression and he held his hand out to Ollivander who reluctantly handed the wand back to him and said, "Lord Peverell this is a master-piece, the likes of which are very rare. In fact I cannot recall if there is anyone else in wizarding Britain who has the like. There is only one wand-maker who is capable of crafting such a wand. I am happy to know that he is still alive after all these years. He disappeared years ago and I feared that he might be dead. I don't know if there is a wand that will suit you among my humble wares, but we will give it a try."

He started pulling out boxes and kept trying them but none of them seemed to fit Harry. The mystic's words echoed in his ears that none of Ollivander's wands would fit him.

At length, the wand maker disappeared into the back of his shop to re-emerge befouled with dust and cobwebs, carrying a dust-covered box which spoke of a wand both ancient and forgotten. He used his own wand to clear away the sediment of decades to reveal a beautifully crafted box of polished mahogany. When he opened the box, it revealed a wand of unique design. It was about 13 inches long, had a groove in the handle and pliable. He handed the wand to Harry carefully as if it were some dangerous thing. The wand felt comfortable in his hand and his magic reacted well to its presence. He aimed that wand at a water pitcher and shot an animation spell at it, making it grow wings and fly. Ollivander was clapping his hands in enthusiasm while Frank was looking at him interestedly and so was Alice. Ollivander summoned the pitcher back and undid his animation.

Harry turned to the wand-maker, "You did not tell me about its wood and core, honoured wand-maker."

Ollivander started as if lost somewhere in the past, "it is one of the first wands that I made under the tutelage of my master. In all these decades, I have never found anyone, including myself, who could wield it. Finally, I forgot all about it, but; while I was trying to fit you for a wand today, it came forcefully to my mind, as if it were calling you. It is made of Acacia, which makes for tricky wands and often refuses to produce magic for anyone but for their owner, and also withhold their best effects from all but those most gifted. The core is Thestral hair with Dragon heartstring intertwined together. Now it has chosen you and would only stop working for you if someone equally powerful as you manages to best you in a duel."

He turned to Lord Longbottom, "Oak, 11 and quarter inches, Dragon heartstring, springy, wasn't it? Do you still Have it?"

Frank proudly showed him the wand and the wand-maker examined it eagerly and pronounced himself satisfied as he conjured a flock of canaries and returned the wand to him. He turned to Alice, "Lady Longbottom, as I recall you had Cedar, Unicorn tail hair, 12 inches, unyielding. Was it retrieved?"

She shook her head, "The mad witch Bellatrix Nameless snapped it in two. I will need to be fitted with a new wand."

Ollivander happily started pulling boxes off the shelf, trying to fit her with a wand and after trying 10 or so wands, he pulled out a wand which sent red sparks as she held it and she cast a few charms with it before pronouncing herself satisfied and Ollivander happily wrapped it for her all the while muttering, "Ash wand cleaves true to its one true master and ought not to be passed on or gifted from the original owner, because it will lose power and will. The core is Unicorn hair so the tendency would be even stronger. Use it with care."

After paying for the wands, Harry left for the manor house where Himvat and dozens of mystics were waiting for him. He raised his fist to his heart and said, "Dharm aur Maan' and Himvat repeated the gesture, levelled his wand at the teen and asked him, "What did Guruji transform those two free boarders into?"

Harry smiled, "He transformed them into partridges and threw them into the air from where they were devoured by Griffins."

The mystic asked him, "What we can do for you, Harry?"

Harry recounted the entire day of happenings at the Wizengamot for him and said, "I want you to watch the houses of members of the Neutral and Light factions for tonight because I fear that Voldemort will send his agents to try to terrorize or kill some of them so that the candidate for the dark will win. We want to keep our hand hidden if we can. I ask that if you do encounter any of Voldemort's agents that you confound and obliviate them so that they believe that they have carried out their orders and have no recollection of you whatsoever."

Himvat replied, "What you ask can be easily done, Harry, but; would it not be simpler to make them quietly disappear? Besides, that abomination is a skilled Legilimens and is certain to discover our deception."

"Indeed he shall", said Harry grinning, "Remember that Tom Riddle is a being full of fear. He does not understand love or loyalty. When the election is done and his candidate has lost, he will look to his people to discover the reason why. Then he will punish those who failed. And they will resent him for it. And he will know that we can get to his people. And that, my friend, will leave him wondering what else we can do."

Himvat gave Harry an appraising look then nodded, "Very well then. We will try it your way. We will keep an eye on them for tonight and ensure that no misfortune befall them. Good Luck, Harry."

As the mystics left, Sirius flooed in just behind Remus and they both cornered him, "So pup, did you forget to mention or did you willingly omit telling us about Frank and Alice?"

Harry had the audacity to laugh, "Augusta Longbottom swore me to secrecy. Besides it was great to see your faces."

Sirius wanted to whip out his wand and hex the teen but knowing his prowess with a wand, chose not to. Instead he asked, "Why are we meeting at this manor, Prongslet?"

Harry off-handedly replied, "This manor is part of the dowry of Cedrella Black which I intend to hand over to the Weasley's at the end of the meeting today. I want you to back me up when they try to refuse."

Sirius nodded eagerly, "Of course pup."

An hour later, Frank Longbottom arrived with his heir and as he stepped out of the floo the marauders mobbed him. After a teary heartfelt embrace, they reluctantly let him go and he teased both of them, "Look at you two, getting all teary eyed for poor old Frank. Nobody would have believed that back in the day when you both made my life hell for snitching on you to McGonagall."

Sirius answered him with a stinger and they continued bantering for sometime before Harry had to tell the Marauders to behave.

Lord Greengrass arrived after sometime with Daphne in tow. Harry bowed to him, "Lord Greengrass."

Cyrus Greengrass shook his hand and said, "It is improper for you to bow to me, Lord Peverell. You are Lord of an Ancient and Reverent House."

Harry shook his hand and said, "Please call me Harry when we are not in the Wizengamot. It makes me feel old to be called Lord at this age."

Cyrus chuckled, "Call me Cyrus then. May I present you my heiress, Daphne Greengrass."

Harry bowed to her and took her right hand pretending to kiss her knuckles, "Heiress Greengrass, I could swear that you look even lovelier than you did when you were sneaking into the hospital wing to visit me."

Daphne blushed with Cyrus looking on curiously. He decided that he would ask his daughter about this later.

A few minutes later, the rest of the Lords and Ladies arrived (most had brought their heirs or heiress with them). Amelia Bones sat at the head of the table, "This meeting is about the voting for the new Minister for Magic tomorrow. While we are meeting here, Chief Warlock Dumbledore is rallying his supporters to vote for Lord Longbottom and I believe Lucius Malfoy is sending threats to members of the neutral faction to vote for Yaxley."

Harry said, "There is no need to worry on that account, Lady Bones. I have already seen to the security of the members and families of both the light and neutral factions. Those who would serve the interests of Voldemort (most of them shuddered) will not be able to approach them."

Everyone nodded their approval while Cyrus watched everything with a critical eye. Harold Peverell's body language exuded confidence and his words did not sound as if he was boasting. To arrange for the security of 100 odd families was no mean task.

Daphne sat watching him and eyeing Susan who only had eyes for Harold Peverell. She could sense that if she did not make a move, she might as well forget about Harold James Peverell. The way he was cosy with Bones, she would have no problem in ensnaring him.

The meeting lasted for an hour where they tallied their votes and Lord Greengrass promised him the support of the largest block of Neutrals and to ally his family and friends with the Light after the voting.

When the meeting was over and the lords and their heirs were leaving, Harry drew Arthur to one side, "Mr. Weasley, a word please."

Arthur turned to him, "Yes, Harry?"

Harry handed him a stack of parchments, "These are the papers of ownership for this manor. As is the custom, your mother should have been given a house as part of her dowry which was not paid. Consider this as a part of her dowry. Five hundred thousand Galleons will be transferred to the vaults of House Weasley when the Goblins give you access to them."

Arthur, as Harry had expected, refused, "Thank you Harry, but I cannot accept such a generous gift."

Harry let his magic leak a bit and adopted a formal tone, "Lord Weasley. This is not a gift. This is proper payment of a dowry which was unjustly denied to your mother. Honour demands that I pay it. And honour demands that you accept it on her behalf. I ask that you do not shame me by refusing."

Sirius, who was standing by Harry's side, said, "You had best do as he asks, Arthur, I wouldn't want to get on his bad side."

Arthur accepted the stack of parchments and sighed in resignation, "Very well, Harry, if honour demands it, then I accept. Thank you. But, you must never force me again."

Harry gave him a bright smile, "Mr. Weasley, you have loved me as you would your own son. You were generous and kind to me when I thought I had nothing and no one. Now I have more wealth than I know what to do with and this, to me is but a trifle. I would gladly give you more if I thought you would not resent me for it. As it is, this is yours by right and by law."

Arthur had no answer to that, so he merely smiled.

Before they left, Bill proposed to put the manor under a Fidelius charm telling that they could use it as a safe house in the event things turned pear shaped which they agreed upon. The Burrow would officially remain their family home for the world to see while the family would be shifted here. Harry cast the spell, causing Bill's eyes to expand so much that Harry feared they would pop out and Mr. Weasley agreed to be the secret-keeper.

When he returned to the Black Town house, he found Dumbledore at the table in the meeting room. Harry took a place at his right while Sirius sat on his left and the rest took their seats likewise. As they waited, the special evening edition of the Daily Prophet arrived which contained the front page news:

_**"HAROLD JAMES PEVERELL- LORD OF FOUR HOUSES**_

_-By Mallory Allerton_

_This morning when the Wizengamot convened for this month's meeting, nobody had inkling as to how this session was going to change the politics in the Wizarding World for good. As Chief Warlock Dumbledore called for any preliminary business to be conducted, Lady Regent Bones presented none other than the boy-who-lived, Harold James Peverell to be invested as Lord Potter. When the former Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge called his investment into question, Lord Peverell quoted the law of the Council of Lords which allow him to ascend to Lordship in case the Head of House is either dead or incapacitated (For laws of Council of Lords, see p. 14). He also advised the minister that by forcing him to compete against his wishes in a tournament meant for adult Wizards, the ministry inadvertently had accepted him as an adult._

_The real shocker came when Lord Peverell claimed heirship of House of Black, Rosier and Peverell (For information on Ancient and Reverent House of Peverell see P. 13). When Lord Malfoy protested his claim as Lord of Black, he presented a writ from Gringotts which testified that he was the magically adopted son of blood heir Sirius Black apart from being his godson as he was named so by James Potter and Lily Potter. To quell the doubts about his claim, he summoned the spirit of family magic which showed that he is the Lord of Black now. As his ancestry was called in question citing he was a half-blood, he reminded the Wizengamot of the ancient system of determining someone's blood purity telling that since his parents were magical, he was a pureblood. He further revealed that Lily Potter was not a muggle-born but a daughter of House Rosier being born of the union of Vincent Rosier and Emilia Rosier nee Weber of the House of Weber of Germany and had been given in adoption to muggles (For more information on House of Weber and Rosier, see P. 8). _

_As his first order of business in the capacity of Lord of Black, he reinstated Andromeda Tonks nee Black back into the family and established her family line as a cadet line to the House of Black. In another move, he undid the injustice meted to House of Weasley decades ago by former Lord of Black, Orion Phineas Black and reinstated Cedrella Black into the family again while establishing the House of Weasley as a cadet line to the House of Black. He further petitioned to reinstate House of Weasley on the Wizengamot as Ancient and Noble House of Weasley which was passed with an overwhelming majority. In addition, Arthur Weasley's son, Charlie Weasley has taken the mantel of Lord Prewett as Molly Weasley nee Prewett is the last scion of the House of Prewett (For more information on House Weasley and Prewett, see P. 9). _

_In his last show down, he annulled the marriage of one Bellatrix Nameless and cast her off from the family for bringing a bad name to the family (For more on Bellatrix see P. 16)._

_The next shocker came from Augusta Longbottom, the erstwhile Regent of House Longbottom who abdicated her position as regent of House Longbottom in favour of Lord Longbottom who along with his wife Lady Longbottom, have recovered of their ailment from over-exposure to the Cruciatus curse (To read more about the incapacitation of the Longbottom's, see P. 7)._

_The House of Bones and Longbottom also declared their next heirs, Susan Bones and Neville Longbottom respectively who are currently studying at Hogwarts and have finished their fourth year of education. _

_Lord Peverell also appointed Regents to his houses with Andromeda Tonks being named Regent for House Black, Sirius Black named as Regent for House Rosier, Remus Lupin for House Potter and Amelia Bones for House Peverell._

_However the day was far from done and Lady Bones brought a motion for the removal of Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic which was supported by the leader of Neutrals, Lord Greengrass. Lord Longbottom and Lord Yaxley are nominated to contest for the post of minister with voting to be conducted tomorrow._

_This day left a lot of questions behind with the prominent one being, "Is the great alliance again sitting upon the Wizengamot? (For the great alliance, see P. 12) "With one of the Reverent houses sitting again on the Wizengamot, what will be the far reaching consequences? What will happen in the voting with the neutral apparently leaning in favour of Light?_

_This reporter tried to contact Former Minister Fudge but we have been told that he obtained a port-key and has left Wizarding Britain for the continent. Likewise Lord Greengrass and Lord Peverell were unavailable for comment._

_The Daily prophet would also like to remind its readers that this is the biggest family merger giving the boy-who-lived a more hyphenated name however he made a request to the Wizengamot to be identified as Harold James Peverell which was granted."_

As they all finished reading the paper, Dumbledore turned to him, "My boy, would you answer some of my questions?"

Harry grinned, "I think that now is hardly the time, Headmaster. I would happily agree to a meeting in your office at Hogwarts, perhaps over some tea and breakfast."

He left Dumbledore sitting there after taking his leave giving excuses that he was tired and wanted to finish some exercises before he went to bed. Time was down to the last two weeks of summer and Harry had not worked on any of his school summer assignments yet. Although he had all the theory down pat and his penmanship had improved immeasurably, those scrolls of parchment were not going to write themselves and that took time. When it came to the potions assignment, he took particular pleasure in not only covering the properties and uses of all the assigned ingredients, but gave additional information on suitable substitutes with resulting variation in effect and side-effect of each substitution. Even the dungeon bat would have to give him an 'O' for that paper. After two hours or so he set up some wards and retired to bed determined to wake up before dawn.

**The next day**

The next morning, Harry woke up to go for his exercises and as he was about to open the door to his room, he felt someone standing outside. He sent a silent homnum revelio to find four persons standing outside his room, waiting for him to come out. He immediately knew who they were- the marauders and the twins who were out for his blood. He calmly pulled out his Invisibility Cloak, wore it and stepped out of his room. As the door opened, spells flew and were absorbed in the cloak. Harry smirked inwardly. He saw Remus casting a homnum revelio and wanted to laugh. Sirius tried to summon the cloak but it did not move an inch. He calmly levitated himself and bringing out his wands he thoroughly doused the four standing there and tied them with chains before leaving.

This morning he went to Hogwarts and started running laps around the Black lake which was twice the size of the lake in Adrishpuram, as such it would give him some sense of satisfaction of being thoroughly tired. As he was completing his fourth lap, he found Severus Snape coming towards him in long strides and grinning inwardly; he set some glamour charms upon himself to change his appearance and waited for the potions master to arrive.

Severus Snape, as he had expected, pulled his wand and levelled at him, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

He calmly replied, "I am running around this lovely lake for some physical fitness. May be you can do the same. It works wonders for one's physical being."

Severus sneered at him, "Who gave you permission to enter these grounds?"

He goaded the potions master further, "I do not need permission from anyone, Professor."

The potions master had a dangerous glint in his eye accompanied by the trademark Snape sneer which generally preceded some form of misery being inflicted on Hogwarts students. He said slowly and clearly, "Don't get smart with me."

He cheekily replied, "If I became smart, professor, it certainly did not happen in your class."

Snape who evidently was at the end of his tether, shouted, "I am warning you for the last time. Answer my question or duel me."

Harry was really in the mood to jest with him now, "Do your worst, Professor."

Severus shot a spell at him, "Legilimens!"

While this was a surprising choice of spell, Harry understood that the potions master wanted to see his secrets He did not bat away the spell but waited for it to connect, not even having pulled his wand. As the spell hit him, he found Severus knocking on his mind shields, having been surprised at the presence of a well organized mind. Harry found and pulled the perfect memory to distract the potions professor. He allowed Snape in his mind and presented him with the image of a Basilisk lunging to kill him. As Snape flinched, he threw the potions master out of his mind.

Severus was mad at him now and started with his first spell which was cast inaudibly. Harry had not heard of the spell but he recognised that it was a dark cutter spell and swatted it away with a flick of his wand. The potions masters started casting darker spells at him which he batted aside. He was advanced beyond the point that a single opponent could give him any challenge. He either swatted his spells aside or side-stepped them, laughing all the while.

Severus had lost all control and was firing everything he knew without even bothering about his aim. Harry caught one of his spells on his wand (he was using Ollivander's wand now) and sent it back at the potions master who realised in time what was happening and jumped aside. After that Harry started sending Bone Breakers, Bone Crushers, and Bone Exploding hexes at the potions master who could barely dodge and was using shields. Harry started casting with his full power and kept breaking through his shields. After he had amused himself enough while he practiced his casting and he could see that Snape was swaying dangerously on his feet. He sent an ascendio at the potions master sending him spiralling upwards however before the Potions Master could fall to the ground again; he banished him into the Black Lake mid-air. After sometime, he retrieved the flailing Severus Snape by a summoning charm. Just for fun, he bound the potions master in chains then shampooed his hair before drying him off. On a whim, Harry transfigured Snape's hair into a golden, wavy perfect replica of Gilderoy Lockhart's trademark style and left him there. Later when he was retrieved by Dumbledore, he told the Head Master about the mysterious fighter who had defeated him easily. Dumbledore had a good idea who it was and chuckled before saying, "I like the hair, Severus. It is a good look for you." But he refused to explain anything to Severus knowing it would be interesting to see Severus's face after he realised who had bested him.

**The Ministry of magic**

The Wizengamot convened at the required time and a few lords from the Dark faction were missing who had been sent to intimidate the members of the Light and Neutral faction. Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "We will now hear the platform speeches of our candidates. Lord Longbottom, Lord Yaxley, please step forward."

Dumbledore waited a few moments while the candidates made their way to the floor before he spoke again, "Lord Frank Longbottom, in as much as you were the first to be nominated, you will be the first to speak. You will have five minutes to address the Wizengamot."

Frank scanned the chamber, making note of which seats were empty and the expressions on the faces of those who were present, making eye contact with many of them before he began, "My fellow lords and ladies of the Wizengamot. (Dumbledore turned the hourglass that was sitting on the table in front of him) Ever since the establishment of this august body, the office of the Minister of Magic has carried with it an obligation to serve and protect the public trust. These are duties which I recognize and accept with the greatest of gravity…"

By the time Frank finished his speech, he had promised a complete audit of the ministry's budget and spending, reforms to policies regarding relations with intelligent magical beings of other species, a complete overhaul of the wizarding prison, Azkaban and finally a budget increase for the DMLE and an end to the hiring freeze for aurors. Before the last grain of sand had fallen to the bottom of the hourglass, he thanked the members present and fell silent. Most of the people there, including the spectators, rose to their feet, cheering and applauding. There were some who remained seated, thumping on their tables, calling out, "Here! Here!"

After what seemed an appropriate amount of time, Dumbledore wrapped his gavel twice to call for order and the cheering passed into a shuffle of chairs as the members took their seats again.

Dumbledore spoke into the silence, "Lord Irwin Yaxley, in as much as you were the second candidate nominated, you shall be the second to address this assembly. You have five minutes to speak."

The tall blunt featured man sent a cursory glance toward the seats of the dark faction. His eyes widened with astonishment when he realized how many seats were empty, and worse, all of them were known to him to be his fellow death eaters. The significance was beginning to sink in and he got off to a rocky start, "Chief Warlock, fellow members of the Wizengamot, I thank you for your nomination and your support. I am honoured to receive this nomination and hope to serve you right, er well…"

His speech contained all the pure-blood tripe, protectionism and exclusivity one would expect from a death eater. He promised prosperity for all and assured them of continuation of the status quo between magical species as is right and proper. He was still blustering on when the last grain of sand fell through the hourglass and, as is procedure, Dumbledore began to clap, demanding that he end his speech. The man clearly caught wrong-footed muttered out some sort of thank-you while a smattering of polite applause, lead by Malfoy greeted the conclusion of his rambling speech.

The applause, what little there was of it, died out quickly. Dumbledore did not have to call for order this time, "Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, your ballots are in front of you. Please mark your selection for the post of Minister for Magic and hold your ballot high when you have folded it in the indicated manner."

Malfoy protested, "Some of the members of my faction are absent and as such, I move that the voting be postponed until they or their duly appointed proxies are able to attend."

Dumbledore turned to Percy, "Mr. Scribe, do we have quorum for this meeting?"

Percy already anticipating where Malfoy's question was going had a ready answer, "Chief Warlock, according to our charter, to elect a new minister for Magic, quorum is a minimum two thirds plus one seat represented either in person or by proxy. The number required is one hundred and eight. This morning's attendance shows that of the 160 seats, one hundred and forty-five are either here in person or duly represented. We have quorum."

Dumbledore spoke again, "Thank-you Mr. Scribe." Then turning to Malfoy, "Lord Malfoy, your objection is over ruled. As this ministry cannot operate without a minister, under Article 25 of our charter, we have quorum and I am invoking my duty as Chief Warlock to call for a vote to select our next minister of magic." Then addressing the assembly, "We will proceed with the voting."

Percy rose to his feet. As the members held up their ballots, one by one, he summoned their ballots until he had collected the last one. He then retired to a chamber just off of the main assembly hall with Lord Prewett (Charlie) and Lord Macnair to count the votes. The vote was not even close. Frank Longbottom was elected minister of magic by a whopping majority of 100 to 45 with fifteen absent.

After Frank was sworn in, Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "Is there any more preliminary business or motion before we move to Administrative matters?"

No one raised a hand and he sighed in relief and turned to Madam Bones, "The first order of business has come from Madam Bones. Madam Bones the floor is yours."

Amelia stood and turned to the Wizengamot, "Respected Lords and Ladies, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement which is responsible for law and order within the wizarding community has been dealing with severe issues which were brought to the attention of the former Minister. Unfortunately, he chose not to address them. Having been an Auror myself, I know that we do not have enough Aurors to patrol our establishments, or provide sufficient security to the general wizarding population. The training program for Aurors was curtailed by the previous administration citing that we do not need Aurors who are trained to kill. The former minister even had the audacity to freeze the recruitment of Aurors for the last few years. The standards have been falling so much that in the previous few years, we had just one Auror pass the training program.

We all know that from time to time there have been dark wizards who attract followers and seek world domination Although none of them has ever succeeded, each time one arises, we pay for their defeat with our dearest blood. The most recent example of which was you-know-who. Although he was defeated at length, many of his followers went free. We saw clear evidence of that in the aftermath of the most recent world cup of quidditch. There have also been some wizards who had been in hiding from the ministry like Peter Pettigrew who was the real culprit and responsible for betraying the Potters to their murderer. If a new dark lord arose today, we would be woefully ill equipped and unprepared to deal with such a situation and many members of our community will perish. This shall not stand! To that end I move the following three measures:

First, that the hiring freeze for aurors be lifted immediately.

Second, that the funding to the DMLE be doubled to pay the additional expenses required to hire, train and pay for sufficient aurors to meet our current need.

Third, that the entry requirements for auror recruits be re-examined and relaxed, slightly, to allow more witches and wizards to apply. Thank you all."

It had been agreed that announcing the return of Tom Riddle in a session of the Wizengamot would be ill-advised. Such news might force Tom out of hiding before any real preparations to stop him could be made. Making a case to strengthen the Auror core to meet present need was more likely to gain support than a plea for emergency war measures based on a doubtful claim that the vanquished dark wizard had returned from the dead. This time, it was Lord Diggory who seconded the motion. The debate went around the hall several times. The dark side argued that there was no budget for such an increase and that it was not needed. The light side argued that the Aurors were less than half the number they had been 15 years ago and that their response time was pathetic. They were severely understaffed. The neutrals mostly stayed silent, their eyes following the debate like a slow-motion quidditch match. The last to speak was Lord Greengrass who made a fairly persuasive argument for the security of the wizarding community as a whole and got the attention of many of the neutral faction. Finally, most of the real players in the assembly had their say and Dumbledore took over.

He addressed the Wizengamot, "There being no further debate, we will now vote on the issue."

The voting was a bit closer because some members of the Wizengamot, being fat, happy and stupid, still did not believe that Voldemort was back. They were more interested in protecting their budgets than the security and welfare of the wizarding community as a whole. But, between the members of the great alliance, those who did believe and some persuasion from Lord Greengrass, the motion carried by a slim majority with eighty-five in favour, fifty -five against and 20 either absent or abstaining.

Frank turned to Amelia, "Madam Bones, you are required to draft a proposal and submit it to my office within a week and then the Ministry will deliberate upon the proposal in concert with other department heads and a decision shall be made."

Amelia bowed and returned to her seat. The session was adjourned soon since there was little to no business left.

**Black Town House**

As Harry arrived at the Townhouse in the evening, the twins were being very cordial to him which rang warning bells in his mind. He warily asked them, "So mates, what is the deal with you treating me like this?"

The teens smirked at him but said nothing. As Molly called them for tea and they sat at the table, he caught a subtle movement of their hand towards their wand. Wanting to make sure he wordlessly and wandlessly cast the detection spell and it showed that they had tinkered with his tea. Smirking to himself, he switched his tea with Fred and sat waiting for their prank to go off. As Fred drank the tea, he clutched his throat as if something was clogging his airway. Right before his eyes, Fred turned into something right out of an H. P. Lovecraft novel as he grew gills, webbed feet and webbed hands.

Harry recognized the effects of Gillyweed immediately and surmised that they had mixed some extract into his tea. He knew that Fred would not be able to breathe air until the effects had worn off. While the others in the room panicked, Harry conjured an over-sized tub, filled it and threw Fred into it.

After the effect wore off, Harry confronted them in private, "A joke is a joke. We all have a good laugh and forget about it, but; you could have killed me with that one. Don't do anything like that again."

Fred and George at least had the good sense to look ashamed and promised to watch it from now on.

The special issue of the Evening Prophet spoke at length about the election of Frank Longbottom, his vision and proposed restructuring to the ministry and about the minister agreeing to demands put forth by Lady Bones.

**Next day, Cottage on the hill**

Harry had arrived at the cottage on the hill early this morning right after his exercise. He went to find the others and found that only Moody was there. He growled at him, "Dumbledore has told me to see if you can hold your own against death eaters in a duel. We will duel each other now."

Harry asked him, "What did Alastor Moody tell me when I was leaving for India?"

Moody growled, "I told you to learn enough so that you can defeat me in a duel."

Harry lowered his wand and said, "I had to make sure that it is you."

Moody growled, "If it is all the same to you, I will have that duel now."

Harry summoned his wand (the one manufactured by Shilpagya) and bowed to the Auror who did the same. Just as Moody was getting into the stance, Harry sent a blasting hex at him which Moody swatted aside and started casting lethal curses at him and Harry dodged around his spells with ease. He kept dodging for 5 minutes all the while taunting Moody that his aim was off, that he was growing old, and that he was slowing down in his old age. After 5 minutes while Harry was dodging his spells, he sent a banishing charm at the Auror who swatted it aside. In that second Harry fired a chain of reducto, confrigno and bombarda forcing the old Auror to raise a shield. He had put all his power behind his spell and the reductor destroyed his shield. Moody ducked out of the way of the rest of his curses. After that he kept the Auror on the defensive for 10 minutes testing his endurance by casting all the lethal spells he knew of (he did not use Sanskrit spells in front of the Auror wanting to keep it a secret). He deliberately made a lull in his casting and the Auror started casting Dark spells at him which Harry matched spell for spell for quite some time. Moody sent a cutter at him and he lazily dodged it and conjured a fire whip with which he pulled the fake leg of the Auror forcing it to come off and as the Auror fell, he stunned him and bound him with incarcerous.

After he released Moody and returned his wooden leg and wand to him, he said, "Master Auror Moody, I apologize for taking advantage of that wooden leg you wear. It does seem to hamper you quite a bit and no dark wizard is going to have any qualms about taking advantage of it either."

Moody had a pained expression as he re-fitted his leg, and said, "Aye lad, 'tis true enough and that is the one of the reasons I retired from being an Auror not that I could not kill death eater scum even on this leg. But, what can be done?"

Harry said, "Let me try something." Tapping his wand to the claw-footed prosthetic, he transfigured it into a convincing mirror reflection of the ex-auror's other leg. Satisfied with the transformation, he then animated the limb, which began to move like a natural leg. Then Harry said, "Ok, now I want you to try and stand up."

Moody looked down at the leg with astonishment then slapped his forehead with his open palm, "Why didn't I ever think of that?" And he stood up. The leg worked well enough but after a few seconds, Moody stumbled and Harry cast a cushioning charm before he fell down.

Moody growled, "What was that all about?"

Harry looked a bit sheepish, "Sorry, I lost concentration. To make this really work, you are going to have to take over the animation. I think that with some fancy mind-magic, we could even give you some sense of touch in the prosthetic. What do you say?"

Moody cast his own animation and Harry tapped the leg twice more to make the transfiguration and animation permanent.

For the next few days, it became a trend for him to go for his training in the morning to the Cottage at the Hill but none of the trainers wanted to touch him with a 10 foot pole except Moody. The Auror was always able to give him some good practice in back to back duels. The upgraded prosthetic took a bit of getting used to but in the end, the old auror was getting his dodge back.

The rest of the time, he sat and watched others fight and train. At times he tried to join them but none of the rest of them would even try to match him. The Marauders, as a team, were able to give him a challenge. Soon, he was visiting the cottage when no one else was around and he would conjure dummies and fight with them practicing all his spells or practicing his animagus transformation. He had long since accepted that the transformation would happen in its own time and was content with running around the cottage on his paws, trying to get the feel of the animal so he would have no challenges when the time came to transform. Another thing which Ambar had told him to do was to transform his whole body at once to make it easier to transform every time and he would not need as much time to transform. He had seen how fluid McGonagall and Sirius were with their transformations and he was aiming for that. When he thought back about his first transformation, it occurred to him that it had been spontaneous, complete and instantaneous, but he had also lost control of the beast. The problem was not really about completing the transformation it was more about remaining Harry while obtaining the form of the snow leopard. He practiced transforming for an hour every day and it usually took him at least 15 seconds to transform and then 15 seconds to transform back but he was quite sure that he would be able to do it effortlessly soon.

Susan had been visiting the cottage and Black Town House more often. They would sit and talk for hours at a time. While his days were extremely busy he was thankful for the reprieve that her arrival was. With her being there, he could be a teenager in love rather than some ferocious war mage. He still remembered what had happened in the Three Broomsticks when he visited with Susan in an effort to make up for not coming to see her at the moment he landed in Wizarding Britain.

_-Flash back starts-_

He and Susan had been walking the streets of the wizarding village and she decided that she wanted a drink. Chivalrous being that he was, he offered to escort her and they entered the inn where all conversation suddenly stopped as people realised who had just walked in. As he walked up to the bar, many of the wizards and witches in the inn came up to him to say hello or to congratulate him for his ascension.

"What can I get you two?", Madam Rosemerta asked them.

"We will have two butterbeers, thank you", he replied and she nodded.

As she served them, she asked off-handedly, "Are you two an item now?"

Harry choked on his butter beer for a moment while Susan blushed. He spluttered, "I... we are not... umm... I mean we are not it right now."

Rosemerta was openly chuckling now, "Don't worry, Lord Peverell. It is just that your fathers were never flustered so easily. While James was easy going from the time I knew him, he pined after your mother, Sirius never settled on anyone before Marlene smacked him upside the head for chasing her around all the time. In the end, however unlikely it may have seemed at first, they were meant for each other."

Harry thanked her for the anecdote and left as soon as he paid for the butterbeers.

_-Flash back ends-_

**BLACK TOWN HOUSE**

There were just two days to go until start of term. Harry was sitting in his room at the manor, when Ron walked in with two envelopes in hand, "the letters and booklists have arrived."

Harry looked a bit surprised, "Book lists? Aren't they really late this time?"

Ron tossed Harry his envelope and as he read the list, he found that there were three new books for defence Against the Dark Arts. No surprise there. Every year the new DADA teacher had their favourite books. All in all, he had to buy 6 books for this year, one being the new spell book for charms, one for Transfigurations, one for Herbology and three for defence. He was excited to see what defence would be like and who the teacher would be. Dumbledore had not told him about it (The mystic had also told Dumbledore not to say a word to Harry, citing it was a part of his training) and he should see it for himself.

As he finished reading his letter, he looked up to see Ron holding a small silver red coloured Badge with P inscribed on it, the prefect badge just like the one he had seen Percy wearing on his first ever train ride to Hogwarts. Ron handed the badge wordlessly to him to inspect if it was indeed real and he wanted to laugh at his friend's expression. He thought that he should have been feeling a little jealous that Ron had been chosen for that honour over him, but; ever since he had seen Mother Magic, these things mattered to him very little. Anyhow he had much more on his plate than he wanted. He congratulated Ron warmly saying that he deserved it more than him.

With two loud craks, the twins chose that moment to apparate into the Room and were horrified at the prospect of one more prefect in the family. Fred scowled in mock horror, "Where did we go wrong with this one, George?"

George replied in an equally grim voice, "Oh! The horror! Not another one like Percy!"

Ron retorted angrily at them, "I am not like that git."

Fred waved him off and turned to Harry, "We thought you would become the Prefect. Dumbledore fawns over you and I thought he would have given the position to you without a second thought."

George said, "Alas, we did not start a betting pool for the positions of Gryffindor prefects this year or this would have made us filthy rich and you would have some very angry people after you."

Harry scowled at them, "Are you both mental? I am the same bloke who breaks a hundred rules every year, fights trolls for fun, smuggles dragons out of school, runs to fight a basilisk, sneaks out of the school when he is not supposed to and doing so can put him in mortal peril, the same bloke who can run circles around the professors single handedly. Giving me the position would have made people question his sanity."

They all laughed loudly until Hermione came running into the room and saw the badge in Ron's hands. Harry could sense that she was about to express her doubts and he forbade her with a slight shake of his head.

So, she instead hugged Ron tightly and said, "Congrats Ron. You did it. But now you will have to be responsible enough to do your duties."

George waggled his eye-brows, "yeah, like controlling your wayward brothers, telling your freakishly powerful friend to behave among other things. But it's not all bad. You'll get to take points off Malfoy's crew when they step out of line."

Fred winked, "And he will have a beautiful witch with him to help him ease the burden, brother of mine."

Ron looked around cluelessly while Hermione blushed and ran away before Harry could ask anything.

Mrs. Weasley took that moment to barge in, "I heard that the booklists have finally arrived. About time, I would say. I thought that they had forgotten it. Give me the lists and I will go finish your shopping while you lot get your trunks packed." She gave Harry a look with tape-measures in her eyes and said, "Harry, you will need all new school robes". Then without a pause, "you too, Ron and pajamas too, yours are too short now. What colour would you like?"

Fred said, "How about red to match his badge?"

Mrs. Weasley asked absent mindedly, "Badge, what badge?"

George said the words as if they were burning his throat, "His shiny, new Prefect Badge."

She said, "But Ron is not a…" Her words stopped in her throat as she saw him holding a little shiny red colored Prefect Badge and she squealed before hugging him, "Oh a prefect, Congrats Ron... that's everyone in the family."

Fred said in indignation, "What are we, next door neighbors?"

Finally she let go of her son and asked him, "So, what will it be?"

Ron asked, "What do you mean?"

She smiled, "We gave an Owl to Bill when he became Prefect, robes for Percy. Now what do you want?"

Ron smiled, "Mom, may I have a new broom?"

She smiled brightly, "Of course you can have a new broom. You have earned it."

Harry did his best to remain impassive. Harry knew that they could afford a fire bolt if they wanted to. But he knew that Mr. Weasley or Mrs. Weasley would not want to spoil him by giving him expensive gifts.

As she was collecting the lists, Harry protested, "Mrs. Weasley, I don't need robes. I have school robes."

She giggled at him, "Have you even tried them on, Harry? They fit you when you were at least 5 inches shorter and 25 kilos lighter. Your robes from last year will be too short and too tight if you can squeeze into them at all."

Harry took one of his old robes and held it up to his chin. It looked several sizes too small. Finally, he had to admit that she had a point. Sometimes it felt good to be taken care of.

That evening they had a feast in honour of the new Gryffindor Prefects and Alastor asked loudly why Dumbledore did not give the badge to Harry. He was treated to several anecdotes of his father's antics while Remus whined that he never succeeded in controlling his wayward friends when Dumbledore had given it to him trusting him to control his friends. Out of the forty or so boys in their year, he supposed that Remus was the only one with a chance of keeping a handle on his friends. Too bad it didn't work out that way.

Two days later, the Black Townhouse was in chaos. People were going up and down the stairs, packing their trunks, trying to find their stuff and in general making mayhem. Harry's trunk had already been packed by Dobby during the night. He sent the elf to pack for others in the house telling him that he wanted everyone at the breakfast table at 9:00 a.m., something which was no ordinary feat. Somehow they all managed to do it and Andromeda came by to say good-bye before he went to school. She had been coming regularly to see him and called him Harold instead of Harry telling him that he should insist that only people really close to him should call him "Harry".

After some discussion, they decided to travel to King's Cross station through the floo network. It had not taken much persuasion to get it done. A fireplace would look out of place on a train platform, however; the place was already warded from prying muggle eyes and it would greatly reduce the chances of a whole bunch of wizards and witches, running through the barrier, getting spotted. Travelling this way would not run the risks of getting stuck in traffic, being spotted on brooms, using under-aged magic, exposing the location of the Black townhouse or any of the hassles associated with using the muggle transit system. Of course, they could have used the Knight Bus and gone all the way to Hogwarts if they wanted to, but Harry who all had experience with that turned it down flat. They all queued up at the kitchen fireplace in the townhouse. Mad-eye went first, followed by Nymphadora followed by Sirius who was followed by Arthur Weasley who was followed by Hermione Granger then Ginny, Ron, Harry and the twins.

As he gracefully exited from the floo, Hermione asked him, "Since when have you become an expert in floo travel? I distinctly remember that you always fall flat on your face."

Harry mock scowled, "Miss Granger I will have you know that I am very accomplished in travelling by floo."

They stood making idle chatter when Susan arrived surrounded by two Aurors and Neville arrived sometime later flanked by two Aurors (being the Minister's son had privileges). As the train gave the signal to start, he boarded the train with the others. The twins were already off to find Lee Jordan while Ginny went to find her friends and he turned to Susan, Neville, Ron and Hermione, "Let's find some seats."

Hermione said hesitantly, "Harry, umm… we have to go and attend the Prefect's meeting."

He smiled at them, "Do go on then. Come find me when you are done and I will save you some food."

Ron chuckled, "What? After you are done sating your hunger?"

Susan and Neville followed him until they reached the last compartment on the last coach of the train where a girl with long, pale blond hair and a petite figure was sitting by herself, reading a magazine upside-down. Neville asked her, "Umm…. May we sit here?"

When she looked up from her magazine, they could see that she was wearing a very strange pair of glasses. Her face had an unfocused, dreamy quality about it. She said to them in a singsong voice, "Yes."

They took their seats and stowed their luggage in the overhead racks and as they sat she looked at Harry and said, "You are Harold Peverell."

The way she spoke, he thought it was a question and said, "Yeah. I am Harold Peverell."

She said again, "You have met the Pravirakarna Owl. They are dangerous for those of weak mind."

Harry was looking at her with his mouth hanging open, surprised how did she know about the Pravirakarna Owl.

He asked her, "Who are you?"

She replied, "I am Luna Lovegood, Ravenclaw and I know you met a large number of creatures this summer. Will you talk to me about it?"

Harry grunted something like "Uh… yeah…" and the other two in the cabin were about to laugh at him but were keeping their laughter to themselves with apparent effort.

Hannah (Hufflepuff Prefect), Ron and Hermione (Gryffindor Prefects) joined them around an hour later and the conversation was flowing easily between them till the door opened and in strutted Draco Malfoy, his green prefect badge pinned to his robe, with his two lackeys in tow.

He sneered at Harry, "Look boys who it is, Saint Scar-head Potter and his posse of friends."

Harry gave the trio an appraising look. Malfoy was used to throwing his weight around. With his two goons and Snape to back him up, he had always managed to get away with it, but; not today. Harry gave his cousin a genuine smile and even chuckled a little before he spoke, "Well, Draco. Did you sit up all night thinking up that one? What may the Lord Black do for you?"

Crabbe and Goyle were too slow to realize that their gang leader had just been insulted three ways from Sunday, but; Draco understood all of it. His sneer slipped just a little, "What do you mean by that, Potter?", as he started reaching for his wand.

But Harry had his wand out first and with a gesture too quick to follow, the wands of the trio were torn from their hiding places and in Harry's hand. "What I mean by that, cousin, is that you may address me as Lord Black or Lord Peverell if you prefer, either is correct, or Harold. You are to address myself and my associates with respect at all times and if you do not, your conduct will be reported to your mother. She as a member of House Black will carry out her duties and teach you some manners or risk my displeasure. Is that clear enough for you?"

Draco, having been brought up in the wizarding world as a pure-blood heir did understand every implication of what Harry had said. He bowed from the waste and said, "My apologies, Lord Black. It was only a jest."

Harry, knowing that Draco was a slimy git just like his death eater father and would hex him in the back the first chance he got thought, "just let him try it." Harry returned their wands, deliberately giving everyone the wrong wand back. He said, "Cousin, if you ever care to train your dueling skills, I would welcome the opportunity to use you as a whet-stone."

Draco, who remembered how quickly the three of them had been disarmed thought, "I will never let this prat get a fair chance with me", said, "I await your pleasure, Lord Black." The last two words sounding like a curse. Then to Crabbe and Goyle, he said, "Let's go find some interesting people to talk to." And the three of them were gone.

They spent the rest of the journey speculating over who the new DADA teacher would be, laughing over an article in Luna's magazine that Said Sirius Black was really a rock star called Stubby Broadman and trading chocolate frog cards. Harry was bursting to tell them what he had done to Snape at the lake earlier that summer, but; he kept it to himself, knowing how badly it would go for them if Snape thought they knew anything about it. All too soon, the train was pulling into Hogsmeade Station.

Ron and Hermione excused themselves saying that they had prefect duties to attend to. Harry, Neville and Susan moved off to look for a coach without them. As they were looking for a coach, they noticed that Luna had simply drifted along in their wake, so they invited her to join them.

Harry expected to hear Hagrid booming out, "First Yers! Ov' here." What he heard instead was a brisk female voice calling out, "First years, line up over here please. All first years to me." When he looked, he could see that it was Professor Grubbly Plank. He guessed that the half-giant had not returned from his mission yet.

As he went to sit in the carriages, he did a double take when he recognized the animal tethered to the carriage was a thestral. He could see them now and was reminded once again, why he could do so. Neville joined him in the carriage with Susan and Luna. A few moments later, Ron and Hermione joined them and the carriage went forward.

About 20 minutes later, he was sitting in the great hall of his first home, Hogwarts.

**REVIEWS PLEASE**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N- **In this chapter, Harold Peverell will start his fifth year at Hogwarts. Let's see what he has in the store for him. There are many things which would happen eventually but I wrote many things which I felt would take too much space otherwise and contribute majorly to the story.

Thank you RaymondJay, Potter abducted by penguins, Lazymanjones, Anarion, God of All, ObsessedwtihHPFanFic, Hypergym, for the fabulous reviews to this story. I am visibly over-whelmed.

* * *

**Hogwarts**

The students entered the great hall and made their way to the various house tables. Harry's friends entered in a group with Harry taking up the rear. As he made his way to the Gryffindor table, he scanned the faces of the other students. Although his picture had been featured enough in the Daily Prophet since his return, many of the students were amazed at how much he had changed over the summer. Some spotted him looking at them and waved. Harry returned their greetings as he went. Some scowled at him, supporters of Fudge and Voldemort, he thought. And others, particularly the girls were giving him appraising looks. Harry did not give any indication that he noticed, but there were eyes watching him from the head table too. Snape, Dumbledore and the new professor sitting to Dumbledore's right were all watching the reactions of the students as the tall, well-built and lordly teen worked the crowd before he sat down.

He finished making his way to the Gryffindor table. He chose a seat with Fred and George to his left and Neville and Ron to his right, facing the other house tables. The chasers of the quidditch team sat across from him with Hermione directly opposite. It was only then that he realized that Wood had graduated at the end of his third year and Angelina now wore the team captain's badge. There would be try-outs this year. They would need a new keeper at the very least. Of course, with the Triwizard last year, there had been no Quidditch and they had not replaced Wood.

Harry gave the staff table another look. There was Albus Dumbledore sitting in his chair, McGonagall on one side and an unknown face at his other side. Perhaps the new defense instructor? Harry gave him a good look trying to assess him and his capabilities. The man did not look like much but he had learned not to judge a book by its cover. After all the mystics looked like ordinary people and yet they could give even Dumbledore a good run for his money. He noticed two other new teachers at the table. One was a stern looking witch that he did not know. The other wore a kind expression. She had gray eyes and wore her blond hair down, past her shoulders. Sitting down, she looked like she was somewhat shorter than Professor McGonagall. As far as he knew, there were no other posts vacant. He decided not to think about it because Dumbledore would be telling them in a few minutes time anyhow.

He heard Hermione say, "I wonder where Hagrid is?" He watched as Professor Grubbly-Plank sat down in Hagrid's usual spot before he answered. Harry turned to her, "He has gone off to see some blokes who refused to become his friends. Some friends who would make him look small."

Hermione heard him and pondered his words for a few seconds before her eyes spread in wonder, "He has gone to see Giants?" She was whispering but her words were loud enough to be heard by Neville and Ron. Harry glared at her.

Ron who had been listening to every word, choked on his words, "Giants! He is mental, that one."

Harry quickly erected a privacy ward and glared at Ron too, "Can you shout it a little louder, Ron? There might be somebody in the astronomy tower who didn't quite make that out."

Neville sheepishly smiled, "So mate, what is the deal with the Giants?"

Harry started in low whispers, "This is supposed to be a secret. He had gone to try and recruit Giants but they have sided with Voldemort (they shuddered) and now thirty of them are on their way here."

He had heard the mystics talk about Voldemort like he was something nasty stuck to their shoe, but, here people could not help but shudder at the sound of his name. He had a long talk with Harsh about it and knew there was a reason for their fear.

_-Flashback starts-_

_They had been sitting for their nightly session on knowing the intricacies of magic and Harry could not help but ask, "Guruji, why are people afraid to say Voldemort's name?"_

_Harsh smiled, "Harry, names are powerful things. Fearing a name gives more power to it but similar way derogating a name dispels the mystery around a person. Voldemort represented death, destruction for wizarding population. He killed people mercilessly and wiped out entire bloodlines out of existence. Those wizards who experienced death, carnage and destruction at his hands obviously shudder at his name and if his dark mark appeared atop your home, it was a death omen. To make them lose the fear of his name, you have to bring his real face to the world. Everything about his life that makes him ordinary like others, that has to be told. You can start that with telling people around you to at least use his real name- Tom Riddle which would make him ordinary like others. When he resurfaces, publish whatever you have gathered about him and make him look like an ordinary mortal."_

_-Flashback ends-_

He turned to his friends, "Guys, if you can't call him Voldemort, try calling him Tom Riddle. Calling him 'you-Know-Who', 'He who must not be named' or even worse, 'The Dark Lord', gives him a sense of mystique and feeds into his legend. If you cannot even call him by his name, how can you expect to defeat him?"

They all stayed silent for a while pondering his words until Neville said, "It makes sense to call him Tom Riddle. Calling him Tom Riddle makes him sound like an ordinary bloke."

Hermione who had been looking around turned to Neville, "Umm... am I just seeing things or is Snape trying to kill you with his glare?"

Neville turned to look at Snape and grinned, "He really wants to kill me. If looks could kill, I would be a smoldering pile of ashes by now."

Harry tilted his head toward Neville, "Got something to share mate?"

Neville smiled, "Father sent an owl to Snape to come meet him and met him like a pureblood lord of old. Put on some show of power and mother was there beside him. They reminded him why they were feared as Aurors in their time. As he came they just offered him a seat without saying anything. They made him sweat for 10 minutes without saying anything and then mother laid into him that he had disappointed her by being a bully towards me when she had been kind to him during his school years while father glared at him the entire time and reminded him of all the times he intervened and saved him from the Marauder's pranks. Mother in fact told him that if she was in the prime of her health, she would have shown him why she was feared by others. For good measure, she told him that when she got better, she would have words with him for all the times that he has mistreated me."

Harry winced. He had been on the receiving end of Alice's glare a few times as he had been a regular to Green Hues recently.

Harry looked toward the head table and smirking, said, "Am I seeing things or has Snape done something with his hair?"

The others followed his gaze and attempted to take a surreptitious look at the potions master. Hermione, who had the most trouble with her hair of anyone there, noticed immediately, "It looks like he's had it cut and shampooed. Is that a first?"

Harry said no more about it but he just sat back and enjoyed listening to all the speculation. Before the end of dinner, the entire Gryffindor table would be glancing at Snape and making their comments.

Harry's thoughts drifted back to his visits at Green Hues. If he said something that Alice did not like, she would do nothing but glare at him with such intensity that his legs would quiver with fright. She equally doted on him though and when he was around, she would shower her love on him. Frank was well, Frank. His ordinary words were cutting enough and he never used any hard word for anyone around him. The way he behaved, Harry was sure that the wizarding world was happy with him being the new Minister for Magic.

Sometime in the past two weeks after Frank had been elected minister Harry had cornered Remus one evening asking him to be his Steward.

_-Flash back starts-_

_Remus was in the library reading a book on duelling when Harry approached him, "Moony, I have something I want to talk with you about."_

_Remus turned to him, slightly wary and on the alert, "What is the matter Cub?"_

_Harry's expression turned solemn as if he were hesitating to speak, "I have four houses to manage and some rather specialized business concerns. Being at school full-time and with everything else going on, I can't possibly give them the attention they require. I need a steward to act in my name. That person must be absolutely trustworthy and share my values to do the job properly. It would help that the person I choose also has a vested interest in seeing these particular business ventures succeed. That is why I am approaching you."_

_Remus smiled, "You want me to find someone who is willing and able to do it?"_

_Harry gave him a lopsided grin, "No. I want you to be that person. I want to hire you as my Steward."_

_Remus contemplated this for a moment and then said, "Of course I will help you in any way you ask, Harry."_

_Harry spent the next two hours with him, outlining how he wanted the businesses and properties to be managed. He filled Remus in on the new wolfsbane potion, the ingredients it requires and where they were to be grown. That the potion was to continue to be sold at a very thin margin, but now the product would be non-toxic and a fraction of the price at which it was being sold earlier. Getting the paperwork done with the ICW to register the altered potion and to get approval for it's general distribution and sale were to be his top priority. He advised him to work with the firm of Tonks, Tonks and Benson to get it done. For now, every werewolf that Remus managed to hire would be given the option to participate in the clinical trial. _

_At the end of the meeting, Harry passed a parchment to Remus to sign. The werewolf took a look at the terms and blanched, "But Harry, there must be some kind of mistake. I can't possibly accept these terms."_

_Harry took the contract back and read out, "two-hundred thousand Galleons per annum, a country estate adjoining the main greenhouse plantation, a house elf and an unlimited supply of wolfsbane. I'm sorry, Moony, is that not enough?" he said with a twinkle in his eye and innocuous face._

_Remus looked at him wide-eyed, and said, "Harry, I would do this for you as a favour. This is far too much."_

_Harry slid the parchment back to his friend, "Moony, CEO's of major muggle corporations are paid much more than this. I am asking you to manage several major business concerns and house business on top of that. You will be my face and my representative until I graduate. As such, there is a certain minimum standard of living that I expect you to maintain. This is only a fraction of what these services are worth to me. Please accept this offer and let me know if there is anything else you require for doing the job right. Besides, I do not wish to face my father again and have to tell him that I did not do anything for his best friend who is as good as a brother, when I had the chance." For good measure, Harry cast a non-verbal and wandless compulsion while he was looking his friend in the eye in earnest._

_Remus stiffened momentarily, then said, "Very well, Harry. Since you put it that way, I will accept." Then he signed the contract._

_Harry beamed at him, "Excellent. I will make a proclamation in the Daily Prophet that you are a steward for Harold Peverell Lord of Peverell, Black, Potter and Rosier."_

_Since then, Remus had gone to work with a will. The first thing he did was have his elf, Hinksly, see to his wardrobe. Once he had a decent outfit to wear, he had been working non-stop, meeting with Griphook and pouring over reports of family businesses and properties. As it turned out, the Rosier family had a partial interest in the plantations that were growing the aconite and he dumped the shares immediately. They had lifted the stasis charms on all their properties, ordered repairs and updates to properties, dumping bad investments and buying into better ones. It was a long list and it all needed direction._

_Then there was all the paperwork involved with getting the new wolfsbane approved. Based on Hary's notes from his initial trial, the ICW granted a patent pending status and approved a three month clinical trial for Harry's variation of the potion. Harry told Remus to gear up for full production based on the assumption that the clinical trial would be successful and that they could go to market immediately at the end of the trial._

_Working from Harry's notes, he prepared an article to be published in "Potions Today" the moment that ICW approval was granted. He had also met with Ted Tonks and instructed him to "do whatever it takes" to get the recognition of Harry's Potion and approval for distribution as soon it was humanly possible. Ted had told him that thanks to Lord Peverell's considerable resources that for certain considerations (bribes) the process could be fast-tracked. Remus said that he did not need to know all the details, just try and get it done without outright trampling the law._

_There were a number of werewolves who had skills but had become unemployable because they could not afford the price of wolfsbane or the side-effects were more than they could tolerate. Likewise there were a number of businesses owned by his Houses which were hazardous and no other wizard was willingly ready to do those jobs. Remus knew many of them personally and they responded well when he approached them with offers of employment and the new Harry Peverell potion. Thirty had joined his work-force already and word was getting around but it was also a bitter truth that number of such wolves was a handful. Of the total 500 werewolves estimated to be in Wizarding Britain, they were not expecting for more than 80 or so werewolves to accept their offer of employment and unending supply of wolfsbane potion._

_-Flash back ends-_

Hermione tapped his shoulder and he turned to find the sorting hat finishing its song. He was so lost in his musings that he had missed the whole song and the sorting was starting now. After 100 new students had joined their new house tables, the sorting was at an end. Dumbledore stood and like all previous years, told them to tuck in and dinner started. As dinner proceeded, he caught stares at him from the Slytherin table, particularly Daphne Greengrass. He reminded himself of his promise to have more friends in other houses which he had repeated to himself many times during this summer.

As they finished dinner, Dumbledore stood, "To the new students, Welcome to Hogwarts where I hope you will find the greatest treasure of all- love, friendship, family and acceptance. To our returning students, Welcome back for another year of enlightened learning. Now for some quick notices before you can trot off to your warm beds to forego the wariness of travel. The Forbidden Forests is just that Forbidden. I hope our new students would stay clear of it and some old students would remember well not to go wandering where they do not belong (He gave the twins a distinctly pointed look). Mr. Filch has reminded me for perhaps the thousandth time just this morning that no magic is permitted in the corridors between classes. The list of forbidden products now numbers 472. The complete list is posted outside the door of Mr. Filch's office and may be examined at your leisure. Now I would like to introduce new members of our staff. Please welcome our new Professor Vikram Rana who took his education in the United States and has agreed to teach Defence against the Dark Arts this year. Good luck Professor."

The man stood and bowed to the great hall and Harry had a distinct feeling that he should know this man. Before he could say anything, Dumbledore had started speaking again, "there is other news which should be told to the students and while I find it tragic, my deputy has told me otherwise. Professor Binns who has been teaching us History of Magic for all these years decided to move on to his next great adventure and he is replaced by Professor Martha Hughes who has done her mastery in Magical History from Australia."

The stern looking witch who Harry had not recognized stood to the general, heart-felt, cheers and applause of the students. As the cheers died down, Dumbledore was speaking again, "Be warned. I do believe that anyone who skips History of Magic now would be noticed." This drew a general chuckle from the students.

Now, with the air of a naughty child, pulling a truly delightful prank, Dumbledore was speaking again, "I believe that I have saved the best for last. After some discussion with my deputy, we have decided to re-introduce Wizarding Etiquettes as part of our curriculum here at Hogwarts. This class will help students to understand what's and the why's of appropriate conduct in the Wizarding world. As this class is brand-new to most of you, you may see your head-of-house to sign-up for this class. First year students already have this added to their time-tables. We have procured the services of a member of the Ancient House of Lester to fill this new post. Please join me in welcoming Professor Cassandra Lester."

As the witch rose to her feet, Harry could see that her hair fell half way down her back and that she stood about five feet five inches tall. Her robes positively screamed pure-blood and wealthy. She looked around the Great Hall and inclined her head a precise number of degrees to each of the house tables, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and lastly Gryffindor while the students applauded. Then she resumed her seat, pulling her robes under her, just so, as she sat down again.

The announcements and introductions over, Dumbledore declared the welcome feast to be at an end and dismissed the students, citing that they had classes the next day.

Hermione and Ron had to stay back to escort the new students while Harry bade good night to Susan and then went to Gryffindor Tower. He was standing before the portrait of the Fat Lady when he realized that he did not know the new password. Neville came strolling up behind him and said, "It's okay, Harry, I know the new password. And I won't forget this one."

Harry chortled, "you can't forget it anyhow, not since you have organized your mind well enough."

Neville gave her the password, "Mimbulus mimbletonia" and the portrait swung forward to admit them.

As they entered the common room, the students there mobbed Harry, dragging him through the portal. The guys wanted to know all about his workout program while the girls were just trying to get a better look at him. They all wanted to know about what really happened at the third task last June. Harry just wanted to get away to bed, but he also knew that this was a good opportunity to work up more support for the light. He greeted and cheered everyone, without really answering any of their questions. If anyone probed too hard, he quickly found someone else who required his attention. When the first years arrived, he welcomed each one of them to the house and encouraged them to study hard, play hard and bring honour to their house. He impressed them by remembering all their names. During the sorting, he had found that he was able to commit all the names of the new students to memory easily.

When Harry had enough, he made a signal to Neville. Neville grabbed Hermione and asked her to step in and start answering the first year's questions for them. Ron set off a noisy spell near the entry to the girl's dorms. Harry disillusioned himself and took off up the stairs to the boy's dorms while everyone was looking the other way.

Harry entered his dormitory to find Seamus and Dean already there. He turned to Dean, "How was your summer, Dean?"

Dean smiled, "It was very good. Seamus's was a bit rough, however."

He turned to Seamus who muttered, "me mam said that I should be wary of you as the Daily Prophet had published those articles about you."

Neville Arrived just then and immediately snapped, "For which they have already been apologizing for a month now. If you are going to say a word against Harry then I swear by Merlin..."

He could not finish his words as Seamus raised his hands in front of him, "Mate, I told her that I thought those articles were rubbish. That Harry never had a reason to lie like that. She gave me a tongue lashing but I endured it all. When it all became too much, I went to visit Dean."

Harry said to him, "Thanks for sticking up for me, Seamus."

Seamus waved him off, "we may not be best mates but I know you wouldn't make stuff up just to get attention. You're famous enough already."

Harry waited until Ron turned up and then the boys made small talk or played games till it was really late in the night and then retired to sleep.

**Ministry of Magic**

Frank's first order of business had been to summon the Unspeakables to boost ministry security. The new budget for the DMLE from Department Head Madame Bones had crossed his desk well ahead of schedule. Since the increase had already been ratified by the Wizengamot, he signed-off on it immediately. He did notice, however, that even with the budget they had previously, they weren't making the best use of it. Next up was the tongue lashing he had given to Head Auror Scrimgeour for the laziness and inefficiency of the Aurors. His words however had the desired effect and the Aurors were being run through the ringer the old fashioned way. Scrimgeour had reached out to Moody to ask for help. The old Auror, with his hugely improved prosthetic leg, gladly volunteered to be one holy terror of a drill sergeant for a couple of hours a day and return to active duty. Tonks had complained to him once that she had never been sorer in her entire life than she was under Moody's training. He had been having them run and exercise the muggle way building their endurance saying that the one who would last the longest in a duel would be the one to stay alive. In the end, it was his job to teach them to stay alive.

Frank had kept Percy Weasley as his undersecretary. Even though he had worked for Fudge, the young man was bright, thorough and hard working. He had promoted Arthur Weasley from his office to sub head of another newly created department which was to look into increased activity of dark wizards and their movements along with increased instances of muggle baiting. Frank had also started to work towards getting rid of the corruption that was rampant in the ministry and many of the ministry employees who had entered the ministry with recommendations or influence of their families were on probation subject to their exemplary performance. Another thing which Frank had done was to repeal the horrendous laws which were written during the first wars and treated werewolves as second class citizens. He issued a decree stating that if a werewolf was taking his potion regularly, they could not be discriminated against and they should be treated as ordinary citizens.

With the increased budget, Amelia also had invited applications for Aurors reducing the requirements to E in potions and E in defense considering there had not been many students in the past who had achieved the required O grade in these subjects. Two hundred wizards had responded and about 150 had made the cut to enter the Auror course who hopefully would be trained enough to stand against Voldemort and his death eaters when the battle came. The Order spies had reported that Voldemort had around 150 followers currently and that number was expected to rise sharply when he decided to come out into the open.

**Hogwarts, the Next Morning**

As always Harry woke up before dawn and remembering his pranking spree, he disappeared to the 7th years dorms and returned a few minutes later, grinning evilly trying to imagine what would happen when the prank would go off.

He ran four laps around the lake and then sat in meditation. He was concerned for his training. There was nowhere in Hogwarts where he could practice unopposed and unseen. Perhaps it was time to explore the castle but that would have to wait until after classes. He returned to the tower to find Hermione up and reading a book in front of the common room fire and she asked him, "Where were you?"

He shrugged, "I was off to do some exercises. I cannot break my routine after all."

She opened her mouth to say something and closed it. She was seeing the logic in his words. If they did not all keep working out through the school year, they would lose the gains they had made over the summer. She resolved to start her exercises the next morning.

Harry went up stairs to his dorm to find his dorm mates sleeping. Shrugging, he went for a bath knowing that others would be waking up soon.

An hour later, he was dressed and sitting in the great hall. There were only a few other students there, mostly Ravenclaws with only the defense teacher at the staff table. He dug into his breakfast and had almost finished with it when someone sat down opposite him at the table. As he looked up, he found Susan Bones sitting there and glaring at him.

He innocently asked, "What is the matter, Susan?"

She gritted her teeth, "You are a moron, Harry Peverell. Did it not occur to you that may be I was waiting for you to come and meet me outside the Hufflepuff common room?"

Still clueless, he said, "I am sorry, Susan, I don't remember us making a date. Besides, I don't know where the Hufflepuff Common Room is."

She glared at him, "Do you not have a fantastic map of Hogwarts which can tell you in a minute where I am or where my common room is?"

He gaped at her, "How do you know about the map?" The map had been retrieved by Sirius in his Padfoot from the office of Fake Mad-Eye while Harry had been in magical coma and returned to him later.

She smirked, "Messers Moony and Padfoot saw it fit to acquaint me with your little secret."

He sighed, "Fine, I could have found your common room but I still don't recall us setting up a date."

Hermione who had just entered and heard the last part of the conversation, said, "you are really clueless, Harry. You can be really subtle like a pureblood lord when you want to be, but other times you are as dense as a block of wood."

He decided it was not worth it to argue with two witches over something as trivial as this and focused his attention on the food before him and Susan went away stomping her feet in anger. Just at that moment, the twins entered the Great Hall and were trotting towards the Gryffindor table when suddenly, there was a flash and the twin's school robes were changed into intricately worked and beautiful sleeveless gowns and the entire Great Hall burst into laughter. The twins took it all very positively and modelled their dresses to the audience. After they successfully undid the transfigurations perpetrated on their robes, they sat down beside Harry and whispered to him that vengeance would be theirs for all the pranks he had been pulling.

As others joined them and breakfast was winding down, McGonagall approached them and handed him his schedule and he remembered he had to ask her something, "Professor, if it is not a bother to you, can I change from Divination to Ancient Runes?"

She looked at him sharply for sometime before she started speaking, "That would depend on Professor Babbling. But, even if he says no, you may drop Divination and study Runes independently to take the OWLs at the end of your year. I will talk with her and let you know."

Ron made the same request and she told him likewise and as she left, he looked at his amended time table. The time table was messed up as usual but he realized that they were having classes with all the houses as opposed to the usual Gryffindor-Slytherin and Gryffindor-Hufflepuff. The first period was Double transfigurations with the Ravenclaws followed by Charms with the Slytherins then a free period and lastly Herbology with the Hufflepuffs.

Professor McGonagall gave them all a long lecture about the upcoming OWLs and their importance for their careers. After about half an hour, she set them to practice transfiguring one thing into another. She gave them pieces of wood and told them to transfigure it into silver. While it was a hard transfiguration for the students, Harry had no trouble with it. He also realized why McGonagall was asking them to do this. While conjuring was hard and exhausting, transfiguring was easier. If one got into a fight with a werewolf, they could transfigure a piece of wood into a silver dagger and it would kill them all right.

As McGonagall told them to practice doing it, he flicked his wand and lazily transfigured it into a piece of solid silver. Then, just for fun, he re-shaped it into a tortoise and animated the solid silver tortoise to run laps around the table. He looked at McGonagall to find her beaming at him and he looked around to find that they all were gaping at him in wonder. He found that Neville, Hermione and Ron too had finished their transfigurations but their transfigurations were not as neat as his. For the rest of the period, McGonagall gave him different tasks to do which he did with almost no effort.

As they left class, Hermione started asking questions as he had expected she would, "How could you do it so flawlessly? We all had to put in some effort like imagining what we want, put our intent into the spell and you did it like it was not a big deal to you."

He smiled, "Hermione you know I cannot answer your questions. I am not supposed to give my secrets to anyone especially to anyone whose mind can be breached. You have a well organized mind but a legilimens can enter your mind and as it is very organized he would have no trouble sifting through your memories at all."

She whined, "I have tried to find books on Occlumency but they are guarded more tightly than vaults at Gringotts by old pureblood houses and there is not a single book available on the topic in Flourish and Blotts. I wish I had a magical guardian who could give me this information."

He mysteriously whispered to her, "Did you know you may not be a muggle-born but a half-blood or may be a pure-blood?"

She looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean? I am a muggle born. No one in my family was a wizard or a witch."

He smirked, "You do realize that magic has to come from somewhere right?"

Then he launched into a detailed explanation of what Prathimaan (he referred to him as a friend) had told him about magical ancestry, how muggle borns were children of squibs, how children born within 5 generations of their last magical ancestor could be half blood if one of their parents was a squib and pureblood if they were descended from Squibs on both sides within 5 generations and how they would be called muggle born if they were descended more than 5 generations later.

By the time he finished explaining, her face was lit up with anticipation and when he told her that she should go and get a ritual inheritance test done by the Goblins, it looked like she was ready to go running but had to stop when she remembered she was in school.

As they arrived for charms, the professor also talked to them about the importance of OWLs and expected them to do well in the examinations. He set them to practice the impedimenta jinx which Harry, Hermione, Neville and Ron could do with ease and as they were at it, the Slytherins were sweating it out with trying to learn the charm and having difficulties with it. Malfoy was having trouble with stopping the projectiles being hurled at him for sometime before he eventually succeeded. As he looked around grinning, hoping to rub it in the faces of the Lions, he found that the four had finished the work already and were sitting content. Harry decided to have some fun and when no one was looking he, wandlessly shot Crabbe with a cushioning charm and a locomotor charm and sent him gallivanting at Malfoy who used the impedimenta with all his power and Crabbe came to a halt at the last moment before he could make a nasty impact with Malfoy's face. None of them could know who had done it and even if Flitwick checked everyone's wand he would not find out who had done it because Harry did not use his wand.

As he came out of charms to go to lunch, he heard someone call him, "Lord Peverell."

He turned to find Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis coming towards him. As they neared him, he bowed, "Heiress Greengrass, Heiress Davis."

Daphne scoffed, "Please leave the formalities for when we are in the Wizengamot."

Harry nodded, "Only if you don't call me Lord Peverell all the time. How can I help you, ladies?"

Tracy winked at him, "While I do not think you can help me in anyway, Daphne may think otherwise."

Daphne scowled and said, "Just wanted to say hello and ask if you are going with someone for next Hogsmead Weekend. If not, would you go with me as a friend?"

Harry was surprised at her straight forwardness and told her that he would require time to consider. Unknown to him, Neville had been listening and was going to let Susan know of this new wrinkle.

As he arrived at lunch and sat down to eat, he cast the detection spell and found that while the food had not been touched, the utensils had been hexed to make him change his appearance right in the middle of the Great Hall. He remembered that Remus had used the same prank on the Twins in the Townhouse at the start of summer after they had fed him the draught of rage. Smirking inwardly that the marauders had joined the twins, he switched his utensils with Hermione, knowing full well that she would take them to task for their misdeeds, and waited for the prank to start.

Hermione returned from the library and as she ate the first morsel, the pranks activated and she started changing appearance. Harry knew exactly what was going on and countered the spells almost the same moment they took effect. Those sitting around him at the table had seen what was happening to Hermione and were trying to rein in their laughter while Fred and George looked mortified. Hermione sat there gritting her teeth and as the prank was countered, she rounded on them while Harry cast a privacy ward around their table so no one would hear what she was saying. She glared at the twins, "How dare you two prank a prefect?"

Fred said seriously, or at least as serious as Fred ever gets, "Sorry Hermione. You were not the intended target of our prank."

"It seems," George said, glancing toward Harry, "that someone is having us all on."

Hermione went ballistic, "I don't care who you were trying to prank! Enough is enough! People should be able to eat in peace! You two will stop it right now, and if you don't, I will write to your mother!"

George gasped, horrified, "No! You wouldn't!"

Fred said, "Why would you bother, it looks like you've been taking lessons from her already."

Harry turned to her, "Hermione, while you may be a prefect with authority to report people for rule-breaking, it is not your place to write a letter to parents of a student telling them about their children's misdeeds at school. It is a prerogative which exclusively belongs to the Head Master and their Head of House. Not you. Even if the Weasley's hold you as dear as their own children, this is not propriety and It will look bad for you in the Wizarding world if you break propriety."

She rounded on him, "I can do it if I wish to, Harry."

He shrugged, "Be my guest then but before you do it, why don't you ask Professor McGonagall about the rules regarding this or better read the Hogwarts Charter if you have not already committed it to memory from start to end."

Herbology with Professor Sprout and the Hufflepuffs was next on the schedule. Harry left lunch a bit early to get to his dorm and retrieve the plants he had brought with him from India. He brought the plants and the notes regarding their care. He was going to give them to Professor Sprout after class. He was sure that they would be helpful in defending the school when the time came.

Herbology class went fine for the most part and as Professor Sprout asked them to select partners from a different house, Harry was immediately singled out by Susan, Neville, Hannah and Ernie. Ernie greeted him pompously and told him that he believed him. The class was not very hard and having worked with these plants and even some more dangerous ones for the past month, he worked very casually with them while Susan glared at him hard. He could not understand her reaction and chose to ignore it while he really wished the mystics taught him to understand a woman and her ways.

As the class wound up, he asked Neville to wait. The rest of the class had gone and they approached the Herbology Professor.

She asked him, "What is the matter, Mr. Peverell? Need any help?"

Harry said, "Professor, recently I was on a tour outside of Wizarding Britain where I saw plants which are not found in the greenhouses here so I thought maybe you would like a sample of them."

Professor Sprout's curiosity was piqued, "Oh! Bring them out then Mr. Peverell. Let's see them."

Harry brought out the five plants and handed her a stack of parchments detailing the care and characteristics of each plant. The notes included things like what soil they prefer, how much sunlight, how much water, fertilizer and most important, what precautions to take when approaching each plant. He could also see that Neville was really eager to get a peek at the stack of parchments. Perhaps Professor Sprout too had noticed this because she offered him the stack of parchments. He read through them while the Professor had her wand out, inspecting the magical cousin of Mimosa Pudica.,and muttering "Interesting!"

When she was done with inspecting the plant, she turned to Harry, "Mr. Peverell, this is an interesting plant which has been developed by someone who had some real skill in herbology. This has an excellent defense mechanism but I noticed that you did not list its uses."

Harry's face turned impassive, "It would be best if that remains a secret Professor. It is a toxin and that is all that anyone needs to know about its uses."

She nodded but said nothing. She inspected the second plant and could not see any special characteristic about it and asked him, "What is special about this one, Mr. Peverell?"

Harry smiled grimly, "Let me show you then Professor."

He planted it and cast an engorgio at it making it increase in size. As they waited, it started emitting trance inducing music and Neville had obliviously started walking towards it when Harry had to swat him on the head to snap him out of it. When he looked at Harry, he pointed his attention towards the plant. A small animal had wandered over from out of the forbidden forest and was approaching the tree. When the animal was within reach of the tree, it fell to the ground, dead. They watched as a tentacle emerged from the plant and drew the animal into a toothy maw which had been hidden in the bowl of the tree. A second later, the animal was gone and the tree looked like an ordinary plant again.

Harry turned to Professor Sprout who had undone his engorgio and stunning the plant had uprooted it. She turned to Harry, "Mr. Peverell, these plants are not normal but very dangerous. This one especially should not be approached without earmuffs on because one would be ensnared in its music. Now if I may ask why you did show them to me and are the others equally dangerous?"

Harry said grimly, "Professor as you know, Voldemort (she shuddered) has returned and sooner or later, he will turn towards Hogwarts. These plants can be used effectively to kill many of his followers who unknowingly would walk into it. To answer your other question, the other plants are equally dangerous. One of them emits musical notes which can put anyone into a charmed sleep from which they cannot be revived except by Wiggenweld potion. Another is one which remains inert in sunlight but in dark or shadows, touching it bare handed would activate its mechanism and it would spit highly corrosive sap at anyone unfortunate enough to be within ten feet of it. The last one is like Devil's snare but it can work even in sunlight and it can choke a person to death within seconds. To defeat it you would need to destroy its root which is not possible within a few seconds that you have due to its dense foliage."

Sprout said nothing but took the plants in her custody all the while muttering, "These will need a greenhouse for themselves where only NEWT students can touch them and not without me being present all the time."

Knowing they were dismissed, he and Neville returned to the Great Hall and Harry asked what had been on his mind, "Neville mate, why was Susan looking angrily at me?"

Neville grinned, "She was hoping you would ask her out for Hogsmead weekend but you told Daphne that you would consider her offer. Being a good friend to Susan, I relayed this little tidbit to her."

Harry scowled at him, "You will pay for that, Longbottom. I have been pranking everyone mercilessly except you but now it's your turn."

Neville shuddered but said nothing.

As they entered the Great Hall, Harry went to sit at the Hufflepuff table alongside Justin and Ernie. Susan who was still pretending not to notice him looked up and scowled at him, "For what reason does the mighty Harold Peverell deign to grace us with his august presence?"

The others sensing Harry's impending demise, scooted farther from Harry to get out of the blast radius. The way Susan had improved over the summer they thought that Harry might end up looking a bit worse for wear in the seconds to come.

Harry gave her a lopsided grin, "Susan I am sorry for not coming to meet you outside the Hufflepuff Common Room. Let's do a deal. If you want me to do something, please just say it rather than just willing me to do it."

Ernie who was listening to them said sagely, "it never works mate. Woman love subtlety."

Sally Anne Perks who had just taken a seat beside Susan asked him, "You know that how? Had any experience with that, Macmillan?"

Ernie turned to her, "Nobody was talking to you Perks. I was just advising Harry about woman and their eccentricities."

Zacharias Smith who was sitting a few places down the table sneered at Harry, "What are you doing here, Peverell?"

Harry turned to him, "It looks like I am having dinner with my friends, Smith. Is that going to be a problem for you?"

Smith growled, "Do you need a map? You are a Gryffindor. This is the Hufflepuff table."

Hannah snapped at him, "Shut up Zacharias. He is welcome among us if he chooses to dine with us." Zacharias opened his mouth to say something more and Justin elbowed him in the ribs hard, telling him to drop it.

Wayne Hopkins turned to Hannah, "Since when did you become friendly with Peverell? I distinctly remember that you fought your best friend when she stood up for him last year."

Harry could sense that tensions were rising and addressed them, "I do not want you all to fight among yourselves. I just came to see Susan. I will be going now."

He returned to the Gryffindor table and slipped into a seat between the twins, "Hello you two. I hope you are not going to try to prank me again."

The twins laughed good-naturedly. Fred said, "No mate, we can appreciate a good prank when we see one."

George added, "You did best us all the times we tried."

Together they said, "we would rather have a prank war amongst us to see who can prank more students. One week of Pranks and the winner gets 100G."

Harry smiled, "Alright. Now are there any other rules to this competition?"

Fred said, "the only rule is that it must not be life threatening. Also the prank must be at a place where everyone can see it."

Harry grinned, "Well that's easy. You are on."

As he was returning to his dorm, someone called him, "Harry!"

He turned to find Angelina coming to him and said, "Yes Lady Johnson, how may I serve you?".

She rolled her eyes, "You know I liked the older version better. You can save your pure-blood lordy ways for someone who is not your team captain."

He smiled, "Congratulations Angelina. You deserved it."

She beamed, "I was not sure I would get it but McGonagall said that she made this decision after a lot of thought. I have scheduled trials for the team this Friday at 7:00. We are taking trials for Beaters, Chasers and a keeper."

He mulled over her words for a second and said, "We already have three excellent chasers. Why do we need new ones? There are no beaters better than the twins so why would we need new beaters. You did not say anything about a seeker trial though."

She smiled, "I will be gone after this year and so will be the twins. Alicia and Katie also would stay for another year after this then Gryffindor house will need to find replacements. I am trying to find players who can regularly train with us so that we will not have any troubles when they are playing in the main team in event that some of us are tied up in other obligations. Also, there is no one else who can play seeker like you. You can fly circles around us with that broom of yours."

Harry, thinking about being back on the quidditch pitch again, grinned, "I don't know about that, I put on a lot of weight over the summer. I may not be as good as I used to be. But, I will be there at 7:00 on Friday."

Harry went out in the grounds to practice flying without a broom the way the mystics do. The sun had set and the sky was overcast. The only visible light was coming from the windows of the castle. Harry cast a glance at Hagrid's hut, but it was just a darker patch against the trees of the forbidden forest, no sign of life there. As he willed his sight to see in the darkness, the snow leopard answered and the vague, dim shadows resolved themselves into sharp focus. It was then that Harry could see someone zooming about the Quidditch pitch on a broom. Curious to see who would be out flying in the dark, Harry disillusioned himself and began levetating through the air toward the mysterious flyer. With his enhanced night vision, Harry could see that it was Ron on his Nimbus 2001 and doing a good job of it. Harry guessed that Ron was going to try out for the team. He left Ron to it. No need to spoil the surprise or embarrass him.

Harry reflected that his flying practice was going well. He could easily maintain a height of 30 feet now. Although he could achieve some movement, it was nothing like the speed he could obtain on a broom... yet. For now, he knew that if he were to be dismounted mid-air, he could avoid being killed or injured even if nobody was around to help him and that was good enough.

Smiling to himself, he returned to the Common Room and to his dorm. He really needed to see Dumbledore now to find a place to practice his arcane magics.

**Serpent's pit**

Draco Malfoy had returned to the Slytherin common room in the evening after the sorting and had been mulling over the events which had changed drastically in the last few weeks. Two weeks ago, he had been the heir of Black and commanded respect from others but Harold bloody Peverell had taken it away from him along with humiliating his father in front of the Wizengamot. He had thought that he would teach Peverell a lesson on the train but he had showed him up in front of his lackeys. Then there was the instruction that his father had given him before he boarded the train about establishing his authority in Slytherin house on his own merits so that he would be a favoured one of the Dark Lord because as things were changing, Lucius was afraid that the Malfoy name may not remain in favour for long. The Malfoy name had the backing of the name of Black earlier and was the chief reason that people respected them otherwise there were people who even called them fugitives though he did not know the story behind this. Something about his ancestors fleeing from France was all he had heard.

He had noticed that Peverell's circle of friends had grown and included heirs of some very prominent families of the Wizarding World. Not to mention, he had the Light and Neutral Faction at his back. Draco was however still not convinced that Peverell was powerful. He would show him up.

As he entered the serpent's pit, he found that everyone was busy with their own work and hardly anyone even bothered to look up at him unlike the previous years. There were Jugson, Everly and Dryden whose families were vassals of House Black and they used to fawn on him during previous years but today they looked like they were not caring at all.

He called them, "Hey Jugson, why did you not come to see me this morning on the train?"

Jugson sneered at him, "And why would I do that Malfoy?"

Draco snapped at him, "Because I am your superior."

Jugson sarcastically remarked, "Oh really? As I see it, I am in the final year of my education, have more knowledge than you so I am your superior."

Draco shouted, "Don't forget that your family is a vassal of mine! I am and I always will be your superior!"

Everly turned to him, "News Flash Malfoy. The Noble houses of Jugson, Everly and Dryden are not vassals to the Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy but to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. Last we checked, Harold James Peverell was the Lord of Black and not you. So tell me Malfoy, how are you superior to us?"

Malfoy went into a rage, "You compare me to him? He is a talentless wizard while I am a Malfoy. He cannot match me."

Dryden who usually was very quiet and did not speak unless spoken to turned to Malfoy, "We do not know about everything he has achieved in four years at Hogwarts but he escaped the Dark Lord last year, he survived the Killing Curse at least twice if rumours are to be believed, he became the seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team in his first year despite never having flown a broom, flew circles around you whenever you have played against him, obtained an Outstanding in Defense when the werewolf Remus Lupin taught us, as we have heard he resisted the imperious curse cast by Moody, out flown a dragon and bested Merlin knows what creatures at the bottom of that lake. And, from what we heard, disarmed you and your two goons before you even got your wands out on the train. So, tell me Malfoy what you have done that makes you better than him?"

Malfoy opened his mouth and then closed it. He did it several times while thinking of a suitable reply to Dryden but could not do so. Pansy who saw this rose to his aid and snapped at them, "He is a pureblood whose father sits in the inner circle of the Dark Lord. Can you say the same for yourself?"

The reply came not from the three of them but Theo Nott who smirked evilly, "From what I have heard, Lord Malfoy is falling from grace very fast. He may not remain there for long."

Malfoy turned to Nott and found that most of the house had been looking on the scene with amusement watching him shout like a child. He realized he would have to make an escape before he was ridiculed further but before doing so, he glared at Jugson, Everly and Dryden, "You all will live to regret this day forever."

As he left, Dryden erected a privacy ward and turned to the other two, "You know my family told me to seek out Lord Black and ask for his protection. My family may have been sympathetic to the Dark Lord but they are not willing to involve themselves directly in it."

Jugson agreed, "My family is doing the same. While my father was a marked death eater, after having seen the bloodshed in the last war, he told me to seek Lord Black and ask for his protection for myself and him, if possible. He does not wish to serve the Dark Lord any more but there is no escape from it unless the Dark Lord ceases to exist."

Dryden who had been quiet for a while, said, "We cannot directly approach him though. In the last 4 years he has been treated horribly at our hands. If we go to him now, he might think that it's just a ploy. We will have to seek him out after we can determine that he will treat us fairly."

Unknown to them Daphne was watching them with interest, reading their body language and seemed to know what they were talking about. She intended to approach them after she had established some common ground with Harold Peverell.

The next day, Malfoy had been unbearable after the Gryffindors (or precisely Peverell's friends) had showed them all up during the charms class by mastering the impedimenta before the Slytherins. He wanted the entire house to stand behind him. However, Daphne saw through his act. He was only trying to present himself as the unopposed leader of the Slytherins and the house was divided right now. She needed to present her proposal to Peverell so that she could present a way out for those who did not want to stand behind he-who-must-not-be-named.

Pansy was being insufferable misusing her authority as Prefect and Daphne was forced to wonder if the head master was going senile as he had given the position of Prefect to her and Draco of all people. Those two would further alienate the Slytherins from the rest of the school.

She was sitting on her bed thinking about a way to proceed with the meeting she wanted to have with one Harold James Peverell, when Tracy jumped on her bed, "Still thinking about your raven haired boy wonder Daph? I must accept that he has become more attractive this summer. If you are not making a move then I will."

Daphne glared at her and Tracy raised her hands in a pacifying gesture while grinning at her, "You don't need to go all Ice Queen on me, Daph. I'm just yanking your wand but you really need to make a move. I have seen quite a few witches eyeing him as if he were a tasty dish."

Daphne scowled, "Get your mind out of the gutter, Tracy. As I see it, you still cannot bring yourself to talk to Zabini about your feelings. When are you going to do that?"

Tracy shrugged, "He is happy being a witch's wizard and does not look even look at me. Perhaps he is not the one. I guess I will take a leaf out of your book and look for some decent wizards in other houses where they do not leer at every witch who is kind enough to talk to them."

Daphne sighed, "If you can get your head out of the gutter, let me know how I can approach Harold Peverell? If I do not make a move soon, Malfoy will have most of the house standing behind him."

Tracy gave her an evil smirk, "As I have told you earlier, you need to drag him into a broom cupboard and..."

As Tracy rambled on about what she should do, Daphne put her fingers in her ears and pretended not to be able to hear her.

**Next day**

It was still an hour before dawn and Harold Peverell dived into the lake to start his morning work-out. As he smoothly slid through the dark water, the giant squid kept pace with him waving a tentacle in time with Harry's strokes. The glow of the pre-dawn was filling the sky as he finished his second lap and strode out of the lake. By the time he had dried off and put on his running gear, the new defense instructor was just finishing his first lap running. As Harry joined him, he cordially said, "Good Morning Mr. Peverell."

Harry responded to him and started running around the perimeter of the lake when the defense instructor asked him, "I have heard you are very good at defense Mr. Peverell. Care to give a demonstration to me?"

Harry, remembering the laps he ran in India said, "Would you fire spells at me while I dodge and run? I need the practice."

With that, the two of them set off around the lake at a dead run. Harry dodged and swerved and leapt, avoiding the professor's hexes while maintaining a terrific pace. By the time he had completed four laps around the lake, dawn was properly in progress.

Harry welcomed the opportunity to have some good practice and a chance to assess the other man's capabilities. As he pulled his wand (Shilpagya"s wand) out and took a stance, the other man pulled out his wand making him stop short. The wand looked familiar to him but before he could say anything, the defense instructor started casting bone breakers, bone exploding hexes and bone crushers at him in a chain and Harry was left to dodge his spells. The defense instructor was very fluent in casting and his speed was amazing. Such speed as he had only seen with the mystics. He started doing the slippery fish dodging every curse being sent his way and was doing it quite proficiently. The other man did not let his barrage of hexes stop for a single moment and Harry reveled in the feeling of some good practice which he had been missing. As the other man faltered for a second, Harry immediately started his own barrage of spells, deliberately using low powered spells or hexes just to keep the other man on his toes who was dodging everything with ease. After about 20 minutes of practice, Harry realized the other man was not an ordinary wizard and he pulled the Acacia wand in his other hand and started casting with both hands making it harder for him to dodge and left with no other avenue, the other man slipped in the slippery fish mode, though he was nowhere as fluent as Vari or Harry. Harry stopped casting and calmly sent his wands back in his holsters and folding his arms across his chest, looked at the other man who was grinning sheepishly.

The other man raised his fist to his chest and intoned, "Dharm aur Maan".

Harry reciprocated the gesture and then asked him, "So unknown to me, a mystic is working as the defense instructor this year. For what reasons are you placed here, Mr. Rana?"

The other man smiled, "My name is Pundariksh but for the purpose of being your defense instructor, I am VIkram Rana. Guruji wanted to make sure that the students of the school are proficient in surviving the oncoming war. Also I am here to help you if you need me."

Harry nodded, "Excellent. I would expect nothing less from Guruji. I am looking for a place to train without people disturbing me all the time. As I am learning my family magic I need a place where there will be no prying eyes and there will be no chance of one of my stray spells accidentally killing someone. If you know of such a place, please let me know."

The other man smiled, "You have the answer to your predicament, Harry. There is the chamber of secrets that none save you can enter. If you would take me there, I will fortify the chamber to withstand any magical damage. There is another place but you will have to find it on your own because it appears when one needs it."

They both practiced some more until the sun was well up. Then Harry headed back up to his dorm to get cleaned up to meet Susan for breakfast.

As he approached the portrait of the Fat Lady, he remembered the prank challenge that the twins had set for him. As he thought about it, he had his first victim- An unsuspecting Neville Longbottom. He had to pay for snitching to Susan. Neville was sitting in front of the common room fire, studying. As Harry passed, he fired some prank spells at Neville and waited for the time when they would go off.

Cleaned up and properly dressed in his school robes, he employed the marauder's map and quickly located a route to the Hufflepuff common room. And, yes, Susan was already there. Something in the back of Harry's mind said, "Never keep a lady waiting.". He quickly tapped his wand to the map saying, "Mischief managed.", and stowed the map back into his robes. There was a wonderful swooping sensation in his chest as he climbed out through the portal and set off at a run for the area near the kitchens.

He reached the barrels all right which flanked the Hufflepuff common room but he had no idea about what to do next. As he stood there looking gormless, Justin emerged from the portal and halted when he saw Harry there.

He asked hesitatingly, "What can I do for you Harry?"

Harry smiled at him, "If it is no bother to you Justin would you please call Susan outside? She is very cross with me and I am hoping to please her with my chivalry."

Justin snorted, "If it were only that easy, mate. I am not helping you. She is more than a handful when she is really angry and right now she wants to have nothing to do with you. Something about being a reckless, fool hardy Gryffindor."

Harry grimaced and thanked the other boy sending him away. As he stood and waited, Hannah emerged and seeing him standing there grinned at him, "Don't worry Harry. She has a temper but it cools off as quickly as it comes."

Just then Susan emerged and was visibly pleased but to maintain appearances, glared at him, "So what do I owe this pleasure Lord Peverell?"

Harry sighed, "Susan, would you give me the honor of being your escort to the Great Hall for breakfast?"

Susan giggled and he offered her his arm. As she wrapped her hand around his bicep, Harry felt about a foot taller. Together they reached the great hall. As soon as they entered, all conversation went silent. Susan asked, "Do you always have this kind of effect, Harry?"

Harry grinned, "May be they are wondering how a git like me got a charming lady like you on his arm?"

She swatted his arm playfully and he dragged her and Hannah to the Gryffindor table. They had not made more than a couple of steps when Neville entered the Great Hall behind them. He started to make his way toward the Gryffindor table when he started tap dancing. As he danced, his hair grew down past his shoulders, two horns sprouted out of his head and he grew a spiked tail for good measure. After a minute of him trying to relieve himself of his predicament, the defense instructor undid the prank spells and Neville reached the Gryffindor table. He whined to Susan, "Look what he did to me Bones. I had to endure this just for being a good friend."

Susan glared at him and he lost it, laughing at the top of his voice while others were trying to conceal their laughter.

Hermione and Ron arrived at that moment and breakfast was proceeding without any trouble. That is, until the owl post started coming in. A snow white owl was among them flying rapidly towards Harry. Seeing Hedwig, he paled but before he could do anything the owl had started attacking him with her talons and he had raised his hands above his head while yelling, "Oww.. Hedwig.. Oww.. no.. Ok Ok I made a mistake.. Oww no..".

After Hedwig was sure that she had chastised her stupid two legged pet enough, she perched on the table and thrust her leg forward at him. He removed the letter and offered her a piece of bacon. The owl glared at him, pecked him on the head once more for good measure and took off.

He had not seen the owl in the last 2 months as when he had arrived at the Black Town House at the start of summer, he knew that he would have no use for her and an owl flying in and out of nowhere would be suspicious. So he had sent her to Hogwarts and kind of forgot about her for all this time.

The letter was a list of the contents of the vault of Bellatrix Nameless which the goblins were sending now. He scanned the list imperiously until his eyes stopped at an item listed there "Silver cup engraved with Hufflepuff Badger". He shelved the information for later use and returned the letter to his bag. He would have to write to them to sell the contents of the Vault later and pay the amount so obtained to Frank as part of the reparations.

He looked at the time table and smirked evilly. They had double Potions in the Dungeons with the snakes the first thing today. This would be interesting.

**WAITING FOR REVIEWS**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N- **Hey guys, thanks for the love that you guys are showering at me and this fanfic. I need you all to suggest names for the Harold Snow-leopard Peverell. I hope you all will enjoy this story. I also want you to give some ideas about pairings except for Harry Potter. His is already set in stone.

Rebecca- Thanks for all the awesome reviews that you have given. I am glad that you like reading this fic.

Hypergym- Susan fought for him for the last 4 years, in this story. I think that entitles her to some temper tantrums. Besides he need a witch he fears a little or his head would grow bigger with haughtiness (wink wink)

God of All, Anarion, Sourav- thanks for your reviews.

ObsessedwithHPFanFic- Luckily for us, he cannot get away from him. Besides he is her betrothed meaning she is entitled to it. (wink wink) the practice would do him good when he is bound to her for life.

**Hogwarts**

Harry reached the dungeons with the Gryffindors to find that the Slytherins were already there. He stood with his back against the wall while listening to his friends. He was anticipating what would happen in this class. For one, Snape would be the same as ever, he believed because he would need to maintain his cover in front of the children of the death eaters. There were too many in his year- and even one slip could betray him as a double agent to Tom. He had seen parents of Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Parkinson and Bulstrode in the graveyard on that fateful night. All of them death eaters who had walked free using the imperious defence and, Harry suspected generous bribes to Fudge. He was surprised that many of the snakes in his year had no connection to death eaters. Greengrass and Davis were known neutrals, Lilith Moon was from the Ancient House of Moon which usually remained above the Wizengamot politics and it was not a part of any of the three factions with the Lord usually doing what he thought would be best for his house. Zabini was the son of Cassandra Zabini, who was infamously referred to as, "the black widow." as she was rumoured to have been married seven times and each of her husbands had died under mysterious circumstances. Zabini often stayed away from any conflict.

He heard Neville say, "I wonder what Snape will be like to us this year?"

Ron optimistic over something which he could foresee whispered, "He will be cordial to us of course seeing that he is a spy for the Order now."

Harry wanted to hex his friend into oblivion. He hastily erected a privacy ward and growled at his friend, "What is the matter with you? Are you trying to get him killed? There are some things that you should never talk about unless you can be absolutely assured of privacy and that's one of them."

It was Hermione who replied, "You are right, Harry. We must be careful about what we are saying especially when we cannot know who is spying on us. Do you have a way to stop others from listening in on our conversation?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I took care of that before I took Ron to task for his loose lips. There is a privacy ward around us."

Hermione gaped in wonder. She knew that privacy wards were not taught below sixth year and Harry who had never studied runes before just did it so quickly that she could not even follow the movements. She said, "You'll have to teach me that one."

Harry tried to look humble but his pleasure was writ large on his face, "Told you I had some very good teachers."

She scoffed, "Which you refuse to tell us about. Must have been some outstanding teacher to teach one who could not differentiate between two runes before the summer."

Neville sensing the tension, tried to diffuse it, "What do you say Harry? Will the dungeon bat be nasty as usual?"

Harry replied thoughtfully, "I do not think he has a choice. Your father is the minister for magic now and your mother will hex him out of existence if he tries to bully you, so I think you can expect some better treatment. But, he can't tip his hand and treat any of the rest of us any better. He has an appearance to maintain before the children of the death eaters lest word find its way back to Voldemort." This was the first time that his friends had not shuddered at his name and he considered that a success, "Either way, we will know shortly."

Daphne was looking towards them and she saw him erecting a privacy ward. Her father had taught it to her as being the heir, she had to be careful in what she spoke at anytime for fear of consequences and had taught her to detect if wards were in place. She was fascinated by this new Harry Potter who could do complicated magic with ease and could not help but imagine herself on his arm. She had been willing to hex Bones this morning after she had seen her draped on his arm but had to swallow her anger.

The door to the dungeon opened and the hook-nosed potions master started to usher the students in. Harry took the privacy ward down and followed the others inside. As they were taking seats in the class, Snape started to speak in his familiar menacing tone, "The head master has asked me to have you sit in pairs by assignment. Something about bolstering House Unity which I do not think will happen but who am I to argue against him? I will call pairs and you will sit accordingly."

He started calling people in pairs and pointing them to tables as he went. "Hermione Granger with Lilith Moon", he pointed to a work-table at the back of the room. "Ronald Weasley with Blaise Zabini", he pointed at a work-table half-way back and to his right. "Seamus Finnigan with Pansy Parkinson", he pointed to a table at the back and to his left. "Millicent Bulstrode with Dean Thomas", he pointed to a table at the back and to his right. "Neville Longbottom with Tracy Davis", He pointed at a table at the front and to his left. "Parvati Patil with Vincent Crabbe", he pointed at a table right in the middle of the class. "Lavender Brown with Gregory Goyle, Ellia Runcorn with Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott with Fay Dunbar", He filled in the tables as he went.

"And Harold Peverell," he sneered, "with Daphne Greengrass", He indicated a table front and centre, right under his hooked nose.

Harry had already anticipated Snape's seating assignment. He also had it in mind to really rub his skill at potion making in the Dungeon Bat's face. So, while other students in the class made their way to their seats, only Harry and Hermione stayed where they were.

He paused for a second after he finished the seating announcements then said, "We haven't got all day. Get to your seats."

The Brownian motion sped up slightly as the students made their way to their new seats and partners. Harry cast a look at Snape and found him looking at Harry with the glare that he seemed to have reserved for him and Neville though there was not loathing in it like the previous years. Daphne joined him at the front and centre table. Harry rose and greeted her with a bow. They both sat with their side to Snape, Harry to his right and Daphne to his left.

When Snape called for their holiday assignments, most of the students held their scrolls up for Snape to summon them. The remaining students lost five points each for their houses and were told to hand them in next class or they would be in detention. For a change, the Slytherins lost points right along with the Gryffindors who did not hand in their work. But, the class was just starting.

With the homework collected and everyone in their assigned seat, he began his OWL year pep-talk. "This is your OWL year which means that many of you will not be returning next year", He gave pointed looks at Neville and Seamus, "only those students who obtain an 'O' will be accepted for my NEWT level studies. I do, however, expect that you will, as a class, maintain the high pass levels which I have come to expect from my students or you shall suffer my displeasure", and he gave pointed looks to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Now, if I have managed to stuff anything into your heads, you will brew this potion", he flicked his wand and the instructions appeared on the board. "It is the Draught of Peace. Begin!"

Harry was inwardly jumping with joy. He could brew The Draught of Peace from memory. This is one of the potions he had most tinkered with while he was studying with the mystics. He pulled out a piece of parchment and, with a tap of his own wand, copied the instructions from the board. Next, he erected an anti-tampering ward to keep "stray" ingredients out of his work area. He scanned down the instructions and quickly realized that this was not the same recipe as the text book contained. Mentally, he gave Snape credit for a good variation. Making up his mind quickly, Harry summoned three cauldrons from his bag and cancelled the shrinking charms on them as they hit the table in front of him. Next, he laid out the ingredients for all three variations: the text-book, Snape's and his own. He had already laid out the time-tables for stirring, adding ingredients and heating all three variants in his head. As he took a look around the room, the other students all had their cauldrons heating and were feverishly chopping and adding ingredients.

Daphne was looking at him like he had grown two heads, "Harry, you are really behind. Do you want to get chewed out by Snape?"

Harry smiled at her in response and said, "Don't worry about a thing. I have it all under control."

Harry had done all his prep-work and he was ready to brew. With a quick flick of his wand, Harry set the three kettles heating and animated the stirring ladles. With split-second precision, the ingredients were added and the temperature varied on each cauldron according to his time-table.

Snape came by his desk and sneered, "Three cauldrons, Peverell? What do you think you are doing?"

Without missing a beat or interrupting his motion, Harry responded, "As it happens Professor, the one on my left is straight out of the text-book. The one in the centre is according to your instructions from the black-board today. And the one on my right, is my own variation which counteracts the side effect of somnolence which this potion normally has."

Snape snapped, "Can you read, Peverell? Do the instructions line up with any of the ingredients that you are working with?"

Harry knew that he could give Snape the brush-off, but the longer he kept the professor occupied, the les he could harass the other Gryffindors in the room. He answered, "Yes sir, the potion in the centre cauldron is an exact match. The other two, of course, have many ingredients in common, but will have differing side-effects." His hands were practically a blur as he added the final ingredients. "Now, if I have answered your questions satisfactorily, I really do need to concentrate on what I am doing", he dismissed Snape as he entered the final phase of the brewing.

Snape went ballistic, "Ten points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Peverell."

Harry retorted, "Professor! I have tolerated your bullying and injustice for the last four years, but I will tolerate it no more. I will take this up with the Headmaster and my Head of House. Now, go and give students who need it, your instruction." As Harry made final adjustments to the stirring and temperature of the cauldrons for the next 30 minutes of simmering.

Others were gawking at the bickering in wonder and amazed at how Harry could talk back to a Professor like this. Daphne was getting nervous that it would be bad for her too being his partner but she could do nothing except hope that Snape would not dock points off her too.

Snape gave a murderous look to Harry and thundered, "Detention Peverell. This evening at 9:00, my office."

His work done, Harry could now focus his full attention on the teacher. He folded his arms, stared him straight in the eyes and raised his eyebrows just daring the professor to say one more thing. Snape decided that he was going to make detention rather unpleasant for Mr. Peverell and went off to make other students sweat. With the Dungeon Bat's back turned, Harry made some gestures. The man had offended Harry and he was going to suffer for it.

About 30 minutes later, all three of his potions were emitting silvery vapour and he was inwardly whooping in joy as Snape looked at him dumb-founded while others were gawking at him as if he had grown two heads. He bottled a sample of each in three unbreakable phials and marked each one with his name and which recipe he followed for each one. These, he handed in for marking. Snape accepted the samples with a sneer. Harry had to sigh mentally, "Snape would remain Snape", he thought.

Before he cleaned up, he bottled three more phials of the potion from his own recipe and pocketed them. With a few more waves of his wand, he cleaned up his work area, miniaturized his equipment and stowed it all back in his school bag. His work done for this class, he took a look around the dungeon.

Since the others had not yet finished their potions, he was able to observe how they were doing. He noticed Hermione's potion was emitting a dark silver vapor as compared to the silvery vapour which the instructions said. Perhaps it was a first for him. Daphne's potion was of the silver sheen as it described. Malfoy who generally was deft handed at potions had ruined his and it was emitting black vapour instead of the silver. Ellia Runcorn's was near completion but not as perfect as she would have liked. Ronald's potion surprisingly was emitting faint silver vapour compared to what he usually did when his potions were ruined by adding too much of the ingredients or when he could not follow the instructions. Neville and Tracy were about to finish their potion and theirs were perfect. Perhaps not having Snape breathing down his neck was good for Neville or may be changing his partners had worked wonders for him. Seamus as usual had blown up his cauldron. Milicent was covered in soot and glaring at him. The others were also in various stages of completing their potions and more or less their potions were near completion. When Daphne had bottled her sample, Harry offered to clean up for her, an offer which she accepted with a smile.

The period ended and those who had finished their work handed in their samples. Seamus was given an assignment on the correct use of portable fire and lost ten points for Gryffindor. The other students who had not finished their work or had ruined their potions were given an assignment on the uses of Moonstone. Snape called out to Harry, "Perhaps we should test your potion now, Peverell. Just to be sure that it works the way it should."

Harry knew that the professor meant to test an unproven potion on him, but took a deliberately obtuse meaning, "Of course, you are welcome to do so, Professor. You look a bit stressed. Perhaps it would do you some good." And he ran off to the Great Hall before Snape could take another ten points off of him.

When his friends were able to catch up to him, Hermione asked him, "Why did you run, Harry?"

Harry mock shuddered, "That was the only thing that came to my mind when I thought about the interrogation that would follow after the potions period."

As others processed what he meant and broke into a laugh, she punched him in the arm, "What was that in the potions class? You brewed three potion variations perfectly and you did not even look at a book. How could you do that? To experiment with potions with so many people around? What if it had ended badly for us?"

Harry frowned, "Hermione do you realise that Snape's instructions for brewing these potions are different from the instructions in the book? This is our fifth year in his class and I realized that he never had us use the text book but make us work from his instructions on the black-board every time. So, one variation was straight from the text-book. The second one was Snape's instructions from the black-board. The third was something I came up with while I was studying potions under a master who taught me more in six weeks than our dear Professor Snape has managed to teach me in four years."

Hermione thought about it and went through the instructions from the text books, which she had read in their entirety and the instructions she had followed from the black-board, which she had neatly filed away, in her head, for the last four years. And yes, there were significant differences in most and minor differences in the rest. She realised he was right. Snape always gave them instructions and never told them to follow from the books. May be he had been giving his own instructions. But it gave her more questions to ask, "What did you learn in Potions? You must teach me."

Harry shook his head, "Sorry Hermione. I am not at liberty to teach these things."

She retorted, "Why not? They would not know that you are teaching us these things. Those teachers are not here."

He mentally smirked, "If only you knew."

Before Hermione could ask anything further, Snape glided into the Great Hall, his cloak billowing behind him. He had nearly reached the staff table, when with a sound like stretching rubber, his body grew black fur, webbing grew between his fingers and under his arms, his ears became much larger and pointy, his face grew into a snout with fangs. When the transformation was complete, he had morphed into a giant bat with a ten foot wingspan.

As the Great Hall broke into laughter, McGonagall whipped her wand out and undid his transformation in a second. McGonagall turned to the great hall in general and asked in her scolding tone, "Who dared to do this?"

The great hall had fallen silent under the withering glare of Snape and Harry had pushed up his mental shields to the maximum and was employing Occlumency to morph his expressions into one of confusion and horror. McGonagall turned to the Twins, who were the default mischief makers of the school. But they had just arrived in the great hall and were in such a position that they could not have hexed him without their involvement being known.

Snape turned to Harry glaring at him. Harry knew what Snape was trying to do. He felt a forceful attempt at intrusion on his mind shields and he swatted it down hard. This gave Snape such a shock that he fell to the ground. Harry was glaring at him coldly and Snape shivered for a second.

After sometime when it was clear that the perpetrator could not be found, Snape sat down to lunch. Harry was planning to take Snape's actions up with Dumbledore later.

As the tension in the great hall dissipated, Neville asked him, "umm… mate, why was Snape glaring at you?"

Harry said offhandedly, "Snivellus was trying to enter my mind to see if I had pranked him. I threw him out before he got past the outer most walls."

Hermione was looking at him critically but said nothing. She was noticing the changes in him and could hardly believe that it was the same boy. Earlier he was happy with being mediocre, would not counter what others said and he was a slacker. But ever since he returned, it looked like he was a different person altogether. The way he would duel with Moody making the veteran auror cower before him even with his improved leg, the way he had defeated McGonagall and Flitwick and the pranks that she heard he had done to the Marauders and the twins were sufficient to make her feel uncomfortable. Either Harry Potter had obtained some unseen powers or he had been hiding them all this time. She did not know which was scarier. Then there was the fact that he knew of such things that she had only heard about others doing. He could cast wards when two months ago he knew nothing about runes. He could brew potions as if it were second nature when as recently as last June he bungled them on a regular basis. He could perform complicated spells with ease. He could fight with experts with their own spells. And by his own admission, he was now proficient in occlumency and legilimency. And she had a suspicion that this was not even a fraction of his powers. Her friend had changed too much in the last two months and perhaps by the time the war ended, he would not be recognizable. She had to know what else he could do.

She turned to him and looked at him beseechingly, "Harry, what can you tell us about which potions you can brew? Or what magic you can do?"

Harry sighed, "Hermione, there is a great deal about what I know that I cannot share with you, or anyone else for that matter. What I can tell you is that I can brew any potion that Snape will teach us. I can duel with anyone and defeat them."

Just then a girl drifted up to him and he noticed it was Luna Lovegood, the girl they had met on the train and he felt like he should be wary of her. She said to him in her dreamy voice, "Did you see nargles on your trip? Or a crumple horned snorcack? Daddy thinks that we may have been looking in the wrong place for them."

Harry looked at her and was trying to hide his mirth as he answered, diplomatically, "Hi Luna. I met a large number of creatures that were new to me while I was away. Sad to say, nargles Or the crumple horned snorcack were not among them." Then he suggested, "Perhaps I know them by different names. Do you have drawings or photographs of them?"

She looked at Harry with her very large eyes for a moment, then said, "Sadly, no. Father and I have never sighted a crumple horned snorcack. And although nargles are quite common, they are always invisible."

With a smile, Harry said, "Sorry I can't help you then."

She turned to Hermione who had hidden her face in a book and said, 'Did you know that Ronald fancies you?"

Ronald who had just eaten an egg whole choked on it while Hermione turned red muttering something under her breath. Luna drifted off to her table. Neville started laughing at the other's predicament until Harry glared at him.

After lunch they had double Runes and Divination. Harry and Ron did not yet have permission to take runes and they had both dropped divination, so they had free periods. While Hermione went to runes, Ron headed for the Gryffindor Common Room to get started on the Potions homework. Harry thought that now was as good a time as any to take up Snape's behavior with his head of house, Professor McGonagall and made the trek to her classroom. He found her there, grading the summer assignments.

As he knocked, she was visibly pleased to see him and said jovially, "Please come in, Harry. I have just marked your summer assignment. Outstanding does not even begin to describe it. Where have you been hiding your talents?"

Harry said, "My summer studies have done me a world of good, but that is not why I have come to speak with you, Professor."

Harry took a seat across from her and she said, "I was looking for a way to talk to you without others hearing. Tell me Harry what you have learned in these two months in transfiguration?"

Before he began to answer her, Harry erected a privacy ward and an alert ward at the doorway. She looked visibly impressed. Then Harry began, "Professor, what I have learned must remain a secret. If your mind is secure, I can tell you what I have learned in transfiguration."

She looked at him critically, "Do not worry for my mind Harry. I am an accomplished occlumens but I never took the trouble to learn legilimency."

Harry told her about learning all the transfigurations that she could teach including animation and her eyes were spread in wonder, "And you learned all this in one month?"

He sheepishly smiled, "Yes professor."

She mock-glared at him, 'And exactly why you did not study hard with that motivation in the last four years?'

As he just smiled like a idiot, she asked him what she had been most curious about, "Did they teach you animagus transformation?"

Harry told her the half truth, "They told me all about it including how one becomes an animagus but that is all."

She eagerly replied, "If you want, I can help you become an animagus by obtaining the potion for you and helping you along the way. I daresay that in a year, you will be able to achieve the transformation."

Harry felt bad about rejecting her offer, "I'm sorry, Professor, I have a lot of things on my mind and a lot to learn which takes precedence over this."

She nodded reluctantly, "I understand. It is just that your father was an accomplished wizard and could have done transfiguration mastery if things were normal. I hoped you would become an animagus like him. Now why have you come to visit me when others are in classes?"

Harry retold her all that had transpired in potions class. By the time he was done her nostrils were flared. As it was time for classes, she turned to him, "Come to the Head Master's office at 7:00 this evening. You will not need to do the detention."

Bidding her good- bye, he removed the wards and started roaming around the castle.

He came across Professor Flitwick who beamed at him, "Mr. Peverell, what are you doing out of class at this hour?"

He told him about dropping Divination and the Runes Professor not having replied to McGonagall's query yet. Flitwick invited him to the office for tea and as they sat, the charms master asked him, "How is Dhara?"

Harry was confused, "I beg your pardon, Professor. Who is Dhara?"

The charms master looked at him solemnly for sometime before he spoke again, "The one who taught you charms, Mr. Peverell. I can sense her handiwork when I see it. In my ten championships, I was really threatened only twice and both times by the same woman. She was tall, lithe, brown eyes, black haired and had a rather melodious voice."

As Flitwick gave the description, he could see Achala in his mind. He remembered what she had told him about her past. Perhaps she had been Dhara in her other life. Yet it was not his secret to give. He turned to the Professor, "Sorry Professor. I cannot say that I know any such individual."

Flitwick who had been teaching for the last many decades understood from Harry's mannerisms that he had guessed right but decided not to pry any further. It was not as if Dhara had been a very close friend to him. He was content to know she was alive and well.

He turned to the teen, "So Mr. Peverell, what have you learned this summer apart from sticking your professor in a cage?"

Harry snorted, "It was just one of many things Professor. I cannot tell you my secrets though."

The tiny professor nodded, "I will look forward to more displays of charms from you, Mr. Peverell."

Harry took his leave and went to the Defense professor and accompanied him to the Chamber of Secrets. As they opened the chamber, Harry muttered, "I should have brought my broom with me."

The mystic looked him in wonder, "Are you a mystic or an ordinary wizard, Harry? We can fly down to the chamber. Why would you need a broom?"

Harry was embarrassed at his own stupidity, "You are right, Professor."

The mystic immediately flew down the pipe with Harry hovering just below the entrance where he asked the entrance to close before he descended downwards. Since the tunnel was long, he realized he could use it to practice flying and nobody would be able to observe him doing it.

As they entered the main chamber, Harry cast a big incendio with his wands and lit all the torches in their brackets on the walls. He started to examine the walls of the chamber and the serpent heads. He had been thinking that Salazar definitely could not fly down the pipe to the chamber so there must have been some way for easy access to other parts of the castle. He noticed one of the Serpents had a rune engraved on its hood which was absent on others. Curious, he tapped the rune and the snake slid down and a door opened behind it. Harry stepped out of it and realized he was near the room where Dumbledore had told him about Horcruxes.

Excited about his success, he turned to find that the door was gone. He looked carefully and found that there was another rune on this side of the wall and he tapped it but the way did not appear. He sat thinking for sometime before inspiration struck him and he hissed, _"Open."_

The wall slid up and he was in the chamber again. As he stepped in, the wall was back in its place. The mystic was busy examining the humongous head from which the Basilisk had emerged two years earlier and he raised his hand in a sort of commanding gesture and hissed, "_Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of Hogwarts Four."_

Nothing happened for a few minutes and then a hissing voice emerged,_ "Who addresses Salazar Slytherin?"_

Harry replied firmly, _"I am Harold James Peverell, scion of Potter, favoured one of mother magic and I implore you to grant me access to chambers behind this statue."_

The voice answered as if amused,_ "No one is granted access to the chambers within for the reason that there is nothing beyond this except the Basilisk's nest. With the beast slain, there are no secrets left there."_

Harry said nothing more to the statue. He shrugged and relayed to the Defense instructor what the statue had said. The mystic said nothing but set to work, fortifying the chambers to withstand any magical backlash. Harry set to work, cleaning, reinforcing, warding and lighting the chamber. He set up a ward to power the charms he had liberally employed in the chamber and connected the ward to ley line meaning the ward would keep working without being powered from time to time. By the time they were done, the place was clean, dry, well lit and just a bit on the cool side of comfortable. They left after an hour.

As he entered the Great Hall, he saw that some Ravenclaw students were braying at their friends. He chuckled knowing that the twins were probably trying to even the score. He would have to think of some monumental prank to win the war by the next day. He did not want to waste the next few days pranking the hell out of people when there was work to be done. But he needed access to the Slytherin House for that purpose. Perhaps it was time to use his old trusted Invisibility Cloak again.

He remembered that Remus was starting this month's clinical trial for the new wolfsbane potion tomorrow. He hoped to see some positive results from it. He had also put a mail directing ward over him during the summer so that all the mails which were sent to him would be directed to his Steward instead. Remus would deal with most matters himself. Only personal mail which required Harry's attention would be forwarded via Hedwig to Harry in addition to letters he received from his friends and extended family.

Susan had not thrown a tantrum since the morning and he was thankful for it. She had a good heart but she could be bossy at times when she thought he was ignoring her. While Harry had a general dislike for people trying to boss him around, this trait of Susan endeared her to him.

In the evening at 7:00, he went to the gargoyle and realized that McGonagall had not given him the password. The gargoyle noticed him and asked, "I hope you have not just come after slaying another Basilisk or broke some other rule or had another adventure of yours."

He looked at the gargoyle frowning, "What are you talking about?"

The gargoyle opened the staircase for him, "Go up, the head master is waiting for you."

As he knocked on the door, it opened immediately and he could see Snape and McGonagall standing at opposite ends of the room while Dumbledore sat in his chair looking weary, "Come in Harry. I have heard you had some difference of opinion with Severus?"

Harry snorted, "It if were only that simple, Head Master. Professor (he stressed on the word) Snape had it in his mind that I was brewing the wrong potion and when I humbly explained to him that I was doing exactly what he wanted, and in addition, I was also brewing the potion straight out of the text book and my own variant. He took 10 points from Gryffindor. When I protested, he gave me detention."

Dumbledore turned to the potions master, "Severus, this is not the first time that a complaint like this has reached my ears. You should know by now that the point system is to be used to encourage correct behavior from our students. I will not have you use it to bully them. Did you test the Potion that Mr. Peverell submitted to you after class?"

Snape sneered, "He submitted three different potions actually. The one from the text-book responded exactly as that rather inferior blend would be expected to, side-effects and all. The one from the black-board was as good as any I have ever brewed myself. The third one, using his own formulation, was not only effective, but did not have the usual side effect of drowsiness."

By the end of his narrative, McGonagall's eyebrows had climbed to her hairline, while dumbledore's eyes were sparkling. The Headmaster turned to Harry, "Three different formulations? How did you find the time to brew them?"

Harry shrugged, "Headmaster, I brewed them concurrently."

Snape cut in, "He must have cheated somehow. He was not following instructions on the board and the summer assignment he turned in was written by someone else."

Dumbledore looked at Harry, "That is quite a severe charge, Mr. Peverell." Then he turned to Snape, "May I examine this parchment?"

Snape handed the scroll to the Headmaster. He unrolled it, noting the broken Peverell seal on the outside. The first impression of the scroll was neatly arranged rows of a slightly slanted flowing cursive. Extra care had been taken to make the capitals at the beginning of each paragraph into pictures of fantastic beasts or plants. As Dumbledore read down the text, he remarked about how inciteful and accurate it was. At the conclusion, he looked up at Professor Snape, "I could give this work no grade other than an 'O'. What is the problem with it?"

Snape produced another scroll from Harry's work last year. It had crumpled corners. The writing was irregular and blotted. As Dumbledore read down the text, he noted numerous corrections, but, the final product was reasonably correct. Dumbledore looked up and said, "This looks like it would merit an 'E' and I notice that you have given it an 'A'. Is this typical of your marking Severus?"

Snape said snappishly, "That is not the point. The point is that these two papers were obviously not written by the same person and he should get a 'T' and detention for cheating."

Harry, who had been silent all this time said, "Calligraphy is one of the arts I studied over the summer. I can settle the question as to who wrote this parchment in a minute." He picked up a parchment, quill and ink from his Dumbledore's table, dipped and wrote. The flowing script flowed from his quill to the parchment. He wrote three paragraphs on the uses of moonstone, then went back and enhanced the initial capitals. With a wave of his wand, he dried the ink then handed the parchment to Dumbledore. The whole process only took him a minute.

The headmaster took one look at the new parchment and said, "I am satisfied that Mr. Peverell wrote this essay." he said indicating the homework scroll. "In fact, I personally am ready to give this young man an award for most improved student."

Snape, feeling defeat coming on, started grasping at straws. "He transformed me into a giant bat, right in front of the entire school! Attacking a teacher is grounds for expulsion!", he blustered.

Now, Dumbledore's eyes were sparkling with merriment and the corners of his beard were twitching visibly, "Yes, we all saw you turn into a bat. And thanks to Professor McGonagall, that transformation was very brief. No harm done. But, what precisely makes you think that this was Mr. Peverell's doing?"

At this point, Harry spoke up again, "Headmaster, this is most serious. He attempted the use of unauthorized passive Legilimency on me. When I detected the attempt, I ejected him, forcefully. That is why he fell down shortly after the bat transformation. As you know, this is highly illegal and could be quite severely punished."

Dumbledore glared at his potions master, "Severus, if Mr. Peverell chooses to press charges against you, there is nothing I can do to stop him. As it is, the points you docked from Gryffindor will be returned. There will be no detention. And you will apologize to Mr. Peverell for attempting to besmirch his character and for attempting to invade his privacy."

Snape looked like he was trying to swallow something and with great difficulty muttered, "Sorry." and headed for the door.

The Headmaster called him back, "Just one moment, Severus". The Dungeon Bat stopped in his tracks and turned back to Dumbledore. Turning to Harry, he continued, "Are you satisfied, Mr. Peverell?"

Harry considered Snape for a moment. He remembered that everyone in the room here is a member of The Order of the Phoenix and he wondered if this had not gone too far already. He asked Dumbledore, "Can we be assured that anything I say here will never leave this room?"

Dumbledore managed to restrain himself from laughing outright before he answered, "Harry, of that you may rest assured."

"Professor Snape, I apologize if I have let this go too far already. I do understand why you must continue to act like the world's biggest git. I commend you on your acting ability. However, if you carry it too far again, I will go through this process, just like any other student. Of course, I will not be pressing any charges, but; be warned. My secrets must remain my own and if I catch you attempting to root around in my head again, the cruciatus curse will seem like a pleasant memory."

Snape gave Harry a look, respect, fear, loathing, hope? He could not tell, "I believe we understand each other Lord Peverell". And he walked out of the room.

When Snape left, McGonagall soon followed him. Harry sat across from Dumbledore. The head master asked him, "Harry why are you called Harold Peverell now?"

Harry inwardly smiled. He knew the headmaster was dying to ask this question of him. He adopted a scholarly demeanour, "Professor, somewhere in India there is a very old school of Magic called the Takshshila School of Magic which is one of the premier institutions of magic in that part of the world. The school is said to sit upon 6 ley-lines and the gates of the school are set at a place which is said to be the site of the most ancient magics. It is said that at that place, Mother Magic is sentient. I was visiting the school with Guruji and was asked to identify myself. It is said that at that place one cannot lie but they would identify themselves as what mother magic has chosen for them. I had declared myself to be Harold James Peverell. Later in a ritual I have had the fortune to gaze upon the face of Mother Magic herself."

He looked at Dumbledore and the older wizard had tears in his eyes, "my boy, you are very fortunate to have seen Mother Magic herself, something that I have not heard about from anyone. This alone is greater than any other magic that you may have learned. I have no doubts in my mind now that when the final confrontation comes; Tom will not be able to withstand you."

Harry asked the Head-Master, "Professor did we find any other horcruxes? Do we have any idea how many are out there now?"

The professor turned solemn, "I believe there are at least three out there. We do not know what they may be but I have a good idea about one of them at least."

Harry asked, "And what is it, Professor?"

The head-master replied, "From a memory that I was able to obtain, I found that Tom had at least two relics of the founders in his possession. One was the locket of Slytherin which has been exorcised of the soul fragment which leaves the other relic- a chalice engraved with the Hufflepuff badger."

"This is an interesting coincidence", Harry thought. He turned to the Professor, "Head Master, the goblins sent me a list of the contents of the vault of Bellatrix Nameless and it contains a silver cup with the Hufflepuff Badger."

The Head Master's enthusiasm was contagious, "What are waiting for? Let's go to Gringotts right now, my boy. It is imperative that we have the cup in our possession."

Harry had to control himself from laughing out loud, "Professor we can go to the Goblins on Saturday when I do not have class and retrieve the prophecy orb while we are at it. In these times, we should not be seen together too much or he may suspect what we are up to."

Dumbledore had to control himself, "What of the catapults, my boy?"

Harry replied, "The goblins have finished manufacturing it and are waiting for my word to deliver it. We will bring it in pieces and smuggle some of them in to assemble it and mount upon the battlements keeping them invisible from others for the time being. I will recruit some students to teach them how to operate it."

Dumbledore smiled at him, "It looks like you will become a true lord in no time. The way you are collecting people behind you, I would be surprised if anyone with goodness in their heart would refuse to follow you."

Harry had no answer to that. He did not want to become a Lord like Dumbledore or Voldemort but he knew that sooner or later, he would end up having an Order of his own.

As they were discussing the upcoming war, someone knocked on the door and as Dumbledore gave leave, Neville Longbottom entered the office. Harry was surprised to see his friend there, "Neville is something the matter? What are you doing here?"

It was Dumbledore who replied, "Mr. Longbottom has agreed to become my apprentice Harry."

Harry beamed at his friend, "Congratulations Neville. But since you hid such news from me, I think I would not relent from pranking you time and again."

Soon thereafter Harry took his leave, sensing that Dumbledore wanted to talk with Neville.

He fetched his notorious invisibility cloak from the Gryffindor tower and carefully made his way to the dungeon entrance of the Slytherin common room. He stood there under his cloak and heard the password from an excitable first year. After about 30 minutes, he entered the house under his invisibility cloak and the common room was mostly deserted except for three seventh years sitting on one of the sofas. Knowing them to belong to dark families and curious, he wandlessly cast a snooping spell at them and sat in a chair listening to them.

Jugson or that he assumed was his name was talking to the other two, "We need to approach Lord Black soon. Only he can save us from going into the service of the Dark Lord."

Everly nodded, "He is powerful and has many allies. He can keep us safe in the coming war."

Dryden asked the other two, "Do you think he would do it without expecting anything in return? He is our liege lord and we have not even acknowledged him as such yet."

Everly replied, "We will offer to work for him in the house, bringing more people to his side and become his eyes and ears in the serpent pit. What more can he want from us?"

Harry smirked hearing them. These three could definitely prove useful to him in his plan for the snakes. He would approach them at the right moment.

He went to the fifth year dorms on the boy's side. Setting up the boys was easy, once he had decided what to do. Getting into the girls dorms would be considerably trickier. He had to defeat the founders' anti-boy wards that protected the girls from unchivalrous and untrustworthy boys like himself. He decided not to take the chance… this time. He returned sometime later imagining the pleasure he would have when the pranks go off.

**The next morning**

Harry reached the great hall next morning after his exercises and took his seat at the Gryffindor table with Susan in tow. For good measure he had brought his friends with him for the grand spectacle which he knew would be happening.

As they sat for lunch the Slytherins entered in a row one behind the other.

That was when the pranks started. Malfoy who was leading suddenly froze where he stood and a second later, he was dressed like a clown with no hair on his head and his ears grew to five times their normal size. Crabbe was stuck to the floor and no matter what he tried he could not move an inch. Nott was dancing without a pause and even Snape could not finite the jinx. Goyle who was already rotund blew up until he was bigger than a sumo wrestler. Zabini grew two wings which were trying to take flight and he had to catch hold of a table to prevent himself from being airborne. When everyone in the Great Hall had seen the pranks and had a good laugh over it, the victims all went back to normal. Although Snape had been trying all along to terminate the prank spells, he knew that it was not his efforts which restored them.

As Harry sat smirking, his friends were looking at him in suspicion. Finally Hermione asked him the question that was on everyone's mind, "Umm… Harry did you do this to them?"

He looked in her eyes and said, "You don't really expect me to answer that, do you?"

Ron said, "Not really. You would use the usual I cannot tell you my secrets excuse you have become fond of."

Harry smirked, "Exactly. Telling things to you like this would be harmful for all of us."

Susan said in a matter-of-fact tone, "These pranks were tasteless and not funny."

Harry shrugged. Susan had a point. These pranks were pretty childish. But, the bet with Fred and George was for quantity, not quality. He looked at his time table and beamed with excitement. The first period was Double Care of Magical Creatures something which he had started to love followed by Double Defense against the Dark Arts with Hufflepuff.

As they arrived at the paddocks near Hagrid's Hut, Professor Grubbly-Plank told the class to gather around some trays which contained animals that he recognized at once. The animals reminded him of the night when he was out searching for wand wood and the memory made him smile.

The Professor asked, "Who can tell me about these creatures?"

Hermione and Harry both raised their hand at once. She turned to him, "Yes Mr. Peverell?"

Harry answered, "These are bowtruckles found in trees which have wood fit to be crafted into a wand. They are also called tree guardians. Their favorite food is fairy eggs but they also eat doxie eggs and wood lice. Wand makers offer them their choice food and in return the bowtruckles let them take wand wood from those trees. If anyone tries to take wood from such a tree without appeasing the guardian, it is useless for crafting a wand."

Grubbly-plank smiled, "10 points to Gryffindor, Mr. Peverell."

After that she divided the class into groups to take a bowtruckle and to study it's anatomy and draw a labeled diagram of it. Like potions, she divided them into groups with Harry being paired with Neville, Stephen Cornfoot and Ernie Mcmillan. The other group was of Hermione, Ron, Terry Boot and Sally Smith. The third group was Draco, Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle (Draco refused to group with anyone other than Snakes). The fourth group was Seamus, Parvati, Lavender and Wayne Hopkins.

As Harry joined his group and they were working in peace with the bow truckle, he looked up in the air and saw that a very large bird was descending to the ground at a break neck pace. Harry tensed, ready to summon his wand and start casting since the bird was making a beeline for his group. However he relaxed a moment later as his familiar bond started humming and realized that Black Storm had come to Wizarding Britain at last.

As the beast landed, Harry ran towards it whooping with joy and gave a quick bow to the animal which was returned and he flung his arms around his hippogriff reveling in the scent of its fur. After sometime he realized that people were watching him and he turned to see that most of the class was staring open-mouthed at him while the teacher was critically analyzing the beast. She gave a bow to Black Storm and approached him after it was returned and she inspected the beast very carefully, checking his talons, the span of his wings and was elated with what she saw. She patted his flanks very fondly.

She turned to Harry, "Mr. Peverell, is he your familiar?"

Harry enthusiastically replied, "Yes Professor. I met him in the wild and tamed him. We are connected with a familiar bond."

She muttered, "Interesting! Such bonds are not very common these days what with wizards and beasts getting independent of each other. He is a strong animal Mr. Peverell. None at Hogwarts would be able to rival this one."

Harry beamed at her. The rest of the lesson was spent while his friends kept coming to pet the hippogriff and Neville kept eyeing him as if he would be taking the hippogriff for a ride any moment. As they left, Harry dreaded the barrage of questions which would be coming from Hermione but knowing it to be unavoidable, he braced himself.

True to his prediction she started her rapid fire, "Where did the Hippogriff come from Harry? How did you tame it? How do you know so much about beasts now anyway?"

Harry turned to her, "I tamed him in the wild and formed a familiar bond with him like I have with Hedwig. He can hear me when I need him. I got so good with beasts because I was sent to stable duty whenever I was to be punished and the Game Keeper was a beast enthusiast to rival Hagrid, but much more sensible. He taught me a lot about creatures in general."

The next class was Defence against the Dark Arts which Harry had been looking forward to. When they arrived, Vikram strode in the class room saying, "Please keep your books in your bags when you are in my classes because there will be little of book reading while I am teaching. An OWL student is expected to be able to write answer to questions with practical experience and if you cannot do that, there is something very wrong with you."

While others enthusiastically stowed their books in their bags hopeful for the lesson, Hermione scowled but said nothing. Harry was pleased with the approach that the defense instructor was taking. This would teach them things quickly.

Vikram was saying, "Defense against the Dark Arts is a subject only at Hogwarts. It has different names at different places and the curriculum differs accordingly. The first rule of defense is to know your hexes and jinxes. While a jinx may look trivial, it can save your life in a right spot. Even an innocuous spell such as the disarming spell can be useful in case you are trying to escape someone."

Harry was listening interestedly and so was every other student. It was nothing like their previous professors who would teach him a certain topic at a time but he was speaking about the subject in total with such vigour that one could do nothing but listen to him.

He was continuing, "As I have been updated by Professor Lupin, he told you all about dark creatures and ways to tackle them while Professor Moody which I am told he was not, taught you all very interesting things but little in the way of defense. Which one of you can show me the disarming spell?"

Hermione raised her hand. He turned to her, "Yes Ms. Granger. Would you give me a demonstration of the disarming spell?"

She pulled out her wand and cast the spell perfectly and he smiled, "Five points to Gryffindor."

Smith raised his hand, "How can a disarming spell help in a duel, Professor?"

He turned to him, "It is useful if you want to subdue your enemy without killing him in a fight or win over your opponent in a duel without trying to maim or injure them."

Smith sneered, "Even a first year can cast the expelliarmus Professor. What is special about it?"

He smiled, "Alright, let's see. Everyone please vacate your seats."

As the students stood, he flicked his wand and all the desks lined themselves up against the wall leaving the space in the middle of the room vacant and with another flick of his wand, the vacant area was surrounded by wards as are employed around dueling rings. He addressed the class again, "Now I am going to show to Mr. Smith about how expelliarmus can be useful in a duel. Anyone who want to volunteer for the task?"

Harry raised his hand, "I would be happy to demonstrate, Professor."

He beckoned him forward, "Alright Mr. Peverell. Mr. Smith will use non-lethal but dangerous spells on you. You have to defend yourself from him with only the expelliarmus."

Smith glared at him while the mystic whispered to him, "Don't humiliate him… much."

Harry evilly smirked.

Smith cast a reductor at Harry. With an absolute minimum of movement, Harry stepped neatly out of the path of the spell, while, just for fun, he put all of his power behind the Expelliarmus spell he sent back. Smith was knocked back, nearly out of the ring while his wand soared neatly into Harry's outstretched hand.

Smith stood up panting and Harry tossed him his wand and called, "We can do it again, if you want Smith."

Smith took his wand and as he opened his mouth to cast, his wand was already sailing towards Harry. This went on a few more times before Smith realized that Harry was having him on.

After that Vikram took them to a bigger classroom which was locked in the previous years. In the room, he had made several practice ranges and he started calling names of a list pairing them together- Harold Peverell and Kevin Entwhile, Ronald Weasley and Justin Finch-Fletchley, Neville Longbottom and Zacharias Smith, Dean Thomas and Roger Malone, Seamus Finnigan and Wayne Hopkins, Hermione Granger and Megan Jones, Parvati Patil with Sally Anne-Perks, Lavender Brown with Sally Smith, Fay Dunbar with Hannah Abbott and Ellia Runcorn with Susan Bones.

It became evident pretty soon how bad most of them were at casting. While they all knew the spell and could cast it well enough, most of them could not hit the broad side of a castle. For some of them, the safest place to be was directly in front of their opponent. Some of the stray spells disarmed the wrong person. Harry's opponent mercifully was better at casting than other pairings he could see. Kevin was able to cast his spells with accuracy at him but had only been able to disarm him two times out of five tries that he got. When it was Harry's turn, he merely flicked his wand while looking around the room and whispered the incantation and Kevin was disarmed. Neville was being absolutely brutal to Smith with disarming him every time the other boy tried to cast the expelliarmus. Finally Vikram had to intervene and explain that this was practice meant to teach people to cast expelliarmus correctly and not a duel. Neville reluctantly agreed to let Smith try disarming him. Smith tried it a few times and Neville kept grasping his wand tightly not allowing it to fly out of his hands frustrating Smith. Hermione was being very considerate towards her opponent and was helping her to cast properly and he had to smile. Ron was having no trouble at all having spent the last month learning and even Harry had been surprised at his progress. He disarmed Justin easily and then helped the other boy in correcting his aim while Harry kept practicing with Kevin who was getting a little better. Susan was likewise engaged with Ellia Runcorn disarming her and impressed him with her speed of casting. Hannah Abbott was having troubles with Fay Dunbar and Fay was fairly accomplished. The same story was going on around the class room and Harry saw the mystic sigh. He had a momentous task ahead of him if he wanted to make ready these students to be able to survive the coming war.

As they sat for dinner, Hermione started about the defense lesson and how good it had been. There was unanimous agreement that this was the best lesson of defense they had attended since Remus Lupin. The defense instructor was very patient and gave individual attention to each of them. Harry was smirking at what the mystic could really teach but not to these students. Most of them would not be able to survive the boot camp that he had been put through. He was thinking about his nightly excursion to the Chamber of Secrets so that he could practice his family magic. Luna Lovegood came drifting over from her house table and everyone was on the alert, curious to see what she would do next.

She went straight to Neville and said to him, "Hannah Abbott thinks you are delicious and you do not pay any attention to her."

Harry was trying to control his laughter at Neville's expression as the boy was trying to disappear under the table. Luna went skipping over to the Ravenclaw table.

Neville emerged, he asked, "What was that?"

Harry was snickering and soon everyone around him was laughing at the top of their lungs before Harry could control his laughter and turned to Neville, "May be you should ask Hannah out for the Hogsmead weekend."

Neville blushed and everyone started laughing again.

As he was finishing his dinner, a first year brought him a missive and looked at him in awe, "I have this message for you Lord Peverell."

Harry smiled at the young boy and remembered his name from the sorting, "Steven Ainsworth, aren't you? I had the pleasure of meeting your father just this last august."

The boy proudly replied, "I am Steven Ainsworth, grandson of Lord Ainsworth and heir apparent to the House of Ainsworth."

Harry smiled, "My mistake, Steven. It was your grandfather I met. Please do call me Harry, unless the occasion absolutely calls for formal address. I don't want to feel old before my time."

The boy beamed at him, "Alright Harry." and headed out of the Great Hall.

Harry noted that the boy was wearing Slytherin Robes and smiled to himself. He opened the letter, which was from Vikram.

"Harry,

Meet me at the entrance of the Chamber at 8:00 this night. Use that cloak of yours.

Vikram"

He pocketed the note without any comment and ignored the looks his friends were giving him. As he was leaving dinner, McGonagall stopped him and Ronald, "Mr. Peverell and Mr. Weasley, Professor Babbling has agreed to see you both at 7:00."

As dinner wound up they ran to the Runes Professor's chamber and as they arrived she offered them seats before coming to the point, "Mr. Peverell and Mr. Weasley, Minerva told me about your requests and I must confess I am surprised and not sure if you both can handle the coursework which is advanced for a beginner but she has assured me that you both have been working hard and I should give you a chance before I dismiss you outright. So tell me about your knowledge of Runes and I will then give a simple test to you to determine if you can attend my class."

Ron went first, "Professor my elder brother, Bill who is a curse-breaker at Gringotts, taught me about the seven languages and I have finished three of them. I can recognize their runes and their uses. I know I am a little behind the course but with hard work and some diligence I think I can cover it."

Professor Babbling sat up a bit straighter, "Bill? Do you mean former Head-boy, William Weasley? One of the best students I ever had!", she said with some enthusiasm. "Well", he said, "If he has been tutoring you, perhaps you can handle the work after all. I have a test here." He handed a parchment to Ron. "This will give me a good idea of where you are in your studies. Fill it out, and we shall see."

Ron accepted the parchment and immediately set to work with a will.

The Professor then turned to Harry, "Mr. Peverell, if you would be so kind, please tell me about why you think you can pick up this course today when you have shown no interest in this direction for the last two years."

Harry started, "Professor this summer I had a teacher who taught me the seven languages and another which is not taught here. He told me of the symbols and their uses but this training revolved around the practical use of runes more than the theory part. I can cast all the basic wards as well as some very specialized ones. I can even do some rune clusters."

"Really!", she beamed at Harry, "As your teaching leans more toward the practical, would you please be so kind as to demonstrate a few wards for me?"

"Gladly Professor", Harry answered as he drew his wand and started to work. In the next five minutes, Harry had drawn a privacy ward, an alert ward, a magical detection ward, the anti-tampering ward that he used in potions and a few others that he set up every night before he slept. He finished his demonstration with a repulsion ward and an invisibility ward.

"Mr. Potter," she said, I don't normally teach wards until NEWT level. To satisfy my curiosity, could you perform a few more?"

Harry nodded and held his wand ready.

During the next ten minutes, as she called them out, Harry did the wards for a containment ward, a ward to protect a property, muggle repelling wards and anti-apparition and anti- portkey wards. When he demonstrated all of them easily, she was excited and clapped her hands happily, "I am amazed Mr. Potter. You have surpassed your mother and father and that is something considering they were some of the brightest students of their generation. Your father was like you, storming his way through everything while your mother was of the type to dismantle a problem bit by bit until it was reduced to cinders."

Ron submitted his paper and she graded it. She smiled at him, "Mr. Weasley you can attend the fifth year OWL classes, starting with the next class. You will need to work hard to make a good grade in your OWL however I think that will be easy for you considering that your brothers were equally talented as you."

As they left her office, Harry ran to the entrance of the chamber telling Ron that the defense instructor had called him for a meeting. When he arrived at the other entrance to the chamber, he found Vikram waiting for him there. Together they entered the chamber and Harry conjured two chairs while waiting for the mystic to start speaking.

The defense instructor started speaking after sometime, "Harry today's session with your year mates showed me that it will be a tough job to make them ready for war. I fear would not be long away. They are not in prime fitness like you or quick with a wand or their casting is anywhere as fluent as you were at the end of your year. In case Hogwarts is intruded, they would not be able to stand against the followers of that abomination. They will need more time than just a double defense class once a week."

Harry thought about everything that he was saying. He realized that most of it was true. Most of his year mates were not as good as they should be due to the simple fact that they did not have a decent teacher in the past years with the exception of Remus. But, even the werewolf had not emphasized teaching them dueling or fighting.

He turned to the mystic, "What do you have in mind?"

The mystic turned to him, "Harry perhaps it is time that you make your own army. You can take your trusted friends and year mates with you and teach them to fight. It does not need to be anything fancy mind you but enough to help them to survive the oncoming war. These students can use a hand to learn things which they should have learned in the last 4 years. I think you should make this offer and let those come to you who believe in you. There are many who do not believe that anyone can return from the dead but many of them do believe you and if you are able to convince them, they would follow you to the end of the world."

Harry was inclined to refuse but as he considered what the mystic was telling him, he could see that he had a point. However there were problems that he would have to find a solution to before he could start teaching his friends.

He turned to the mystic, "we have many problems which need to be solved before we can start working towards this goal. A place to train for one, who to trust for another and third as to how to approach them."

The mystic smiled, "there is a place in this castle which can be used for this purpose but as I told you earlier, you need to find it by yourself. The only help I can give is that you ask about it to them who know every inch of the castle. You will have to find out who you can trust by yourself but I do not think you need to share everything with everyone but only a select number of people. You will have to ensure that they are loyal to you by yourself. Thirdly you are a pureblood lord who has allies in every house. Approach them and ask them to spread the word."

Harry nodded. Soon Vikram took his leave and Harry pulled his wands (the wand of Sandalwood and Elder wand) to practice his family magics.

The Rosier family magic was mostly dark magic and there were a couple of impressive spells in there but there was nothing which he didn't already know. The first spell that had caught his attention was a cutter which could not be blocked. It was an ingenious spell and was categorized as most lethal. This spell was powerful and he had put it on his list of spells to practice daily. Another was a spell which was devised as a means to counter fiendfyre. It was a spell which would produce a fire equally hot and sentient and if the castor was able and extremely in control of his abilities, he could use this spell to kill other's fiendfyre. There was a Sanskrit variant to it and Harry was practicing it knowing many of the death eaters liked to cast this spell.

The Weber family magic was mostly light but they had some very dangerous and non-lethal spells which could incapacitate anyone and if no assistance was given to them, they would die eventually. There was a spell which would attack the nervous system of an enemy and swell their joints to such extent that the person would not be able to move a finger. Harry had chosen this one because he knew he could use it effortlessly to bring down the number of his enemies.

The Black family magic was mostly dark as he knew and a major part of it was dedicated to parsel magic something which he had already learned. There were a few parsel tongue spells in it which could be used to kill a large number of people at once and he was rather happy for it.

The Potter family magic was more than battle magic. There were also some extra ordinary potioneers in the line and some had been warders. They had lined up ward upon ward at the Potter Castle and it was considered as one of the most secure buildings in the Wizarding World, something to rival Hogwarts in terms of protection but Harry was not planning to use it in the coming war knowing the war will be fought here at Hogwarts. There was a fighting style which could be effective if he had to face a group of wizards alone.

The Peverell magic was the magic of mages. It contained some very ancient magics such as mage sight, battling skills for a mage against a large group of enemies, spells to cause lightning, spells to lay waste to enemies and spells to make the elements do his bidding. He had an inkling that the mystics knew of these magics because Harsh had talked to him about the mages of old, what they could do, and their abilities. He had also shared many memories of his Mage ancestors in battles and Harry had learned those.

He transfigured a block of wood into a large ornate table like the one Dumbledore had in his office and engraved a rune on the underside making it permanent and then similarly made a chair for himself. He produced the pensive that Harsh had given him and placed it on the table with the caskets of memories he had received from the mystics. He had decided to leave them here in the chamber where no one would be able to see them. He started watching a memory of old from Harsh which showed Ignotus Peverell in battle.

The mage was facing what looked like a hundred warriors and he raised his wand (it was a large wand probably 14 inches of Aldar wood and engraved with runes. Ignotus raised the wand to the heavens and chanted. A few seconds later, it started raining fire from the sky burning all his enemies to cinders. There was Harsh beside him chanting the same and together they annihilated the enemies before them in seconds. While it was a great spell, Harry felt that it would not be useful in the battles which he may face. There would be friends and foes involved together and it was hard to differentiate between them to kill only his enemies. There was another spell in another battle which Ignotus was using and it caused a river to erupt and wash away his enemies. He supposed he could use it at the Black Lake to drown his enemies. There was another which brought a storm and while his enemy was distracted, he put them to the sword.

Harsh had shared a lot of memories of the fighting style he had witnessed aboard the Marichika and Harry had started to try to copy it. It was a fascinating piece of wand waving, foot movement and spell casting. Harry was sure that he could learn it soon and with his ability to cast with both hands, this would be even more deadly.

He started practicing this form of combat for sometime before he felt the urge to practice his animagus transformation. He had been doing this when he got the time but had not done that since he had returned to Hogwarts. He disappeared in thin air and appeared in the forbidden forest. He changed into his animagus form and started running around on all fours and even scared a lot of creatures in the forest. He was reveling in the feeling of running in his partial animagus transformation and came to face a wild boar. The boar looked at him warily, getting ready to charge and Harry felt the urge to attack the other animal and kill it. He threw back his head and gave a mighty ROARR! The roar was so loud that birds from nearby trees took flight out of fright. It was then he realized that he had roared. The Boar had already run away after hearing his roar and he transformed back before he reappeared in the chamber and conjured a mirror.

He transformed and waited until he was sure that his transformation was complete then looked into the mirror to find the snow leopard looking back at him. He grinned and the leopard's jaw spread in what he was sure was a grin or something like it. Transforming back, he whooped in joy. He had done it!

As he left, he warded the entrance with a repellent ward, a proximity ward, a notice-me-not ward and a ward to attack anyone who tried to detect it. He had read about some blood magics in the Potter Grimoire and one of them was about a ward which worked on your blood. That is, the ward would only allow access to those whose blood was keyed in it. He cast one such ward below all wards and left feeling content. Sometime during the lesson, he had laid rather very nastic hexes and jinxes at the bathroom entrance of the Chamber so that no one would stumble into it by mistake.

As he entered the common room, he was waylaid by Fred and George who started bowing to him, "Prank Mage Peverell, you have outdone yourself", Fred said.

"We know you did it to the snakes this morning", George said.

"But we did not see you hexing them", Fred added

"Which makes us think", George said.

They spoke together, "that you had entered the serpent's pit."

Harry chortled, "Minions, I am not giving my secret to you."

They both huffed at him but he went to his room and slept peacefully.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N- **Hey guys, I am very happy with the amazing reviews I got. Thank you all.

I want you all to suggest a name for the new Order. I am open to suggestions.

This chapter has been edited by Hypergym.

* * *

**The next morning**

Harry woke up, bright eyed, about an hour before dawn. He started pelting his dorm mates with stingers. After being thoroughly peppered, the boys rose growling out their vows to tear apart the one who had disturbed their slumber. They found Harold Peverell with his wand raised and smirking at them.

Ron grumbled, "What is the meaning of this, Harry?"

Harry beamed at him, "Good morning, Ron. I just wanted all of you to enjoy this beautiful morning with me. Won't all of you fine blokes join me for some fresh air and exercise?"

Seamus asked him, "Are you barking mad, mate? It is not even dawn yet."

Dean who had rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, found himself being hoisted by his ankle and yelped. Harry turned to them and said sternly, "I want you all to be ready to go running and come meet me down at the lake in 10 minutes. You fail and you will find yourself hanging upside-down from the highest window of the Gryffindor tower." He released Dean who crumpled onto his bed.

Harry disappeared to the seventh year dorms. A moment later, he ran out being pursued by Lee Jordan. The seventh year had his dreadlocks replaced with a blond poufy hair-style, his eyebrows were thick enough for birds to nest in them, his beard had grown so long that he had to wrap it around himself so that he would not trip over it and he was wearing the very latest in the way of an elegant evening gown. Fred and George followed Lee howling with laughter, while Lee was yelling, "Come back here and undo this, Peverell!"

10 minutes later, the boys from the fifth year dorm, still bleary eyed, reached the Black Lake and started running behind Harry who was going at a brisk pace. Ron and Neville, who had been training all summer under Moody's supervision, were making a good go of it. Dean and Seamus, however, needed some more encouragement.

Harry pulled out his wand and peppered them with more stingers, "GET YOUR REAR IN GEAR! GRANDMOTHER AUGUSTA CAN RUN FASTER THAN THAT!"

Properly motivated, Dean and Seamus started making an honest effort. After two laps, Dean and Seamus were all in. Harry sent them shambling back to the tower.

Ron and Neville lingered. Harry dived into the lake and started swimming accompanied by the giant squid. Neville joined him after sometime but Ron remained at the banks, not willing to risk himself to the perils of black lake.

After an hour more of swimming and other exercises, Ron headed back up to the tower to catch up on his sleep. Neville trod off to the greenhouses. Vikram Joined Harry. They practiced dodging and casting for sometime before Harry took his leave of the defence instructor.

He strode into the Great Hall eyeing the Ravenclaw table with interest. After making sure that there were no ghosts around or worse Peeves, he pulled out his wand and cast some extremely complicated spells across the entire length of the table and returned to the Gryffindor tower feeling satisfied. This prank of his would be remembered in the school for years to come much like when he had come to the school at the start of second year with Ron in the Flying Ford Anglia.

As had become the norm, he went to collect Susan from the Hufflepuff Common Room. He found Hannah already there. As she saw him, she asked frantically, "Did Luna really say that I fancy Neville?"

Harry wanted to laugh at the look on her face, but; preferring to keep his limbs intact, he chose the way Luna said it, "She said that you think he is delicious and he does not pay any attention to you."

Hannah blushed so hard that it looked as if she wanted to be anywhere but not there and muttered, "Oh Merlin... what must he think of me?"

Harry said to her kindly, "Neville is a good bloke but a bit innocent. He needs someone like you who would be possessive of him and keep him grounded. Just give him time and he will come around."

"Sage advice, if I ever heard it", said Susan who had just emerged, "so what spectacle can we expect today, Lord Peverell?" She had started to address him as Lord Peverell when she was trying to make light of the situation or being sarcastic.

Harry grinned at her, "All in a day's work, my lady." He offered his arm to her which she accepted willingly. Like every morning, he escorted her and Hannah to the Gryffindor table. Others soon joined them. As they came to the table, they were keeping an eye on Harry. It was clear that they were all wary of him.

Hermione, who had noted this asked Ron, "Did you boys fight again?"

It was Seamus who answered while wincing, "This one (pointing to Harry) became a drill sergeant today. Peppered us with stingers in the morning and woke us all up. Then he left giving us warning that we better be at the Black Lake in ten minutes unless we wanted him to come after us again. Made us run two laps around the bloody lake."

Hermione turned on Harry, "And why didn't you holler for me and Ginny, or Susan to join on the run?"

He looked at her innocently, "you expect me to enter the Girl's Dormitories?"

Susan snorted, "So the mighty Harold Peverell cannot send us a speaking patronus?"

He mock protested, "And raise all the girls in your dormitories? That's more than my life is worth, Miss Bones."

They kept bantering back and forth all during the breakfast until he was sure that all the students were in the Great Hall. It was all too peaceful when suddenly there was a mighty groaning sound and the Ravenclaw table grew legs and with great effort started walking out of the Great Hall freaking everyone out. A few students tried to follow it, some tried to undo the charm, and some tried to climb atop it but all in vain. McGonagall tried to undo the animation a few times but when it became clear that it required more power, Dumbledore joined her and together they were able to stop it from walking out of the castle. This had caused a huge mess in the Great Hall with food strewn all around, goblets broken as they fell on the floor and a few students had been taken aback and were in hysterics but there were many of them who were laughing, clutching their stomach.

Harry kept indulging himself in breakfast not even looking up but his mental shields were up. Mercifully no one tried to invade his mind in the quest of truth. When he looked up, his friends were giving him looks, Incredulity? Awe? Glare? He could not understand and so paid no attention to it. He found McGonagall looking at him sharply and had to work really hard to not laugh, knowing that would give up the secret. He looked at the time table and smirked. They had double transfiguration today with the claws followed by History of Magic attended by all houses together.

As they arrived in the Transfiguration classroom, he inaudibly and wandlessly cast an advanced version of the Homnum Revelio spell which could reveal if there was anyone, man or animal in a room. The results told him that a small animal was hiding behind the door. He mentally smirked. As the other students were entering and he was sure that McGonagall was hiding there, he entered at a run. As he was at the doorway, he somersaulted through the air and could see a blue coloured spell flying through the spot where he would have been if he had entered without looking. He recognised the spell as Animagus Revealing spell incanted as, "animagus revelio" and made the correct guess that perhaps McGonagall had some inkling of the fact that he was an animagus.

None of the other students had noticed the spell but saw him somersaulting through the air and waited to see him punished but McGonagall smirked knowingly at him and reached her table. She started addressing the students, "Today you shall be practicing the switching spell in which you will be paired together and switch one object with another."

She produced a box of wands and dumped it on her table and continued, "Each of you pick up a wand. None of these have a core so they are useless. While you are working in pairs, one of you will switch the wand in your opponent's hand with another object of their choosing and then it will be another's turn."

She produced a list and started calling out names, "Harold Peverell with Padma Patil, Hermione Granger with Stephen Cornfoot, Ronald Weasley with Mandy Brocklehurst, Neville Longbottom with Lisa Turpin, Seamus Finnigan with Sue Li, Dean Thomas with Isobel McDougall, Anthony Goldstein with Fay Dunbar, Michael Corner with Lavender Brown, Terry Boot with Parvati Patil and Elia Runcorn with Oliver Rivers."

As they started to practice, Harry had an easy time against Padma because her aim was off. Her incantation was perfect, her wand movements were precise but her aim was off by a few inches. After a few tries, he realised that she would not be able to do it then he told her, "why don't we take a seat and talk about whatever problem you may be facing."

She reluctantly agreed. The first thing she asked stunned him, "So Harry, how was Takshshila?". He was wordlessly looking at her but then recalled that she was a seer. He decided to tread cautiously around her, "Takshshila was good but I did not know that you were keeping tabs on me, Padma."

She grinned, "Of course not. We were visiting our great-grandfather who teaches there and we happened to hear from him."

In that moment, he realised who would have told Shravya Vahan about his adventures. He asked her, "So, Shravya Vahan is your great-grandfather?"

She shook her head, "No. But now let us talk about the switching spell and why I can't do it right."

Harry told her to cast and watched her wand movement and realised she was waving her wand a little too much which caused the aim to go awry and corrected her accordingly. In a couple of tries, she was able to switch the wand in his hand with a rope that McGonagall had given them. When it was Harry's turn, he casually flicked his wand and her fake wand was replaced with a snake. She yelped and threw the snake away towards McGonagall. McGonagall sternly looked at her, "What was that, Miss Patil?"

She stammered, "Prof... Professor, Harry switched my fake wand with a snake."

The Professor picked up the piece of rope and looked at it casually, "To me it looks like an innocuous piece of rope which I had given to you to practice with."

Harry was employing Occlumency and kept his face impassive but he realised that if he did not put an end to his pranking spree, he would start losing points. The rest of the lesson went quietly but he was again reminded that his year mates needed to be taught.

When he arrived for lunch, the twins were there at the table. They sat on either side of him and George said, "Harry mate, we have realised..."

Fred added, "that we can spend the whole week pranking..."

They both said, "we would never get you."

Fred passed him a little pouch of galleons, "Mate, here are the 100 Galleons we promised."

Grinning, he pocketed the pouch.

The class after lunch was History of Magic which was highly anticipated by the students. Professor Hughes had decided that all the students of fifth year would take her classes together. As such, all the four houses had turned up for the class. Harry was curious about it and wanted to see her reasoning for this exclusive arrangement.

As they entered the old classroom which was used by Professor Binns earlier, they found the room had been transformed. For starters, the lighting was better than it used to be, for another the black board looked to have been replaced and all the benches and desks which had been scribbled upon in the previous years had been replaced by more sophisticated furniture. The walls were covered with tapestries of important wizarding events, portraits of important wars and there was a dedicated frame where the most important events of history were shown.

As they looked around in awe and took their seats around the room, Professor Martha Hughes strode into the room and with a flick of her wand, the curtains over the windows closed and another tap made the projector start. She started addressing the students, "I have had a meeting with the Department of Education after my appointment had been confirmed. I told them that I was not going to teach Goblin Revolts all over again and again to students and gave a detailed description of my course content to them. Suffice to say that under the new administration, Griselda Marchbanks, elder of the Wizengamot and Governor of the Wizarding Examination Authority approved my request. Since it was late and the booklists could not be sent to you in time, I took the liberty of ordering the books for all of you."

She distributed the copies of the book and as was expected, Hermione was feverishly turning the pages trying to take it all in. Professor Hughes started again, "I understand that you may not be as advanced as the book requires but I will teach you all sufficiently to obtain your OWL and go on to NEWT if you so choose."

Harry risked a look around and found that not one of the students had gone to sleep. Perhaps it was a first for the class. Hughes was saying, "As I know, Professor Binns told you all about the history of Wizarding Britain, the formation of the Wizard's council and subsequently the Wizengamot including the Goblin Rebellion. I have divided it in five parts with the first being history of magic in general during the ancient time i.e. before or around Merlin. Second years will be taught about the formation of the Wizarding Council, the International Statute of Secrecy, the establishment of Gringotts, the witch hunting in the middle ages, the third year curriculum will be focused on the goblin revolts, the ban on experimental breeding and a few other prominent events of the 16th and 17th centuries, the fourth year will be taught about the modern history. In the fifth year, you would study History of magic in which you will be taught about the rise and fall of Dark Lords throughout history."

It was Oliver Rivers who asked the question everyone wanted to, "Professor why do we need to study about the dark lords, their rise and fall?"

She looked around the class and found everyone was hanging on her words, "in all these centuries, we have faced a lot of Dark Lords who had their own agenda of world domination and used petty excuses to amass an army of fanatics behind them. Whichever Dark Lord you talk about, they cared more about their personal gain than the objective they sought to achieve. Even the last dark lord had his own agenda and the wizarding sheeple followed him blindly."

Malfoy rose and sneered, "They were imperioused."

She shot a stinging hex at him and icily said to him, "None of you are allowed to speak while I am teaching in the class. Next time I find one of you speaking out of turn, I will hang you upside down from the ramparts of the castle. I and everyone here know just how imperioused they were."

Harry had to smirk at this. Professor Hughes was doing something that he had planned to do anyhow. She was opening the mind of those who would be future leaders of the wizarding world towards the folly of wizard kind, its stupidity and she was not afraid to call out those who had been death eaters but he also feared that she was painting a huge target on her back. He would have to think about it later.

This was the first time that students had not been sleepy after leaving the History of Magic classes and Hermione was perkier than others, "This was the best History of Magic lesson that I have had like ever. While Professor Binns knew history he did not teach us half of those things."

Everyone shared her sentiment but no one chose to speak letting her keep talking. The truth was that this lesson was the best that they had. Harry listened to everything that she said but his mind was on something else.

Hermione went to the library and Ron went with her while Neville followed him to the Gryffindor tower. As they were nearing it, Nearly-headless Nick drifted up to them, "I would not go that way if I were you. Peeves is waiting to topple the bust of Pericles on the next person who happens to go that way."

Harry decided to have a little fun with the Poltergeist. He and Neville were almost upon the place where Peeves was lying in wait and before he could notice them, Harry shot a feather light charm at the bust and then casually walked forward. A second later the bust was going to fall on them and they both caught it and hefted it easily as if it were made of parchment. After securely placing it on the floor, Harry turned to the Poltergeist, "Peeves prank any one you want but do not jeopardise their lives or I will be forced to take action against you."

Peeves blew a raspberry at them and cackled, "Potty Potty Potter!"

Harry sighed and pulling his wand, he waved it in an intricate motion while incanting under his breath and phantom chains appeared in the air with which he tied the poltergeist. Peeves tried to disappear, to vanish the chains or otherwise escape from it but nothing worked. He started bawling, "Potty not fun... Potty not like Peevsie's little joke."

Harry had to laugh at his antics and he turned to the poltergeist, "Promise not to put anyone's life in mortal danger and I will free you otherwise no one can free you from these chains."

Peeves eagerly nodded. Harry flicked his wand and the chains disappeared. Peeves ran from him as if he was being chased by a pack of rabid animals. Neville was looking at the display but chose not to say anything knowing Harry would not tell anything to him.

**The next morning**

Harry woke up early the next morning. Just like the morning before, he started peppering his classmates with stingers. As they grumbled, he gruffly ordered them to be at the lake in 10 minutes and left. As they arrived at the lake, Harry was there already halfway through his first lap and they joined him. This morning when Dean and Seamus wanted to return to the dorm, Harry stopped them and then with some appreciation from him (read stingers) the boys started doing push-ups. After they could do no more and left, Harry finished his other exercises including swimming and was returning when he found Daphne Greengrass out of the castle. Surprised, he asked her, "Miss Greengrass, what brings you here at this hour of the morning?"

She shrugged, "I woke up early and found that the morning was too beautiful to miss, I came out for a walk. Care to walk with me?"

Since Harry had no other work at that moment, he joined her.

Harry asked her what had been on his mind for a long time, "Miss Greengrass, why did you sneak into the hospital wing that night?"

Daphne inwardly blushed but kept her facial expressions vacant, "First of all call me Daphne. I wish to be your friend and you calling me Miss Greengrass makes me sound like a stranger. To answer your question, I was intrigued by you since I was a child. Something which I guess happened with everyone who was of our age. I grew up reading about the boy-who-lived and there was a book series about your adventures, something that became the favourite bed-time story books for all of us. I knew that you would attend Hogwarts with us and fervently prayed that we would be in the same house. Then you arrived at Hogwarts wearing rags, glasses connected with tape, malnourished and too small for your age. It was like a jolt of reality to all of us. I lost interest but I still wanted to see what kind of person you are. You know, there were so many stories and rumours about you that it was hard to find the truth among them. When I saw you sitting on the stool under the sorting hat, I wanted to know Harry Potter, the orphan who had lived away from the wizarding world and not the boy-who-lived who is a stuff of fantasy."

Harry had been listening intently and was still confused, "It still does not explain why you would sneak into the hospital wing."

She smirked, "Think about it, Peverell. In your first year, you rejected the friendship of Draco Malfoy who was an important student because of his father and family wealth. No one in the house wanted to cross him. While the Greengrass family is powerful in its own right, we do not usually go looking for trouble. I may be in Slytherin but I have never been actively involved in house politics and Malfoy was in the thick of it. so you reject his friendship, then you get on the Quidditch team in your first year, breaking a century old record. Malfoy tries to get you in trouble but it just backfires on him. Then at the end of the year, Slytherin stands to win the House Cup and Dumbledore gives last minute points to the Golden Trio..."

Harry choked, "Golden... what?"

She smirked, "Golden trio. That is what people called you three. Anyway, you and your friends earned those last minute points and Gryffindor trumps Slytherin by 10 points to win the House Cup for whatever reason. Then the second year, you come to the school in a flying car, which is still talked about and you do not get expelled for it. Petrifications start to happen and Malfoy cannot stomach that you are being given credit for something you are not. Then at the Gryffindor Slytherin match, you fly circles around him in that match with a broken arm and Malfoy becomes unbearable. I had wanted to become your friend in the second year but the way the entire school lined up against you, I could not approach you. Third year, you have a mass murderer after you and then Malfoy gets injured by the Hippogriff. He continues to be a git to you and throughout the year, you keep getting better. Your broom gets destroyed and is replaced by the best broom out there, something that gets his dander up. The entire house is trying to sabotage you and ruin the chances of Gryffindor for the Quidditch Cup so I don't think that any of your friends would have appreciated a snake trying to talk to you or become your friend. Then you already know of the debacle that was 4th year. However at the end of the year I realised that we should do what we want to. I wanted to be your friend and I was worried after I over-heard your friends talking about you being in a magical coma, so I had to enter the Hospital Wing to see that you were alright."

Harry said nothing for a long time, considering all that she said and finally turned to her, "I understand your reasons. Now tell me Daphne, what is the current situation in the Serpent's pit like?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "And why does that interest you, Harry?"

He shrugged, "I want to cut off Voldemort's (she shuddered) support base. Most of the House would stand behind him because they have no option. I have had met some very interesting people over the summer who taught me that we must not divide people by branding them. Just because you are wearing Green and Silver does not make one evil any more than wearing Red and Gold makes one good. It is our choices and the kind of person we are that decides so. I want friends in the serpent's pit who would stand with me when we are fighting for the future of the Wizarding World."

She nodded, "That is one of the reasons that I wanted you to come with me on the Hogsmead Weekend."

He smirked, "What is the fun in that? If we are making a statement by our actions then by all means, you and your friends are welcome for dinner at the Gryffindor house table tonight. You will be well received. However before you do that, please be assured that no harm would come to you for it."

She nodded and as Harry cast the tempus charm (checking the time), he cursed himself, "Got to run, Daphne or a crazy witch is going to flay me alive."

He took off at a run while she leisurely strolled back to the dungeons to find Tracy sitting on her bed, her face lit in anticipation. He ran all the way up the Gryffindor tower and moved like lightning performing his chores. When he used the map to locate Susan, he saw that she was already in the Great Hall. Going down went a lot faster than going up. When he strode into the Great Hall minutes later, he found Susan and Hannah, sitting at the Gryffindor table, talking with his friends.

As he was eating and breakfast was near completion, Neville asked him, "Umm... Harry, are you alright?"

Harry cocked an eye brow at him, "Why do you ask, mate?"

Ron answered, "we have become quite used to seeing some spectacular prank in the Great Hall at breakfast, so we were expecting something you know... big."

Harry scowled, "Have I ever indicated that I did any of those things?"

Nobody said anything after that however Harry decided to let them know of their new guests at the dinner table that evening after the classes. He whispered to them, "Guys meet me on the right side corridor on the third floor where we met Fluffy in our first year, after class. There are things that we need to discuss."

Everyone nodded, except Susan and Hannah who had no idea who Fluffy was. They decided to tail the others when the time came. Luckily, they had single period Charms with the Claws and single period Defence with the Lions thereafter.

In Charms that morning, Professor Flitwick asked them to practice Incendio for half an hour. Harry did it fluently for a few minutes before Flitwick signalled him out and had him cast all the charms that they had learned and then excused him after an hour. Since he had an hour to kill, he helped his other house mates to cast properly.

Defence lesson was next and the class had not even taken out their books this time. They were eagerly waiting for the defence instructor who strode into the class and led them to the practice range that he had set up. As the class made themselves comfortable, he started addressing them, "As I found out last class that most of you have no formal training in defending yourself, I have decided to teach you all the art of shielding today. Shielding comes handy in a duel as you all would agree however there are too many things about shielding that you must know. If your shield is not backed up by all your power, you would need to spend more energy in erecting shield after shield as the basic shields that you know would not be able to hold against spells cast by a wizard more powerful than you. Who will volunteer for this lesson?"

A lot of hands went up and the defence professor called out, "Harold Peverell and Ernie McMillan."

As they both took their positions, he gave his instructions, "Mr. McMillan will cast the most dangerous spell that he knows and Mr. Peverell will shield it. Likewise after Mr. McMillan is able to shatter Mr. Peverell's shield then Mr. Peverell will cast."

Harry stood lazily with his wand at his side. McMillan raised his wand and yelled, "REDUCTO!", and the REDUCTO curse travelled towards him. a split-second before it could impact, Harry flicked his wand and whispered under his breath, "Protego.", and a solid protego was in front of him rendering the reducto ineffective. Ernie started casting the reducto with abandon but he was not able to pierce his shield. After about 20 tries, Vikram told them to stop and instructed Harry to cast. McMillan raised a shield before Harry could cast and Harry had to smile. The defence instructor had not forbidden using shield piercing hexes and Harry sent an over powered shield piercing hex which shattered Ernie's shield. Harry called out to him, "Raise one again, Ernie."

Ernie again raised a shield and this time Harry sent an over powered Bombarda which blasted his shield apart. With a flick of his hand, Harry's wand went back into his arm holster. Vikram was addressing the students, "As you all saw, Mr. Peverell who is more powerful in terms of raw power sent an over-powered Bombarda and Mr. McMillan's shield could not stand against one of them. This is a limitation to the basic shields but they would hold against an average wizard nonetheless."

He called Ronald and Justin and told them to cast at each other and their shields held against each other although Ronald looked more experienced and his endurance was substantially higher.

After demonstrating his point, Vikram set them to practice the shield charm amongst themselves arranging them in pairs. He paired them as he liked irrespective of houses and pitted Neville against Harry whispering, "The way I see it, only you two can stand against each other to any extent and the lesson would have some meaning for you otherwise it would have been a lesson wasted."

Harry and Neville practiced shielding which was useless anyhow since Harry preferred to dodge or side-step more than shield and Neville too was inclined in that direction. Still they obediently practiced the shield charm so as not to make others suspicious or resentful that they considered it beneath them. Neville was powerful but he was not putting his whole power behind his spells while Harry was using high powered spells just to check Neville's endurance. He was able to stand against Harry for a long time with his shield being shattered after 20 or so spells while Harry was able to keep his shield erected longer. But he noticed that Neville was starting to put more power behind his shields every time. After an hour they were all tired and Vikram dismissed them with a reading assignment to be completed before the next class. While he never allowed a book in class, he was not averse to his students studying between classes.

**Daphne's Point of View**

When Daphne returned to her dormitory, Tracy was waiting for her. As soon as she saw Daphne she said with mock sternness, "Spill."

Daphne feigned innocence, "What are you talking about, Tracy?"

Tracy glared at her, "I am not an idiot, Daph. You never wake up this early. As it is I saw you getting ready as dawn was breaking and I followed you out of here. I saw you meeting Peverell on the grounds and as I did not want to disturb your meeting, I returned. Now tell me all the juicy details."

Daphne sighed, "It was nothing juicy at all. He just asked about why I had sneaked into the hospital wing in June and asked what the political scenario in the snake pit is like. Oh, he also invited me and my friends to Gryffindor table for dinner this evening, something about making a political statement. So, I guess we are going to brave eating with the Lions this evening."

After that the day had been pretty ordinary and she eagerly waited for the evening.

**Third Floor**

Harry led his friends to the third floor corridor and as he led them through the door behind which Fluffy had been, he pulled out his wand and cast some wards over the door and then locked the door with a flick of his wand. For good measure, he stunned the portraits in that room.

He conjured a seat for Susan and himself and sat while the others kept standing looking at him. After a few moments, he said, "Are you guys sure you want to remain standing? We might be here for a while."

Hermione pointed out the obvious, "There are no other chairs here, Harry. Are we supposed to sit on the floor?"

Harry looked at Ron and Neville incredulously, "Are you both wizards or not? Where is your Gryffindor chivalry? Your ladies are standing and you blokes cannot conjure chairs for them?"

Hermione and Susan swatted him on the back of the head at the same time, while Ron fumbled with his wand and Neville just stood there, blushing like idiots. After a few seconds, the two boys had conjured four chairs and the meeting began.

Harry looked each one in the eye, "This is a meeting about the upcoming war and forging alliances with students in the school. As you all know Voldemort (only Hannah shuddered) is recruiting people while the general wizarding population does not believe that he is back. Even if Minister Longbottom has started making changes in the ministry and Madam Bones is doing her best to prepare the Aurors, we know that they will outnumber us. As such, in the event that Hogwarts is invaded we will be hard-pressed to defend ourselves from any such attack. I am willing to teach basic defence to students so that they are able to defend themselves and their friends if the need arises. I will be looking for allies in every house and while I can be sure of support from three houses, it is the House of Slytherin which worries me most. The house is not entirely evil and not entirely good but divided. While many of them are children of the Dark families but even some of those do not wish to be forced into the service of the dark side. Some of them are from neutral families and as such, it is my intention to recruit them to stand against Voldemort and be our eyes and ears in the Serpent's pit. To that effect, I have asked Daphne Greengrass with her friend to join us at the Gryffindor table for dinner this evening and I expect none of you will have any issue with it."

He noticed every one's expressions. As he had expected, Ronald was frowning and perhaps he would blow his lid over it. Hermione was thinking about the ramifications of such an alliance and perhaps was leaning towards his decision. Neville was sitting relaxed and Harry knew that he understood the reasons for this decision and was supporting Harry. Hannah was likewise silent and not saying anything but he could not decipher Susan's emotions- anger, jealousy, or scared.

Susan was inwardly fuming. She was not oblivious to what happened around her and she had noticed the looks that Greengrass gave to Harry when she thought no one was looking. Susan did not have one iota of doubt in her mind that Daphne had set her sights on Harry. She understood the need to align the Snakes with them but it did not mean that she had to like it however as Amelia had drummed it into her, sometimes one had to work with those they didn't normally liked. She would watch Daphne and if she felt that the other girl was making a move on her Harry, she would assert her claim. Perhaps the time was not far off when she would have to tell Harold Peverell that he was hers and no one else could lay a claim on him.

Ronald did not say anything despite wanting to remind everyone that Slytherins were all death eaters. Since his family was again sitting upon the Wizengamot and he had found a couple of Slytherins in his family tree, he had realized that they were not all bad. It was a hard egg to swallow but he had to concede that not all of them were evil. Now with a war coming, they would need friends and may be with the initiative Harry was willing to take, they would be able to form some alliance in the Serpent's pit. He decided to just sit and watch for now.

Harry dismissed the meeting soon after that when he realized that none of his friends were going to object. They all proceeded to lunch in the Great Hall. They might not have realised it but they had just conducted the first meeting of the new order which would rise to fight against Voldemort and eventually bring him down.

As they were getting to the Great Hall for Lunch, Harry sighed realizing that today was Friday which meant that Quidditch trials were this evening, something that he had sorely missed for the last year.

At dinner that evening, Harry sat at the end of the table farthest away from the Staff table waiting for Daphne and her friends. Susan sat on his right, Neville on his left with Hannah on Neville's right and Hermione and Ron sat across from him. Daphne entered as dinner was just getting started and made a beeline for the Gryffindor table. Hermione and Ron shifted two spaces down the table and Daphne and Tracy sat in the vacated seats.

Harry turned to Daphne, "Daphne, let me make the introductions. This is Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley scion of the House of Weasley, Neville Longbottom- heir of House Longbottom, Hannah Abbott- heiress of House Abbott and Susan Bones- Heiress of House Bones. Everyone this is Daphne Greengrass, heiress of House Greengrass and the charming lady accompanying her is Tracy Davis, heiress of House Davis."

As the introductions were being exchanged, Fred and George approached them.

Fred said, "And perhaps we should introduce ourselves seeing ickle Harrykins does not feel the need to do so..."

George added, "We are Gred and Feorge, pranksters extraordinaire."

They together said, "At your service."

Fred turned to Daphne, "Did we not try to change your hair colour in your 2nd year?"

George finished, "And you reversed it on us?"

Tracy laughed while Harry scowled at them, "Minions, leave us."

The twins mock-bowed and went to sit with their friends. Harry realised that everyone in the Great hall including the professors were looking at them intently. Perhaps it was the first time that a snake sat with the lions.

Before they could proceed further, Malfoy who had entered the Great Hall interrupted, "What do you think you are doing here Greengrass? This is not the Slytherin table."

Harry replied to him coldly, "And where is it written cousin that one can only eat at their house table? The Hogwarts charter states clearly that students can sit at other tables during meal times except for the Welcoming and Leaving feast including any other feast which may occur during the year."

Malfoy turned to him while his hand was sliding towards his wand in his robes, "I was not talking to you Peverell."

As he pulled his wand out, he found 5 wands trained on him and his lackeys while Harry just sat there smirking. Before the situation could escalate any further, Professor McGonagall intervened, "What is happening here? Is there a problem Mr. Peverell?"

Harry shook his head, "No problem Professor. Just Draco Malfoy was trying to pull his wand on us."

McGonagall turned to Malfoy, "Mr. Malfoy, if you ever try that again, I will be forced to put you into detention.". She turned to the others, "The same goes for all of you."

Dinner was passing peacefully when Harry found a little Ravenclaw standing near their table and glaring at Daphne. He cautiously asked her, "Is there any problem, Miss..."

The girl gave Daphne a cross look, "Daphne, have you told Lord Peverell about your little sister?"

She turned to Harry, "Hello Lord Peverell. I am Astoria Greengrass, younger daughter of House Greengrass."

He replied kindly, "So Miss Greengrass, why were you glaring at your sister like you want to have some words with her?"

Astoria grinned, "That is between me and her. I just wanted to make your acquaintance, Lord Peverell. I will see you later."

Harry asked Daphne, "Is she always like this?"

Daphne replied, "pretty much". Tracy was inwardly smirking at what Astoria would do to her sister for keeping things from her.

The dinner was spent with them talking about things in general and nothing of substance was discussed. The dinner though had sent a message to the Great Hall. Harry Potter was ready to make new friends, even in the Serpent's pit and Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis were under his protection.

**The Quidditch Pitch**

Harry was on the quidditch pitch, dressed in his quidditch robes, waiting for the trials to start. He was standing on one side with his broom in one hand. Angelina called to the crowd assembled, "Please form lines. Those who are here for the trials of Beaters get in one line, those for Chasers in another and those for Keepers in a third line."

After they had lined up, she called Harry forward, "I am going to call the chasers and it is your duty to unseat them up there with the twins assisting you at times."

He nodded, satisfied with being given some work. He took to the sky and was followed by Fred and as the trials started, he started hitting bludgers towards those taking the tests. In the first wave, all were unseated almost the moment they began. He kept hitting the Bludger too hard and did not realise his mistake until he knocked Dean Thomas off of his broom when the other boy was about 10 feet off the ground. Dean did not suffer any injuries but it was evident that he would not be participating in the trial anymore.

Whenever his Bludger connected with anyone, it gave them bruised ribs. So at the end of the Chaser trial, there were at least 10 with bruised ribs, two crashed shooting stars, and some very disgruntled looking Lions.

In the trial for beaters, he sat on the side-lines and watched while others tried. The newly elected chasers Ginny Weasley and Demelza Robins were trying to score on the hoops while they tried to bring them down. Ginny flew beautifully, flowing like water in the air and dodged everything that was sent at her by the beaters. Watching her fly, Harry made a mental note to order a Nimbus 2001 in advance for her birthday. The way she was performing, she needed her own broom.

Finally, two beaters were able to stop the chasers from scoring and they were Fay Dunbar and Jack Sloper. The keeper trial had been hard but at last Ronald Weasley had made the cut after he demonstrated that he came from a family of talented quidditch players. This new Ron had intrigued him a lot since he was more confident now and was more tolerant of views opposite than to his own. The only similarity that remained was that he could not help but put his foot in his mouth from time to time. He had been impressive with his feat- perhaps owning a Nimbus 2001 and being an accomplished wizard had made the changes to him.

After being selected, they had a team practice, just to see how well they were playing with each other. The training had been invigorating especially after two months of being away from his broom. While others practiced, he had waltzed around the pitch on his broom practicing all the moves that he knew- the sloth grip roll, the barrel roll, the wronski feint and a few others that he had learned. He wanted to let go of his broom or perform the stunts he had learned aboard the Marichika but he saved them for later, perhaps during a match.

When the other Gryffindors headed back to their tower, Harry left under his cloak for the chamber of secrets to practice his spell casting. Pundariksh was already at the entrance of the chamber waiting for him. As they entered, they started practicing spell casting for an hour during which he tried all the spells that he had learned or had marked for his use. The mystic was efficient in helping him in any way possible. He was grateful to Pundariksh for fortifying the walls to withstand any backlash knowing that his spells otherwise would have collapsed the room easily. He conjured dummies and duelled with them which would keep raining hexes on him and forced him to dodge. After sometime, as they were about to leave the chamber, Harry produced a camera (he had procured one during the last month) and handed it to Pundariksh, "Will you take some pictures for me?"

As the mystic agreed, he transformed and the mystic's expression made him grin. The mystic captured some images of his animagus form and then Harry transformed back. He said to the mystic, "Please have them developed and send them to Ambar with a request to register my animagus form from India with the ICW so that no one can find out about it easily."

He also produced a stack of letters which he handed to the mystic and they left the chamber thereafter. Harry decided to take the route to Gryffindor tower in his snow-leopard form. Since he knew his way around the castle, there was no fear that someone would find him. He regally stalked through the shadows to the tower until he ran into her.

Luna Lovegood was roaming the corridors bare footed and her radish ear-rings were missing too. It looked like she was looking for those creatures that she had talked about or something but Harry could not understand why she would be roaming around with her feet bare? As she saw the snow-leopard, she perked up and came to him to pat his head. Harry gave a low growl which she mostly ignored and kept petting him for sometime before she said, "Good Boy Blizz", and went skipping away.

Flummoxed, Harry returned to the tower after transforming back to his human form in an abandoned corridor.

**Serpent's pit**

As Daphne and Tracy returned to the serpent's pit that night, Draco Malfoy was waiting for her with a few friends of his. As they entered, Draco sneered, "Greengrass, are you trying to betray Slytherin House?"

Daphne calmly answered, "Do you have anything to prove your allegations, Malfoy?"

Draco answered albeit calmly, "You are befriending Harold Peverell who is the enemy of Slytherin House. Are you planning to sell us out to him?"

Daphne inwardly sighed, "Malfoy would remain an imbecile as he always was". Outwardly she adopted the ice-queen mask and said icily to him, "Draco Malfoy while you may think of yourself as his nemesis, you are no more than a fly to him which he can swat anytime. However he is not an enemy of Slytherin House and he has never antagonized any of us except when we gave him trouble."

Draco shouted, "He is the public enemy of the Dark Lord and the Slytherins have always supported him."

Daphne still calmly said, "Since when does your Dark Lord have a claim to Slytherin House? Does anyone even know of his ancestry? I am sure no one names their children as Lord and certainly no family ever has been called Voldemort (everyone gasped or shuddered). So unless you know of his ancestry, please explain to me why we would owe allegiance to him? I distinctly remember that House Greengrass has never done fealty to him unlike some who left his service when he was vanquished by a toddler."

Draco's face went purple, "Don't you dare to speak against my family like that, Greengrass. House of Malfoy is one of the most important houses."

She thought that it was high time that Malfoy was put in his place. She retorted, "House of Greengrass is an Ancient and Most Noble House descended from the Reverent House of Le Fay. We are some of the original families left from the age of War mages unlike yours which fled from France as refugees and may not ever return on pain of death."

Draco drew his wand and was immediately disarmed by one of the older Slytherin prefects, "there will be no duelling in the house. If you want to challenge her then do it the proper way."

After that the students went their way while Everly, Jugson and Dryden approached her. Jugson curtsied before her, "Heiress Greengrass, can we have a word?"

She nodded and Dryden cast a privacy charm around them. Everly started, "Greengrass, as you well know the Houses of Dryden, Everly and Jugson are vassals of House Black. With Harold Peverell becoming the Lord of Black, our loyalties are with him as being our liege lord. We need a way to get into contact with him. As you are his friend, would you introduce us?"

Daphne contemplated this for a second and then asked, "So, you want to change your loyalties to him. Do your families know about your changed allegiance? How can I be sure that you are not planning to capture him or harm him?"

Jugson replied, "We know there are questions that will be asked however we are willing to answer all of these questions if he will listen to us."

She nodded, "I will relay a word to him about it but it is entirely his choice to agree to your proposal or reject it."

**Head Master's Office**

This morning Harry woke and found that Neville and Ron were already awake with their wands in their hands and welts on their arms He asked Ron, "What are you both doing up this early?"

Ron scowled, "We thought that we would pay you back for all the stingers you peppered us with and woke up half an hour ago but none of our spells have reached you no matter what we did."

Harry laughed, "That would be because I have shielding wards around my bed."

He had been summoned to the Head Master's office as he had reached the Great Hall for breakfast and as he entered, the Head Master asked him enthusiastically, "Had a good week, Harry?"

He grinned widely, "It was probably the best yet, Head Master. For once no one in the castle is trying to kill me or conspire against me."

Dumbledore chuckled, "Let's not jinx it then. I am sure with the pranks and your classes you are having a fantastic week already. Now Harry my boy, I have called you here to talk to you about going to Gringotts. It is imperative that we do not waste more time and retrieve it."

Harry nodded, "I am of the same opinion sir. How are we going to Gringotts?"

The Head master looked at him incredulously, "You can apparate in and out of the castle, you can ride a hippogriff and you are asking me?"

Harry nodded, "All true, Head Master, but, we have to maintain appearances. I am sure Tom's spies are trying to watch everything that we are doing. Wizarding Britain is already preparing for a war and I fear that is enough to make him wary of everyone. You are without doubt the wizard he fears the most while he wants to kill me due to the prophecy."

Albus nodded, "So what do you propose?"

Harry said, "Let's go to Gringotts and then we will decide, Professor."

Dumbledore whistled and Fawkes soared into the air trilling. Dumbledore and Harry caught hold of his tail feathers and a second later, they were standing outside Gringotts. Harry walked into the bank and to a teller, "I am here to see Griphook."

The goblin immediately took them to Griphook's office where the Goblin received them, "Lord Peverell, Chief Warlock Dumbledore."

Harry addressed the goblin, "Griphook, what is the status of the catapults? Are they ready to be taken to Hogwarts?"

The goblin nodded, "Lord Peverell, the catapults have been assembled as you had wished and are ready to be taken to Hogwarts. Do you have people with you who can efficiently operate them or you need to hire some goblins for the task?"

He smirked, "No Griphook. I have some people who will operate it but I want you to include the manual for operating the machines. Now as to the next business, I am here for the Chalice. Have you realised what it is?"

The goblin nodded, "We know what it is. If we did not understand the severity of the situation, I would have penalised the Lestranges for it however doing that now would put them on alert."

Harry nodded, "Let us not tarry then, Account Manager Griphook. Please fetch the chalice to me."

Griphook pushed a button on his desk and a young goblin entered. Griphook barked orders to him and turned to Harry, "while we wait for the chalice, is there any other business you would like to have taken care of?"

Harry smirked, "As a matter of fact, there is. What happened to those suits of armour I commissioned to be made out of the Basilisk's skin?"

The goblin replied, "They are ready as you had instructed Lord Potter. Since they are made from the skin of a magical beast, there is not much we could do with it but we have added altering charms which would make it fit the body of those who wear them. Would you like to take them with you or do you want us to send them to the recipients?"

He mulled this over for a minute. Then he pulled a piece of parchment from his robe along with a quill and wrote a list of names. He handed the list to Griphook. "I want to send the suits of armour to these people on the list and I want two dozen more suits of the Basilisk skin for which I will send you another list of recipients soon."

The goblin took the list and at that moment, the young goblin returned clutching a box in his hands and handed it to Harry. Harry pulled out his wand and opened the box with a spell. Inside was a beautiful golden cup engraved with the Hufflepuff badger. Harry could feel the evil coming from it. He gingerly handed the box to Dumbledore. He cast a spell or two at it and declared, "This is indeed a Horcrux. Now we are a step closer towards vanquishing Tom."

As they were leaving Gringotts, Harry heard someone call him, "'Arry."

He turned to find a silver haired, blue eyed witch gliding towards him. She hugged him lightly and pecked him on both cheeks, "'Arry, 'ow are you?"

Harry smiled at her, "I am good Miss Delacour. How are you? How come you are in Wizarding Britain?"

She enthusiastically replied, "I joined 'ere to improve my Eenglish. Bill 'as been 'elping me."

She then turned to Dumbledore, "Professor Dumbledore, 'ow are you?"

Dumbledore smiled at her, "I am fine, Miss Delacour."

Harry took their leave with a nudge from Dumbledore and they took the floo from the lobby of Gringotts to the chambers assigned to House Peverell in the Wizengamot. Once in the Ministry, Harry liberally employed charms on himself changing his appearance with his hair turning to blond, his cheek bones high, his eyes steel grey. Thus disguised, he followed Dumbledore to the lowest level of the ministry.

He could see visual distortion of the order guard lurking under a disillusionment spell outside the department of mysteries and passed him nonchalantly. When they entered the department, Croaker met them just inside of the entrance, "Lord Peverell, Chief Warlock."

Harry nodded to him while Dumbledore opened the conversation, "old friend, we are here for the prophecy."

Algernon led them to the Hall of Prophecy and Harry stumbled as he entered the hall. The ambient magic in the hall was over-whelming. Kroaker led them to a shelf and pointed Harry towards a prophecy orb, "Pick that one, Lord Peverell."

Harry looked at the orb which had a slip attached to it, "Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, June 1980."

As Harry picked up the prophecy Kroaker erected a privacy ward around them. While they watched, the chief unspeakable brandished his wand and a replica of the orb was replaced on the shelf. Harry gave him questioning looks and the Chief Unspeakable shrugged, "We are laying down a trap for him to come. Whenever we are ready to bring him into the open, spread the word that you are coming to pick up the orb and when he comes he will be walking into an ambush."

Harry openly smirked, "It is a good plan. We will have to do it soon."

Dumbledore directed his attention to the orb, "Now would be as good a time as any to listen to what the prophecy says, Harry. Tap your wand to it."

Harry pulled his wand and tapped the orb and Sybill Trelawney's voice started emanating from it:

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

Harry did not say anything for a few minutes but sat in contemplation and then started, "so it means that I will have to kill him if I am to live? Are you sure it does not apply to anyone other than me?"

Dumbledore said gravely, "I believe so, my boy. Your parents had defied Voldemort three times, you were born at the end of the seventh month, and he marked you as his equal when he gave you that scar. The only other possibility was Mr. Longbottom but you are the one in the prophecy since he chose you. And I do not believe it will end without you killing Tom once and for all."

Harry nodded, "Head Master since we have removed the orb now, we can remove the order guard from the prophecy. The unspeakable security should be enough to keep him deluded that the real thing is still here."

Dumbledore nodded and they took a floo to the Black Townhouse from Croaker's office where Sirius met him in the entrance hall. As he saw Harry, he said agitatedly, "Pup, there are some people who say that they are your friends and are here at your invitation."

Harry nodded, "Some associates of mine I called to help me."

Himvat and two other mystics were sitting in the entry hall and Harry this time saluted him, "Dharm aur maan."

As the mystics returned the gesture, Harry levelled his wand at them, "How did Guruji take the masks off those free-loaders?"

The mystic smirked, "He melted the masks off their faces."

Harry sent his wand back into the holster and sat with the mystics for lunch while Dumbledore brought him up to date on what the order was doing. He started with the ministry telling how the ministry was better functioning now, how the revamped administration had won the confidence of the public, increased Auror Patrols, sightings of Aurors in Diagon Alley and other places of prominent importance gave them a sense of security, how Frank had ordered Knockturn Alley to be raided.

When they came to the subject of Knockturn Alley raids, Harry jokingly said, "Damn, it will be bad for business since House Black owns most of the shops down there. Guess I will have to find some honest business owners then."

Everyone chuckled at his statement. As they were done with lunch, Harry presented the Hufflepuff cup to the mystics telling them to get it exorcised and then return it to him at school.

**REVIEWS PLEASE**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N- **Thank you for your reviews guys. I am elated.

Thank you Hypergym for the editing.

* * *

**Hogwarts**

Harry returned to the castle an hour before dawn on Monday morning. He used a portkey which Dumbledore had prepared and provided to him.

The destination point was near Hagrid's shack where he found Black Storm grazing and hunting wild rabbits. He spent some time with the hippogriff before he returned to the dorm to see what the situation was.

He found his dormmates still sleeping and huffed out his disappointment. "What?" he thought, "Just because I'm away for the weekend, they think they can slack off?" Harry quickly realized that he needed to teach them what happens when they let their guard down. So be it. How many times did it take for Harsh and Vari to finally get it through to Harry anyway? After making some "arrangements", Harry made his way to the lake to start his workout.

Two hours later, Harry returned from his morning workout refreshed and invigorated. As he entered the common room, he found Hermione, sitting in her favourite chair in front of the big fireplace, reading a book. Spotting her there, he asked Hermione innocently, "Good morning, Hermione. Have you seen Ron this morning?"

She placed her finger in the book, then looked up from her reading, "Good morning, Harry.", Then frowning, "No, I haven't seen Ron at all today. I thought about going up there to wake him up, but then I remembered that I had this book to read and it just slipped my mind. I thought he would get my attention when he finally does decide to get up."

Harry adopted a most serious expression, "Then let us go and find what the boys are doing." While he talked, he had his hands behind him waving and undoing the spells he had cast before his morning work-out. The two of them climbed to the top of the boy's dormitories, where the fifth years slept. They found the boys, still in their beds, looking rather grumpy.

Ron bellowed, "Harry! What have you done?"

Harry answered, "Hmm... let me see... Five laps around the lake, three laps swimming across the lake, about a hundred push-ups, 40 or so Russian push-ups and some duelling practice with Professor Vikram. Why do you ask?"

Neville who had been gritting his teeth seethed, "you know what you have done, Harry. You charmed us to keep sticking to our beds and placed some wards on this dorm so we could call no one to our help."

Harry scowled, "I would thank you to not tarnish my reputation, Neville. I have done no such thing."

Dean bawled, "Then explain why we could not leave our beds?"

Harry cheekily replied, "Maybe because you could not be bothered to get up and now you are making excuses for your lazy self."

Harry's taunting was more than Seamus could bear. Without thinking about how he had been trying to get out of bed for more than an hour now, He lunged at Harry and to his surprise found himself out of bed, standing on the floor.

Harry glared around the room, "So, you all were saying?"

Hermione turned to Ron tersely, "Honestly, Ronald. Do not make excuses for your laziness."

Harry, with a big grin, went to bathe and change into his school robes before going to pick up Susan and go down to breakfast. As he emerged from the bathroom, Ron confronted him.

"Mate, this was not right." he growled.

Harry shrugged. "You are all responsible for this. You know how perilous the times are and yet you guys are sleeping-in, oblivious to all danger and responsibility. You might think that Hogwarts is safe, but; it won't be for long and we have to be ready to defend it when the time comes. You people are not in prime condition. You won't last in a fight".

He turned to Dean and Seamus. "You two! You can't even run two laps around the lake. How can you expect to duel and survive? How would you do that?"

He turned to Neville and Ron. "You have both been training this summer under Mad Eye Moody and yet here we are. You have not even taken his mantra to your heart. 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' What happened to keeping an eye on everything around you? You had the very best training available and now you are squandering it all by not practicing." After he finished laying into them, he left the Gryffindor Tower for the Badger's Hole where Susan was waiting for him.

Susan mock glared at him. "Where were you Peverell? I tried to find you on Saturday but you never returned from Dumbledore's office. In the evening, one of your friends told me that you had left for London. You didn't even have the decency to tell me."

Harry sighed. "Susan, can we talk about it later? I just had a fight with the 5th year Gryffindor boys and I would rather not have another one".

Her tone changed immediately to concern, "Why did you guys fight?"

He whispered, "I'll tell you all about it later, just not here. Third floor after class".

Hannah emerged at that moment and asked him, "Where is Neville?"

Harry raised an eye brow at her, "I did not know that he was joining me here."

Susan grinned, "Well yesterday, Neville found some of his Gryffindor courage and asked her if they could become friends, you know? Like I want to know you better and would you go to Hogsmead weekend with me type friends."

Harry smiled knowingly, "Oh? That is news indeed. I guess Longbottom found the Lion in him." Offering his arm to her, he escorted her to the Great Hall.

When they arrived in the Great Hall, they found the other boys already there. They were grumpily eating breakfast while Hermione was tersely glaring at Ron.

Harry asked her, "everything alright, Hermione?"

She tersely said, "Ron told me about your fight and I was just telling him that you are right."

Harry inwardly sighed. If his friends were going to fight among themselves, he would rather have let them sleep.

Since classes were starting soon, he whispered to them, "Meet me at the right wing, 3rd floor, after classes. We need to resolve this."

The first class was transfigurations. Professor McGonagall again gave them transfigurations to do and explained how they could work in a fight. Today she was starting to teach them the inanimatus conjurus spell which was a spell to conjure inanimate artefacts which was easy for the four because they had spent the summer doing it. She set them to conjure wooden blocks and they all sat doing it.

With the first flick of his wand, Harry produced a heavy block of wood which was evenly cubical in shape. He then proceeded to vanish it and then conjured it again. After he got bored of conjuring the same wooden block each time, he conjured a large block of solid stone. He then turned it into a dog and animated it to run around the room on all fours. Everyone looked at the transfiguration in awe, knowing that was something that was taught at NEWT level. Even then, not every witch or wizard was powerful enough to make it work like he did.

Since the period was Double Transfigurations, at the end of the first period, the professor gave them objects to turn into opera glasses. That was something which was part of the normal curriculum. Before she dismissed the class, she assigned them a 2 foot parchment essay on the inanimatus conjurus spell and its uses.

Harry groaned inwardly thinking of having to write a 2 foot parchment but then Professor McGonagall also had to ensure that her students were able to obtain the desired OWLs.

They proceeded to lunch and things were beginning to change after they had time to cool down.

Dean and Seamus approached him, "Harry, you are right. Starting tomorrow we will be there at the Black lake before dawn.

Harry nodded, "I'm glad to hear it, mates." Then, turning to Seamus with a grin, "Seamus, you are good at blowing things up. How would you like a special assignment?"

Seamus eagerly asked, "What is it?"

Harry grinned, "How would you like to blast things?"

Charms class with the Snakes was likewise easy. Professor Flitwick asked them to practice things they had learned already in the previous years since anything could come up during the OWL exam. After getting bored of practice, Harry spent the rest of the period helping his friends. As they were leaving, he also assigned them two feet of parchment on the Impedimenta jinx and its uses.

**3rd floor**

The six of them arrived at the 3rd floor and Harry started the meeting, "Guys, when I arrived in our dorm this morning, I was really upset that not one of you had bothered to get out of bed. Now, I am sorry that I overreacted, but; you know what is at stake and you must start taking on some responsibility. There is a war brewing. I can't fight Tom Riddle and all of his supporters by myself. If Master Auror Moody were here, he would make all of you run ten laps around the lake for insubordination. Like it or not. There is going to be some fighting. You are going to be in the thick of it. It is on you to do everything you can to prepare for it."

Hermione asked him, "Harry, do you really think Dumbledore would let us fight? You may be an accomplished master but we are still school kids. We cannot hold our own against one of the members of his inner circle."

Harry scoffed, "Hermione, you are a most capable witch. You have both knowledge and the power to use it. To answer your other question, Dumbledore would never deliberately put any of us, his students, in harm's way.

But, he is also wise enough to know that the unexpected is what happens in war. If any of us oar all of us should find ourselves in danger, it is better to be prepared to fight than it is to be helpless. I agree 100% with Dumbledore; we do not want anyone to perish for lack of skill. We will meet again here tomorrow for I have some news."

Herbology was the last class of the day. Professor Sprout worked them hard as they reviewed all the plants which they had learned about in the past four years. As the students were cleaning up and preparing to go, Professor Sprout quietly asked Harry to stay after class. While everyone else headed back to their common rooms to get a start on today's essay assignments, Harry made his excuses and trundled off to a separate greenhouse with the professor.

On the way, she explained to Harry how she wanted to observe him as he looked after the special plants that he had brought back from India. She explained that tending those plants without a partner was far too dangerous and nobody else at the school could help her. They took turns, tending the plants while the other stood back and watched. It did not take long, but dragon-hide gloves, protective goggles, ear mufss and extreme care were all required.

**Great Hall**

As Harry sat for dinner in the Great Hall, Hedwig flew down to him. He knew that Sirius would not send a letter when he could just talk through the mirrors and the same went for Remus. There was no other person that he could think of who would send him a message with his owl considering that all of his friends were with him. Before he took the letter, he cast a detection spell to make sure that it was not jinxed. Satisfied that the letter was just a letter, he took it from Hedwig and opened it to read:

_"Harry_

_On Friday, I was approached by the heirs of Houses of Dryden, Everly and Jugson asking for an audience with Lord Black._

_They are vassals of House Black and want to acknowledge their new liege lord._

_While I do not know of their motives yet I suspect that they are not willing to join the service of He who must not be named._

_I did not make any promises to them but assured them that I would send word to you and you will do as you see fit._

_They could be of use to you in bringing a number of seventh years to your side in the upcoming conflict._

_Daphne Isabella Greengrass"_

Harry pocketed the letter thinking of a way to send word to those three without anyone else knowing.

But, that would have to wait till later in the week because with the full moon coming up in two days, he was needed at the country estate with Remus. He knew Sirius was planning to join the werewolf and keep him company and perhaps Harry could also do it and see the effects of his potion for himself.

**Next Morning**

The next morning, he got up and found the other boys were already up. He asked them surprised, "Did I wake up late?"

Ron shrugged, "No Harry. We realised that we should be readying ourselves. We had this false sense of security. With these castle walls, Dumbledore and you, it's hard to believe that Tom or his followers could ever get at us. But, it was Hermione that pointed out, you and Dumbledore can't be everywhere all the time. So if it ever comes down to us stopping them, we had better be ready. I had to agree with her."

Harry smirked, "Looks like you had some sort of awakening this summer. Come to think of it, you have not been fighting with Hermione at all. I remember how the two of you bickered over the smallest things. What is the matter, Ron?"

Neville snickered, "Our keeper has a thing for the bookworm."

Harry looked at Ron incredulously, "Is that true? If it is then you have another prank coming your way for hiding this from me."

Dean growled, "If we are done being mushy, can we go down to the lake? I have to catch up on my sleep later, you know."

Harry led them to the common room where Hermione and Ginny were waiting for them. Collecting them, he went out and started running around the lake followed by them. After two laps, they started doing push ups while he jumped in the lake followed by Neville. After they were done running, Dean and Seamus went back to the tower while Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Ron started spell casting.

**Potions Class**

The Slytherins and Gryffindors arrived for potions class and quickly found their assigned partners and seats. Snape called for homework and the students who had assignments quickly produced their scrolls and held them up along with the dunderheads who had failed to produce their summer assignments last class. With a deft flick of his wand, the professor summoned the scrolls and they arranged themselves into a neat pile on his desk. With the next flick of his wand, he distributed the marked scrolls from the previous class. Harry didn't even look at his scroll. He just put it in his bag and started setting up his equipment for today's work.

Before he put today's instructions on the board, Snape addressed the class, "the grades on these papers should give you a good idea of the grades you would receive if you submitted it for your OWL work. I was able to award a few O's and a handful of E's, There were a few T's.", he said while giving Neville and Harry a significant look. "As I have said, ", he continued, "I will only accept students who achieve an O on their OWL exam into my NEWT classes and that will close many doors to the rest of you dunderheads."

Malfoy snickered with glee, "Some people have got 'T'. I wonder who they might be?"

His speech done, Snape tapped the blackboard where the instructions for today's potion appeared. To Harry's surprise, it was the Draught of Peace again. Snape sneered at the class, "Now let's see how many of you dunderheads can get it right this time."

Harry produced a piece of parchment from his bag and with a tap of his wand, copied the black-board instructions. He compared the instructions with what he remembered from the previous class and found that the amount of moonstone was off and this would spoil the potion. Quickly, he raised his hand ostensibly to draw Snape's attention to him while inaudily drawing a privacy ward which included only himself and the professor.

Snape recognized the hand and asked tersely, "Yes, what is it Peverell?"

Harry responded, "Professor, we will not be overheard, I have seen to that. The amount of the moonstone in your instructions is incorrect. It will ruin the potion. Is there a reason you did that?"

Harry had to hand it to the professor. The man was a consummate actor. He continued to sneer and look contemptuous while he spoke, "Yes. I did that intentionally. I wish to know where they are sheep or do they think for themselves?"

Harry looked around the class. Most of the students were preparing their ingredients. Only Hermione, Ron and Neville had their books out. Harry nodded and took down the privacy ward.

A few moments later, Harry had his customary three cauldrons heating while he prepared the ingredients for his three potions. All the while, Snape hovered over him, asking him questions about the three different formulations, what substitutions he had made, what could not be substituted and how the ingredients interacted. Harry patiently answered each question as he continued to work without missing a beat. After this had been going on for some time, Snape looked up to see that almost all the students were watching him and Harry instead of attending to their work. While Snape continued to sneer and make sarcastic remarks, he seemed genuinely interested in Harry's brewing techniques and insight into the ingredients.

Snape directed his attention to the rest of the class, "I assume," he began in a tone that suggested detentions for everyone, "that you have all discovered a way for your potions to brew themselves? I will be awarding a T to every student who fails to complete their work today."

While the professor was distracted, Harry passed a note with the correct amount of moonstone to Daphne. Having read it, she just gave Harry a look that said, "That should be obvious" and got back to work.

With that, the class got their heads down and started brewing.

As class time was running out, there were a total of seven cauldrons which were emitting the characteristic silver vapour. Four of those were at the table which Harry shared with Daphne. Hermione, Neville and Ron had also succeeded at making the correction. Although Seamus had managed to get through class without melting his cauldron this time, his potion was emitting the same heavy, grey fumes that were coming from most of the cauldrons in the class.

As the students were bottling up their samples, Snape tapped the blackboard again, "Your assignment this week is to list all the ingredients of this potion. You will explain the use of each one. You will then research to discover which ingredients can be substituted, which cannot and the effect of each substitution."

While the rest of the class was groaning, Harry was inwardly whooping with joy. Snape had based the homework assignment on his work. While his classmates would have to spend hours with their noses buried in at least four different books, Harry just had to copy his notes and hand it in.

As they left the class, Hermione started in on him about the homework grades, "I got an O but I feel that I had not done my best work for this assignment. These grades could be the base for our grades in the OWLs. I mean we have some idea of where we are standing right now so that we know how hard we have to work from this point on to get the grades we need."

She was showing no sign of letting up, so Harry interrupted her, "Hermione, if you want to know what grade I got, just ask. I know you have already asked Neville and Ron's grades."

She hesitantly said, "If you don't mind, please?"

Wordlessly, Harry produced the scroll from his bag and handed it to her. On the top in right hand corner, O was scrawled with a comment, '_This is the best work that I have seen on this topic_'. She started reading the essay without even looking where they were going while Ron kept steering her towards the third floor with Harry and Neville.

When he reached the third floor, he found that the twins, Ginny, Susan, Hannah and Luna were already there. He did not remember inviting Luna to his circle yet and asked the Ravenclaw, "Can I help you in anyway, Luna?"

She said in her dreamy sing song voice, "Hello Harold Peverell. I was actually looking for Blizz."

Hermione asked, "Who is Blizz?"

Luna perked up, "Oh, it is a snow leopard I saw in the castle a few days ago and the Nargles told me that I would meet him here." She was giving a look to Harry which said that she knew his secret and he had to control his surprise lest others got suspicious.

Hermione was saying, "Luna, Snow leopards are native to the Himalayas and you certainly won't find one wandering in the halls of Hogwarts."

Luna just shook her head, "You are brilliant but close minded, Hermione. There is a reason you did not become a Ravenclaw."

The Ravenclaw drifted away while Harry was pondering how she seemed to know of things which no one knew about. He was sure no one knew about his Animagus form or what kind of animal he was but she knew it. She also knew about him visiting India, something that even his friends did not know. There was something about her that nagged at the back of his mind.

He banished the thought out of his mind as he concentrated on the people before him and things that needed to be done. As everyone had conjured their chairs, Harry started, "I called this meeting because things may change soon. Last Saturday, we achieved another step towards vanquishing Tom Riddle. I fear that when he realizes what we are doing, he will attack directly instead of hiding and waiting. I would give us six months before that happens."

Hannah broke in, "Tom Riddle? Who is that?"

Harry explained, "The birth name of our adversary is Tom Morvolo Riddle. He is a half-blood, offspring of a squib mother and a muggle father. He took the name Voldemort and cursed it so that people would fear to speak it, adding more fear and mystery to his evil, twisted existence."

They all paused in silence while the people who had not already heard this took in the meaning.

Then Harry continued, "Before Tom comes out into the open, there is something that needs to be done. I want you all to find out who will stand with us. Do not ask them openly but try to gauge their loyalty and make note of it. Then there is another issue of our preparations for war.

"The ministry has 70 active Aurors. There are another 150 currently training in the Auror academy. If they are able to complete their training and graduate before hostilities break out, that gives them 220 total. Add to that the survivors of the last war and we have a total of 250 trained, adult wizards at the very most.

"The other side, according to our most recent intelligence, is about 250 and they are recruiting. His supporters have hoarded a large amount of wealth over the last 14 years and now they are going to squander it all to fund his war."

"We certainly have financial resources to exceed anything they have, but we will not and cannot recruit people the way he does. Numbers don't tell the whole story either. We have formal training going on and some of the best and most powerful are on our side. And remember that when he fell the last time, nearly all his followers went running for cover like cockroaches when the lights are turned on. They have no back-bone. Most of them only serve him because they are terrified. He has about ten really faithful followers and they are all cooling their heals in Azkaban for now."

"Minister Longbottom is doing what he can but until Tom shows his hand, others might not believe us. Last Saturday, the Order devised a plan to lure Tom out into the open and that will change the dynamics of the war. We have at most 6 months ahead of us before Tom Riddle comes out into the open. When that happens, Minister Longbottom will be able to present a motion to give himself emergency powers to act as a General against the opposing forces. We need a force of our own to augment the Ministry forces if the need arises."

Neville said, "You are right Harry but we are talking about hundreds of students here."

Harry shook his head, "No. I am not allowing anyone below 5th year to join us. Even so, if Hogwarts is invaded, they will have to evacuate. I won't allow children to fight a war. As for each of you, it is entirely your choice."

Susan said to him firmly, "We Hufflepuff's are well known for our loyalty. I chose your side ever since the first time I saw you in the Great Hall. Others may leave if they desire, but I am standing by your side."

Neville said to him solemnly, "You do not even need to ask me about my choice, mate. We are god brothers and our family history goes back about a thousand years. Where a Potter goes, a Longbottom will follow."

Ron said, "I made a mistake once, I am not making it again."

The twins said, "Don't think that we are going to desert you, Prank Mage."

The meeting wound up quickly because some people had to get to their next class.

This was the first time in Ancient Runes for Harry and Ron. They strode into the room with Suzan and Hermione. The other students looked at them as if they had lost their way. Ron found a seat beside Hermione and Harry, catching a pointed look from Susan, stopped sauntering and walked briskly to an empty seat beside her in the front row.

Professor Babbling entered the class and beamed when she saw him, "Mr. Peverell, welcome to my class. And to you also Mr. Weasley."

She was teaching them about what they could expect in their classes and he had read ahead for her class. Runes theory was a subject where he had little knowledge but with his diligent reading he knew he could manage it. She showed them the third language which was taught before OWL year and he listened attentively, hanging on her every word. The class had been informative but Professor Babbling was nothing like Pawan. The mystic usually taught him the practical application, only explaining enough theory for Harry to get it right. By contrast, Professor Babbling taught them theory first. She told the beginning principles one usually employed while tending to runes and even had other students explain it. Harry liked that despite knowing his abilities she was not fawning over him but rather giving him time to breathe around other students. She knew her subject and any questions that Harry may have had were answered in the course of the discussion before he could actually ask her anything. She gave them an essay to write about a runic symbol and its uses.

Harry wanted to groan. He learned best by doing. Although he was now much better at writing than he ever thought he would be, he still didn't like it much. But, for a student, it was all part of the territory.

It was the end of the classes for the day. Harry remembered that today was the day of the full moon. He went to the Headmaster's office. The Gargoyle admitted him before he could even begin to guess at the password.

Dumbledore was sitting in his office behind his desk and asked him worriedly, "Harry is everything alright?"

Harry calmly replied, "Everything is alright Professor. I came here to ask your permission to leave the castle for the night."

Dumbledore asked worriedly, "Have you received any news?"

Harry replied calmly still, "No, Professor. It is House business and it requires me to stay overnight."

Dumbledore contemplated over this for a minute then said, "As long as you plan to return here the first thing in the morning and do not miss your classes, you are free to go. You should know that the goblins have sent a letter that they will be bringing in the catapults this Sunday. I wish to know whether you can smuggle them into the castle without anyone knowing."

Harry smirked, "I will get to it right now. In fact, you have given me an idea about how to evacuate students in case Hogwarts is invaded."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "Would you share your plan with me?"

Harry shook his head, "Not yet, Headmaster. Let me see first if this plan will work."

**Dorset**

The Rosier estates had extensive greenhouses. Between Griphook and Remus, they worked out that this was the best place to grow the alternative to aconite. The plantation was manned entirely by werewolves that Remus had befriended and hired. For the last 20 days, they had worked as an effective team, taking the facilities out of stasis, preparing the growing beds and planting. Already, the sprouts were well above the soil and growing rapidly. For these people, it was the first time they had been able to hold a steady job in spite of being known lycanthropes. They were not only needed but welcomed to work here and no one thought badly of them. Since they had come here, life had become better for most of them and they were being given Wolfsbane without any cost which was a welcome relief for all of them.

It was there that Remus Lupin had decided to come to stay for the Full Moon night because he wanted to keep others safe from him. The manor house which Harry had given to him as his Steward had a fortified room but Remus wanted the other werewolves to know that he was no different from the rest of them.

Sirius had arrived in the evening to keep his friend's company. He was already transformed in his dog form, waiting for Moony to transform. The other werewolves had chosen different parts of the estate for their transformation while Sirius was here.

Suddenly the moon emerged from behind the clouds and Moony started to transform. Sure the transformation was painful but his friend looked to be in control, unlike when he had turned on Sirius to kill him at the end of Harry's third year. As Moony completed his transformation, he threw his head back and howled at the moon.

Before the echoes of Moony's howl died away, there was an answering roar. A roar so mighty that it chilled Sirius to just listen to it. He knew the sound of course. It was the roar of a member of the cat family. A really big cat which was among one of those sitting at the top of the food chain. What baffled him was how one could be here? There was no zoo, reserve or circus nearby that one could have escaped from. Putting his canine senses on alert, he tried to listen for the signs of the approaching predator. Moony was also alert, looking for the predator.

Sirius saw a blur approaching them fast and before he could process what he was seeing, the lightning fast animal was upon them like a blizzard. It was a magnificent creature with snow white fur and leopard spots all over its body. It was as big as a Siberian tiger and looked regal with its strong limbs. It started circling both of them cautiously, crouched and ready to pounce.

Moony saw the danger and lunged toward the snow leopard. With a swipe of its mighty (claws carefully retracted)paw, the cat swatted the werewolf aside, knocking him to the ground. Sirius immediately rushed forward to engage their foe so that Moony would not come to any harm and the snow leopard jumped knocking Sirius to the ground. As Sirius fell, it put its heavy paw on the shaggy dog pinning him down and gave the roar again, signalling its triumph over him. Moony who had managed to get to his feet again started to attack but the snow leopard just moved out of the way and pinned him down.

The werewolf was able to throw him off and stand again but this time the snow leopard started licking the werewolf surprising Sirius. As Sirius watched, the werewolf sat down contentedly letting the snow leopard lick it over and over again.

After sometime, it approached Sirius and started showing him the same affection. At that moment Sirius saw the eyes of the leopard and began to grin or the closest to grin that a dog can do. There was also the smell which was particular to a person, his son.

This was Harold Peverell who was a freaking animagus!

After that the three of them walked around the property, bumping into each other playfully and sometimes just getting into a scuffle. One thing was sure however that the snow leopard Peverell was more powerful than both of them put together, being a top of the chain predator. Merlin's Beard! James would be proud that his son had achieved such a spectacular transformation.

**Black Townhouse**

Harry had spent a major part of the night with the Marauders and then returned to the Black Townhouse. Since the Weasleys had moved out to the manor house and Sirius was staying with Remus, it was just Harry and the house elves. He took a few minutes to tour the place and see how the elves had done. Everywhere he looked there was new paint, new wall-paper, new carpet. The old gas lights had been upgraded to ever-burning globes. The panelling had been refinished. The woodwork and floors had all been refinished. The infestations were gone. In the kitchen, all the cookware was polished and hanging in order. The stone floor had been polished until Harry could see his reflection in it. The old fireplace looked like it was made of freshly hewn granite.

Harry called for the elves, "Kreacher, Winky." With two loud cracks, the diminutive servants appeared.

Kreacher and Winky were wearing tea-towels with the Black family crest, toga style. The male elf stood stiffly to attention while the female elf made a curtsy.

Kreacher croaked, "What we be doing for Lord Black?"

Harry beamed at the two of them, "You have done proud service to the House of Black. I am please with the condition of this home. Kreacher, you will be happy to know that the mission given to you by Regulus has been completed. Your old master can rest in peace, knowing that his sacrifice was not in vain. Winky, I am happy to see that you are looking well. Is life here agreeing with you?"

Winky squeaked, "Meaning no disrespect to Lord Black, Winky is still missing Master Crouch there being no help for it. But Winky be serving here and bes happy while there be work to be done."

"Well said, Winky. Your loyalty does you credit.". Waving his wand in a complicated gesture, Harry produced two large, beautifully crafted, gold lockets. They bore the Black family crest, engraved on the outside and were hanging from gold chains. He presented them to the two elves. When Kreacher opened his locket, there was a picture of Regulus on one side and a picture of Sirius on the other side. When Winky opened hers, it contained a picture of Barty Crouch Senior on it.

Harry said, "I wanted to thank you both and encourage you to keep up the good work."

Kreacher said, "Lord Black is most generous."

Winky said, "It bes a pleasure to serve Lord Black."

Harry dismissed the elves then called for Dobby. He asked his elf to fetch him a change of clothes. With dawn approaching, he threw a pinch of glittering powder into the kitchen fire and called out, "Gryffindor common room as he stepped into the emerald green flames.

**Hogwarts**

Harry stepped out of the common room fire and made his way up the stairs to his dormitory. He found his room-mates already up and getting dressed for their morning work-out. Today's exercises were downright brutal. Since the rest of them were taking things more seriously, Harry worked them all the harder. In the time it took the others to run three laps, Harry finished four. They then did crunches and push-ups until their muscles shook with fatigue and refused to give them one more repetition.

Susan and Hannah had joined them this morning and by the time they ended, Hannah was worse for wear cursing Harry under her breath for making them work so hard. They were all going to feel it. Having worked-out to their capacity, they then paired-off and practiced dueling. Harry and Neville told them that while shields definitely have their uses, no curse, jinx or charm is ever going to take effect if it can't hit. the two of them demonstrated dodging. They all practiced dodging while their partners tried to zap them with low-powered stingers.

When the sun was well up, Harry called a halt to it and they all returned to the castle to get ready for breakfast.

**The Great Hall**

Breakfast was a very subdued affair this morning until Luna drifted over to the table. Everyone quickly put down whatever they had in their hands to avoid any accidents which may happen. She looked at Susan intensely before she started, "Harold, do you know that Susan fancies you?"

Harry's mouth fell open while the others were snickering.

When Harry could not say anything for a few moments, Luna swatted her hands in the air and by way of explanation said, "You have an infestation of wrackspurts around you. There are very tiny so we cannot see them and they make your brain fuzzy."

Before Harry could answer her, she drifted away. Others were trying to keep quiet, covering their mouths and making an effort not to laugh knowing it would turn to full blown laughter. Harry looked at Susan who had bent her head and was blushing heavily. Harry tried to speak a few times but he could not find his words. Finally he decided to tackle the issue at a later time.

Breakfast was over and next up was Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins. This morning as the class arrived, Professor Grubbly Plank banished pieces of parchment to them to read and Harry laughed inwardly. The parchment was about the Yeti which was part of the course material for this year.

She started addressing the class, "Who can tell me about a Yeti?"

Harry raised his hand with Hermione and several others. She asked a few students who gave answers as were written in the pamphlet. It seemed that the Professor was not happy with what she was told because she kept shaking her head and asking everyone who had raised their hands.

Finally she came to Harry, "What can you tell me, Mr. Peverell?"

Harry smiled, "Professor, the Yeti are creatures of magic, sentient and are of human intelligence. They are generally about 12 feet tall, having pointed teeth, with thick, and coarse snow white fur all over their bodies. Their hair can be used as cores for wands and their fur keeps them warm even in the coldest temperatures as well as being excellent camouflage in their native snowy environment. They are generally known to reside in the glaciated and snow-covered regions of the Himalayas and are not found in any other part of the world. They have ape-like faces; their hands have opposable thumbs like human hands. They are capable of intelligent speech. They are not strictly carnivores either but rather prefer to eat whatever is available to them. While the ministry classifies them as extremely dangerous magical creatures, and rightly so, they are not dumb beasts. They generally stay away from humans, wizards and muggles alike. Contrary to what this pamphlet says, they are not mindless beasts. They are incorrectly classified as beasts by our ministry, but they are beings and are classified as such by the Ministry of Magic for Bharat."

Grubbly Plank had been furiously scribbling everything that he was saying and when he was done, she asked the obvious, "How do you know of them?"

Harry told her a half truth, "Some friends that I made this summer, told me about them."

She tilted her head to one side, "Oh? Mr. Peverell the detailed description which you have given us makes me think you might have met one personally. Even Newt Scammander had to copy whatever he was told or he was able to learn from others."

Harry did not answer her knowing it would invite more questions and the way the class was looking at him, he feared soon he would be hounded by most of them for information. The Slytherins in the class in particular were giving him curious looks.

Grubbly Plank was saying, "So, you have all heard the description of the beasts from Mr. Peverell here. I hope you have written it down because what Mr. Peverell told us is the most detailed description I have been able to find. Now I want you all to draw a sketch of the beast from the description."

The rest of the lesson, Harry worked on drawing a sketch of Raktaksh, the yeti prince who had given Harry a hair for his wand. When it was complete he copied the parchment, rolled up one of them in a scroll and sealed it with the seal of House Peverell and placed the sealed copy in his school bag. He handed in the other copy to the Professor Grubbly Plank as his assignment work. Since the rest of the class had not been able to finish the sketch, Grubbly Plank gave them homework to finish the sketch and hand it in the next class.

Harry realized that perhaps he had said more than he should have during the class and he especially did not want to be interrogated by Hermione right now. Having finished and handed in his assignment, he was packed and ready to go when class was dismissed. He took off for the castle at a brisk pace and ignored Hermione trying to get his attention as she called after him. He did not stop or slow down until he was in the Defence classroom.

When Hermione did catch up to him, she started thundering, "Harold James Peverell, why did you not stop to listen to me?"

"Miss Granger, please remember that this is my classroom and I do not tolerate any interruptions or outbursts as you just did. This is not your common room." Vikram said who had just walked into the room.

Hermione reddened and mumbled her apology to the Professor but kept glaring at Harry the entire time while the class room filled up.

Susan sat beside him as if chalking out her territory and his mind went back to Luna's words this morning. Surely she did not mean what she said.

Before his stay in the hospital wing last June, Harry had barely been aware of Susan's existence. Between him mooning over Cho and Ron's interference, he might not have noticed if Susan had attempted to run him over with a muggle Lori. But, now that Harry thought back, he recalled that Susan had tried to approach him more than once. She had always defended him, even when her fellow Hufflepuffs and her best friend had turned against him. And since last June, she had been requesting his company and spending every minute she could with him. Amelia had taken him in so that he would never have to go back to the Dursleys again. She had also been instrumental in getting Sirius exonerated. He sighed wishing that he could talk to Rachael. She would have been able to help him understand what to do about this.

Professor Vikram had started his lesson, "in the last lesson, we found how shielding is important and what are the limitations to a basic shield. While I expect that you all would have practiced it but I do not attach much hope to it."

The students were all looking everywhere except at the professor, as if they could escape his scrutinizing gaze by doing this.

He continued, "Today we are going to practice shielding again however this time you will be facing dummies which would fire high powered hexes at you to test your endurance. Remember one lesson though, the one who would remain standing is the one who would survive a duel."

In the practice range, they all started shielding dutifully and it was good practice for all of them. This year, the defense lessons were the best out of all five years for the single reason that the teacher was highly competent and was taking special interest in teaching each of them how to correct their aim, to cast or shield more effectively.

As the lessons ended, Hermione cornered Harry, "Harry where did you meet a Yeti?"

He innocently replied, "I already said that I was told about them by my friends. Besides, there was very little detail beyond what is generally known, if you know where to look."

Hermione knew it would not be a good idea to pressure him until he caved in because he had started to keep secrets and was very possessive of them.

**Lunch, the Great Hall**

Lunch was a normal affair until Harry saw Hedwig flying straight to him. She landed in front of him and Harry immediately offered her some bacon lest she decided to chastise him. She took the bacon, then dipped her beak in his pumpkin juice while she waited for him to take the letter and then flew off to the Owlery.

The letter was from Sirius:

_"Pup,_

_I know that the snow leopard was you. I did not recognise you sooner because you frightened Moony and me. We were too busy saving our own hides to recognize your scent right away. Once I saw those emerald orbs I knew it was you._

_I know you have no class after lunch, so it's time to use the old invisibility cloak and the map to release the marauder inside you. We are waiting for you in the shack for an important ceremony the naming ceremony of the snow leopard this evening._

_Love,_

_Padfoot"_

After lunch, Susan, Hermione and Hannah went to Arithmancy while Ron dragged Harry off to the library.

They used the rest of the day to finish all the home-work that they had been assigned. In the evening, Harry lost Ron as usual. This time, instead of going to the chamber of secrets to practice his family magics, he donned the invisibility cloak and went out into the grounds and towards the Whomping Willow so that he could go to the Shrieking Shack. He fired a light stunner at the knot-hole and the restless motion of the tree ceased. With the invisibility cloak safely stowed in his robes, he transformed into his snow-leopard form and stalked through the opening under the tree. It was not that he did not trust his friends. He just wanted to keep this to himself for now.

**Shrieking Shack**

As the great cat, his heightened sense of smell told him that Padfoot and Remus were there in the shack. He stalked forward soundlessly.

When his head appeared through the doorway, Padfoot leapt from behind the door on him and started head butting him playfully. Remus broke up the silliness by firing a stinger at Harry's hind-quarters. The two of them resumed their human forms.

Remus mock glared at him, "You achieved such a transformation and you kept it a secret from us, Prongslet?"

Harry grinned, "Says the blokes who kept the same secret for near 17 years?"

Sirius hugged him warmly, "I am proud Harry. Proud that you have become such a fine animagus and you achieved it before we did. How long have you been working on it, anyhow?"

Harry casually replied, "Only for two months, Padfoot."

Sirius was amazed, "Two! How can you finish it in two months? I do not remember a lightning storm occurring in the last six months at least and that is important for one to become animagus."

Harry openly smirked at the both of them, "It happens when one knows such resourceful friends as I do. They have their own version of the transformation which is hard and brutal but short and effective. I did not have to wait for the storm or any of the other things. It's all magic."

Remus who had listened to everything jovially said, "Okay enough talk. Now it is time to name the snow leopard."

Sirius said, "Last night I saw you as a white blur. Just like a white blizzard moving like lightning and striking before I could think of ways to defend myself."

Remus agreed, "So, let's name him Blizz."

Harry's mind was in over drive with the name Luna had casually given him. How could she know that the marauders would choose this name? As far as Harry knew, she had no contact with the Marauders or even knew about them. He was sure he was missing some important detail which was at the back of his mind and yet could not connect it.

After the naming ceremony was over, "Harry asked Remus, How did the trials go this month, Moony?"

Remus smiled appreciatively, "They went well. None of the test subjects complained about any of the usual side-effects which occur due to aconite poisoning. I do believe that this potion will put Wolfsbane off the market for the sole reason that it is not using Aconite. The fact that it is available at half the price of Wolfsbane will fill your coffers faster than you could imagine."

Harry shook his head, "Remus, this was never about money. I already have more than I will ever need. No, this is about helping you and others with the same affliction to live healthy and full lives. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that it is working. When we go to market with the ICW approved product, it will help hundreds who have been shunned or had to live as monsters because they could not afford the cost or the side-effects of the old potion. I suppose that my next research project would be to look for a cure so that they will no longer require a treatment of any sort."

After that, the meeting did not go much longer.

When Harry emerged from the opening under the Whomping Willow, he touched the knot hole and donned his invisibility cloak once more. As he was walking back to the castle, he spotted Hermione, looking about and entering into the broom shed. His curiosity peaked, Harry took up a position where he could watch the door of the broom shed and waited to see what happened next.

After about 10 minutes, Hermione emerged straightening her clothes and blushing. She produced a brush from inside her robes and started trying to straighten out her hair which appeared to be more bushy than usual. A few minutes later, Ron emerged from the broom shed, grinning like an idiot. Harry thought that if it had been Fred or George who discovered this, they would take the mickey out of Ron without mercy. But, this was Harry and he decided that he would keep it to himself... for now.

Looking around carefully, Harry found no one else around. He started to fly towards Gryffindor tower. He was getting better at propelling himself forward, but he was still nowhere near as fast as he would like to be. He arrived at the level of the third floor window and it took another four minutes and an extraordinary effort to levitate to the seventh floor window. At one point during the flight, Peeves came drifting by. From the concealment of his cloak, Harry said, "Boo!" in his ear and the poltegrist fled. Perhaps nobody had ever frightened Peeves like that before.

**Saturday**

The rest of the week was pretty ordinary the date of the next Hogsmead weekend was announced which was Saturday next week.

This morning, Harry ditched his friends and found Vikram. Using the Marauder's map, the two of them explored the seven secret passages out of Hogwarts. They were working out a plan for the rapid evacuation of Hogwarts if the need ever came up.

There was one on the fourth floor behind a mirror which Fred and George had reported as being caved in.

They started by investigating the one which was located on the first floor near the great stair case. There was a section of the wall which was covered with a portrait of warlocks engaged in battle while being on horseback. One had to tap the horse's tail with his wand and the portrait would swing sideways and reveal a doorway. The doorway was large enough for 4 grown-ups to enter at once and led them to the edge of the Hogwarts ward line in Hogsmead. The three broom sticks inn was only a stone's throw away from where they had exited.

The second one was from the dungeons in the right most wing of the castle which was the farthest away from the main school. In a room which perhaps had not been frequented for a long time, there were a lot of portraits or paintings which looked grumpy likely because they had been left here to rot. One of the portraits told him how to access the secret passage from this room. There was a trapdoor in the middle of the room which was hidden and could be revealed with the Verdimillious jinx. Once visible, they would have to open the trap door by giving a password Rowena. The passage way could take three at once and opened at the edge of the Forbidden forest near the caves where Sirius had taken refuge once.

The third passageway was on the second floor where there was a statue of a unicorn. Twisting the Unicorn's horn would cause it to slide aside and stairs were visible. This one led to a small hill outside of Hogsmead which was at a pretty good distance from the village.

The fourth one was the way behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy which exited near the cottage on the hill.

The fifth way was the way on the fourth floor behind a mirror. It had been pretty spacious but it was caved in. Harry and Vikram went into the passage and found the cave in easily. They found that the roof was not entirely caved in.

The mystic cast some detection spells and then turned to Harry, "We can repair this way and put it to use again but before we do that we will have to use a number of runes to fortify the structure so it does not fall on any one. Since it is spacious, it can be used for a number of purposes."

Harry whole heartedly agreed and they started casting spells at the debris, clearing it away or transforming it. A few minutes later when they were done, there was an archway where the debris had been. When they exited the passage through the mirror, Harry put a spell on it so it would open only on giving a password and for now, he set the password Ganda Berunda.

They went to inspect the sixth secret passage which was situated on the fifth floor under the statue of the one eyed crone. One had to tap its hump with their wand and give the password Dissendium and the hump would open. The entrance was so tiny that only a thin student could pass through, like Harry used to be during his 3rd year.

He said to the mystic, "This way is a bust. Only a runt like I used to be can pass through it."

The mystic chuckled whole-heartedly, "I agree but let's see if we can do something about it."

The mystic tapped the hump and it opened. Then he transformed the statue into a slide which ended in the secret passage beneath it making Harry grin.

The seventh way was the passage to the Shrieking Shack from under the Whomping willow. Since Harry already knew its condition, they did not bother to check it.

**Headmaster's Office**

Harry was sitting across from Dumbledore, who was sitting on his favourite chair and his eyes were twinkling as always with a bowl full of lemon drop candies in front of him.

He asked Harry, "My boy, what brings you here this evening?"

Harry answered, "Headmaster, I spent most of today exploring the secret passages in and out of Hogwarts. There are seven of them. With Professor Vikram, we repaired the one on the fourth floor and secured the mirror with a password. The one under the Whomping Willow is rendered unsafe because of the tree. The one accessed through the witch's hump on the third floor is only big enough to accommodate a tiny witch or wizard. The other five, including the one we repaired can be used to move massive numbers at a time. I want you to make port keys to be used by a large group of people, preferably eight to ten people and if Hogwarts is invaded, we can divide the students in groups handing a port key to them which they can activate once they are out of the ward lines. I would recommend placing a person at the end of each passage with the port keys who would divide them into groups and hand port keys to them. Of course, each port key would transport them to a different safe-house, so that if a port key is compromised, it will not take the enemy to a place where students have taken refuge. There they can be looked after by people we will have standing by. From the safe-houses, the students can travel to their final destinations by floo powder or other arrangements can be made as needed."

Dumbledore proudly said, "This is a good plan, my boy. Now what about the catapults? Have you found someone to operate them?"

Harry shook his head, "Not yet. I am still trying to gauge the interest of students and take stock of their loyalties. When I have found some reliable people, I will introduce them to the catapults and teach them to use them. Tomorrow we have to smuggle the goblins into the school with the catapults and assemble them. Please send port keys to Griphook with Fawkes set to go off at the time of dawn breaking and the destination being the ramparts of the castle. There are not many students who will be awake at that hour."

Dumbledore nodded, "I will send the port keys to Griphook tonight."

**Lion's den**

When Harry returned to the common room, Hermione and Ron were sitting in the common room near the fire place, talking in soft whispers. For once, he thought that he should leave them alone but then realised these last few days he had distanced himself from others.

He hated to do it but he took a chair near both of them and asked, "What is it you two are discussing in such hushed whispers?"

Hermione asked, "Where have you been? We have not seen you for the last few days in the common room in the evenings. You return when it is late and then you are up before dawn and gone."

He shrugged, "Sorry Hermione but I cannot disclose my family magics to you. I am practicing my family spells in the evening."

Ron asked, "Where do you practice? We have not seen you in any of the rooms of the castle."

Harry said, "I cannot tell you that, Ron. If I did, what else is there that I can keep secret? It is sufficient to say that only I can access that place". Before they could ask anything else, he asked, "Where is Neville?"

Hermione scowled, "Like you, he disappears in the evenings. We don't know where he goes either. He told us once that he was working in the greenhouses, but when we went looking for him, we found that Professor Sprout locks all the greenhouses in the evening and does not open them again until dawn. So, we know that he could not possibly be there."

Harry thought about where Neville might have gone. Then a certain chance meeting with the said boy in the Headmaster's office came to mind. Perhaps Dumbledore was teaching him. He would have to discover for himself just what Neville was learning.

Harry had yet another thing to do. He had to find some new friends in Ravenclaw and include some of them in his circle. He knew Cho, Luna and Padma, but none of them were really his close friends. Other than that, he really didn't know any of them. There was a lot of work to do there.

**Sunday morning**

This morning Harry woke up and found that none of his friends had got up yet. As they were installing the catapults today, he decided to let them sleep. He got up and shouldering his broom he left the tower.

When he reached the top of the Astronomy tower, he mounted his broom and kicked off into the air. He streaked off toward the battlements.

The battlements were the outer walls of the grounds so they were quite formidable. According to "Hogwarts: a History", which Harry had actually bothered to read, they had been built and reinforced by magic. They were also extensively charmed with anti-intrusion wards and detection wards. Not only would someone attempting to enter over the walls be repelled, they would also be immediately detected.

He headed to the top where no students would go nor did they fly at this height on their brooms during Quidditch lessons. With his broom miniaturized and stowed, he began running along the top of the wall.

He heard a soft pop and in the next instant, he was facing where the sound had come from with his Ganda Berunda wand ready in his hand. He pocketed his wand sighing in relief when he found it was only Dumbledore and Neville.

Neville grinned at him, "Hi Harry."

Harry raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Dumbledore who said off-handedly, "As Mr. Longbottom is my apprentice he is entitled to know of what I am doing. Besides if we have more brains to think about a problem, we can have as many solutions."

Harry nodded understanding the logic behind his statement. As they waited for sometime more, Harry had to ask Dumbledore, "Do you know why they did not come at dawn as scheduled, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore shrugged, "They sent a missive with Fawkes that they would come sometime after dawn."

Harry sighed, "Is there a reason that you chose not to share that detail with me?"

Dumbledore smiled, "Because I wanted to ask the honour of a duel with you."

Harry bowed formally, with a grin, "As you wish Headmaster" and his wand was in his hand again.

This was an opportunity too good to be true. Duelling Dumbledore was something that would be as exciting as duelling with Vari.

He and Dumbledore took their stance and started circling each other. Suddenly Dumbledore shot a stinger at him which he side-stepped. Harry shot a stinger at the Grand Sorcerer in return which he swatted away. Harry started casting inaudibly, sending a barrage of the more lethal spells that he had learned in Sanskrit at the Headmaster. Dumbledore was still pretty agile for an old guy but he decided to try and shield instead.

With glee, Harry shattered the shields with over-powered hexes as soon as the Headmaster raised them. Dumbledore sent his own spells at him which he side stepped or dodged. With the fluency and flexibility that Harry had, it was unlikely that Dumbledore's spells would catch him unaware. Dumbledore sent the fire whip at him which he countered with one of his own.

The main difference between them was the speed of casting. Harry was casting at twice the speed of the Headmaster while the Headmaster was using his spells creatively. The Headmaster cast the green sparks spell at him as a distraction. Harry used the pitch black darkness spell rendering it ineffective and had almost stunned the Headmaster but his phoenix flashed in front of him. In that moment, Dumbledore forced Harry to jump aside to avoid he sickly looking pink coloured curse.

Once the Headmaster sent a reductor at him but Harry made no attempt to step out of its way however at the last possible moment, he vanished. Dumbledore looked around attentively but could not locate him.

Harry appeared in mid-air just above the Headmaster and sent a bone breaker at him. But Fawkes jumped in between them again and took the brunt of the attack.

Dumbledore sent an arrow at him. Harry conjured a brick in its path and stopped it. He sent the arrow back where it came from with a flick of his wand. Dumbledore started to transfigure the arrow into an animal, but before he could animate it, Harry cast Confringo at him which was taken by the newly transformed animal. Harry started running in circles around the Headmaster while casting at him with wand and without wand. He was a blur so neither Neville nor Dumbledore could figure out that he was casting with a wand and a hand.

Dumbledore was having trouble defending from such rapid casting and erected a wall around him making the same mistake that McGonagall had made. Harry animated the wall to grow hands and grab Dumbledore and pin him down. Dumbledore disappeared out of the holds of the wall undoing his jinx. Harry kept his wand out and was looking alertly in all directions when suddenly Fawkes flashed in front of him and a stunner collapsed him.

Dumbledore enervated him and said brightly, "My boy! That was the best duel I have had in years. I was expecting more from you but seeing the constraints of time, we will have to make do."

"It has been a long time indeed since we saw someone giving you a hard time Albus Dumbledore", said a regal voice and they turned to find Ragnok, the king of Goblins with a group of them.

"Greetings, King Ragnok", Harry greeted him, "May your gold flow forever."

Ragnok returned, "May your enemies bleed under your sword, Lord Peverell."

Dumbledore said to him, "I did not know that it was such an important task that you would come in person, Ragnok."

The goblin said nonchalantly, "Since Harold Peverell has made us his allies I thought I should come and see that these are installed properly."

In the next hour, they prepared hard points on the ramparts that would allow the catapults to be pivoted and aimed. They then assembled the giant slayers and mounted them. With their work done, they made the catapults invisible for the time being.

**The next week, Neville's POV**

The duel on the top of the battlements of the castle had been eye opening for Neville. The way Harry was fighting with Dumbledore was thrilling to watch. The way he had side stepped all his spells had left him amazed. The Headmaster was one very accomplished wizard and yet Harry was able to fight with him toe to toe. There was the way Harry had run circles around Dumbledore and his speed was blinding. He also realised that Harry was casting at such a pace that it did not seem humanly possible. His spells were inaudible and many of those were spells that he had not seen before. He had a fleeting suspicion that Harry had been casting inaudibly, something that Neville had learned to do but he was having a hard time doing it with complicated spells.

He also realised that the way he fought with Moody during the Summer was just a warm-up for him because if he had fought with the old Auror the way he had fought with Dumbledore, Moody would not have been able to stand up to him.

His own training with Dumbledore was easy.

The Headmaster had taught him how to detect wards and how to destroy them. Dumbledore warned him that destroying wards took a great deal of energy unless someone used rune stones with the counter wards to negate the ward stones. He had explained to Neville that in every ward, there was a central ward stone generally situated in a ward chamber while there were ward stones at the property lines which kept the wards rooted at those points. For someone to kill a ward, he just had to upend one of those stones and destroy them with a rune stone in turn.

The reason that trees were planted in a circle around a property was that ward stones were generally buried under the trees. The roots would push the ward stones deep into the ground and keep them tangled, immovable and hidden. This worked well for large properties such as country manors and castles.

Another ward scheme had rune stones in a central chamber. There were no peripheral ward-stones and the ward scheme could only be disrupted from the central chamber. These wards were simpler and nearly invulnerable, but they took far too much energy to be used for larger properties. This type of ward scheme could also be used to make a property unplottable.

Neville had also started to learn how to feel magic. Dumbledore had taught him that all magic leaves traces. Much trickier than detecting magic was learning to detect and discriminate between individual magical signatures. It was a reliable way to identify people. There were several ways for wizards and witches to change their appearance, including polyjuice potion, but no way to alter their magical signature.

Dumbledore was also teaching Neville how to control the amount of power he put into his spells while duelling. It was a useful deception to appear to be a wizard of ordinary power and conserve his strength in many situations.

The last week had been pretty ordinary. One thing that Neville had noticed was that the defense instructor seemed very closely acquainted with Harry and his capabilities. That was something that even Neville and Harry's other closest friends did not know. Then there were the rumours, floating about the school during the last week, about the details of Harry's powers. Students were beginning to realise that perhaps Harold Peverell had become something more than the runty, underfed, docile guy he had been in previous years.

The number of students who accompanied them on the pre-dawn work-outs had also increased. At last count, there were 15 of them and some of them were the girls, Susan, Hermione, Ginny, Hannah and somehow, Luna.

The Slytherins had come over to meet them at the Gryffindor table twice during the week. Malfoy was infuriated, seeming to take this as a personal insult but Malfoy was quickly becoming irrelevant in the school. The rest of the Slytherins ignored his ranting and simply brushed him aside.

Harry had also gained three allies who were scions of Dark families during the week in a meeting which had taken place in a room in the dungeons which Neville had not seen before. The room was very old, full of broken furniture and old discarded portraits. Harry had not taken anyone else with him except Neville saying that he planned to introduce them to others at the right time.

_**-Flash back starts-**_

Harry and Neville were already waiting in the room when the three entered followed by Daphne Greengrass.

The three of them sat on their haunches and bowed their heads, saying, "Lord Black."

Harry signalled them to stand and said, "Heiress Greengrass intimated to me that you were seeking an audience with me."

Jugson said, "Lord Black, we desired to acknowledge our new liege lord and ask a boon of you."

Harry replied, "Say your wish and if it is in my power, I will grant it."

Everly said, "Lord Black, as you know, our families have sworn fealty to the Dark Lord and as such they are bound by magic to serve him. But they have left our choice to us. We know of the motives of that megalomaniac and the extent to which he is ready to go to achieve his desires. He does not care for blood but only his dreams of world domination. He even kills his own followers if they dare to take a stand against him. We ask you to accept us as vassals of the House of Black as is right and proper."

Harry thought for a second and then said, "Do you all vow to serve the interests of your Liege Lord as he would do for you?"

They replied, "We so vow."

He further asked, "Will you do your Lord's bidding in return for his protection?"

They said, we will."

He proclaimed, "Then rise as Vassals of House Black. The house will serve and protect you as you will for this house. However if you betray your Liege Lord in anyway may Mother Magic smite you for your folly."

These young men were all from pure-blood wizarding families. Harry found to his delight that they all had formidable mind shields and well organized mindscapes. They were well-suited for work inside Slytherin house without fear of being discovered. As they were accepted, Harry gave them some instructions to prod other members of the House without overtly appearing to be serving him and to bring those to his side who could be swayed.

He also accepted Jugson's request to protect his father from persecution at the hands of the Ministry. This was conditional provided that his father did not indulge in muggle baiting, fighting against the ministry or commit any such crime as would be punishable by death.

_**-Flash back ends-**_

Today was the Hogsmead weekend and Harry had sent word around to many people of other houses to meet him in the Hogs head. Neville knew the agenda of the meeting was to talk about the oncoming war and to recruit the students on his side in case Hogwarts was attacked. Neville had sent word to his parents about this plan and Frank had agreed that students should at least be able to protect themselves.

The defense instructor was very good, perhaps the best in years but two classes a week was not enough time to teach them properly. Neville himself had talked to a couple of them and they had agreed that it would be at least worth it to hear what Harry had to say. There was one thing that Harry had flatly refused to do. He would not teach students below 3rd year. He said that they were too young and they would do better with the defense instructor teaching them.

Neville had yet to see the defense instructor teach a theoretical class. His approach was in fact celebrated by others. He had overheard Professors Sprout and Septima Vector talking about how the practical applications in the subject were helpful in teaching students to be more agile.

The Wizarding Etiquette classes which were optional from the second year up, were also attended by many of the students. Professor Cassandra Lester was very patient and taught about the wizarding world, its customs and traditions to students while she encouraged them to ask questions. All in all this was the best year yet.


	30. Chapter 30

**London**

The mystics had decided to postpone exorcising the chalice of the fragment of Tom Riddle's soul for now. They knew that besides the snake, there was one more horcrux out there. Taking immediate action on the cup just might alert Tom Riddle that they were on to him, causing him to take extraordinary measures to remove or protect his remaining horcrux. They decided to wait until they could locate and secure the last one and exorcise the two at once at a time of their own choosing. It was Dumbledore who had deduced that the great snake was the sixth horcrux, Harry being the seventh and the one that Tom did not intend to make. There was little chance that Tom would attempt to make yet another one. The last unintentional one stripped him of his power and his body. Trying again would likely damage him beyond the point of no return, not dead but not alive either and powerless.

The mystics had been warned against taking too direct a hand in the upcoming war by their seer. As it turned out, they were already stretched thin. There seemed to be an outbreak of small-time dark lords in Africa and the mystics were actively engaged in putting them down. Add to that the fact that Harry was the child of the prophecy and they knew better than to tamper with fate. They had already extended a helping hand by training and healing Harry. They could lend aid by exorcising the horcruxes and occasional assistance when asked, but that was it.

**Ministry of Magic**

Frank Longbottom had been meeting regularly with Croaker, Moody and Amelia, talking about the preparations for the war and security measures which could be implemented in the ministry to prevent death eaters from entering. They knew that there were marked death eaters among the ministry employees. They had all been relegated to positions where their decisions could not have far-reaching consequences. Their access to information was also restricted so that they could not learn or divulge sensitive information. There were a few reasons that Minister Longbottom had not acted to oust, arrest or quietly disappear the death eaters: he did not want to tip his hand that he knew Tom Riddle was back; as long as they were trying to remain undetected, they were not actively breaking any laws; their actions and movements were a reliable indicator of what Riddle was up to; certain random and subtle Legilimency could be very revealing of what the other side was up to; and finally, it was good to have a ready supply of guinea pigs to determine how well the anti-dark mark wards worked when the time came to test them. Additionally, even though the light side with their neutral allies now held the majority of the votes on the Wizengamot, the backlash from moving openly against the death eaters now would create friction and noise that would not do anyone any good. For now, letting Riddle's lackeys had the false impression that they were unknown and undetected worked to the advantage of the light side. Letting the oblivious fools who had not realized what was really going on believe what they will would just make harsh reality that much more shocking when the truth is revealed. Besides, those fools were no loss to the light side. They would not be any good in a fight anyway.

They had what they wanted for now. They had appointed Moody as the head of the Aurors. Scrimgeour was reassigned to head of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol and he had been given a free hand to subdue any dark activities which might be happening. Scrimgeour didn't grumble too much. He was happy to be back in the field with his boys as he liked to call them. He had been a ferocious Auror in the last war and if there was a war again, he sure was not going to stay behind a desk. For that matter, Moody was not sitting behind a desk either. The veteran auror was the toughest task master the recruits could have. From their very first class, he had started berating them for everything from their physique to spell casting. Whenever anyone tried to grumble, he would boast of his former protégées who had won much renown with a wand in the past. The likes of James Potter, Sirius Black, Amelia Bones herself, Rufus Scrimgeour, Gawain Robards, Frank and Alice Longbottom were just some of the more famous ones. His day would start with making them all run for 30 minutes then he would have dummies hexing them with bone breakers. There was not a day that some Aurors did not have a broken bone. In fact, St. Mungo's had posted a team of two healers and four trainee healers on permanent duty to the Aurors just to deal with training injuries. Of course, for magic healing, simple broken bones were hardly a debilitating injury. No sooner were the trainees healed of their injuries that they were put straight back to work. No, not on the practice range. That was for trainees who had managed to dodge or shield and remain unhurt. For the rest of the day, the healed recruits had to make the walk of shame to the Auror bullpen where there was lots of hard, humiliating, physical labour (no magic allowed) to help them to remember to dodge next time.

Lunches were huge. Nobody could work that hard and not want to eat a hippogriff. The afternoons were spent dueling, practicing casting and aiming of spells or working on infiltration. When Moody joined in for the duelling, he was relentless. He had managed to get the new leg to work as well as his own leg had ever worked and he had his dodge back. When each trainee was bested in turn, he taunted them that he knew a 15 year old that could duel better than them. The group was sharp and dedicated. They were improving fast, but there was so little time and so far to go. By the end of the day, every single trainee was sore, mentally and physically exhausted or Moody just didn't feel like he had accomplished anything that day.

One morning Frank was meeting with Amelia, Moody and Croaker to discuss something that was urgent. Croaker opened the meeting, "Two weeks ago, Harold Peverell came to the Hall of Prophecy with Albus Dumbledore to pick up a prophecy which concerns him and Tom Riddle. While they were there, we came up with a plan to lure Tom Riddle into the Ministry by leaking news to his followers that Harold Peverell is picking up the prophecy at a time of our choosing. When he comes, we will be ready for him. Part of our preparations will be to devise wards that will only affect those who have been branded with the dark mark, making it burn with ferocious heat and preventing them from apparating out. Our forces will be carefully concealed, waiting in ambush. Their orders will be to arrest and disable anyone who surrenders immediately and kill the rest. This plan should take a significant number of his most faithful followers out of commission in a single action, perhaps even arresting Tom himself".

Frank nodded, "That sounds like a great plan. What will we do with the prisoners? We cannot risk keeping them in Azkaban while the Dementors are guarding the place. Those foul creatures will defect and join Tom Riddle the moment he shows his face there. We don't want to hand his most faithful followers straight back to him. Dismissing the dementors is no solution. They will just join him all the sooner. Increasing the guard is no solution either. They will just be killed when the inevitable break-out happens and the dementors revolt".

Moody spoke up, "I understand that there are a number of his most faithful minions there now. I ought to know having put most of them there myself. Could we not thwart his plan by removing and hiding or executing those prisoners?"

It was Amelia who answered, "Yes, we could do that and deprive Riddle of no less than ten of his favourite lieutenants, but there is a problem. They are all scions of noble houses and if anyone ever got wind that they had been executed without due process, we would have a riot on our hands. What's more is we would likely push a few more families to the other side".

"Not all", said Frank, "the mad witch Bellatrix nameless has been disavowed by the new Lord Black. There is one we could eliminate with impunity".

"Not quite", Said Amelia, "She is still the sister of Narcissa Malfoy nee Black and it would be noticed".

Moody blustered, "Let's lay a trap then. When he raids the prison, we'll blow the whole thing up and eliminate the whole bunch of them. It's nothing less than what they deserve".

Frank said, "We can't do that either. For one thing, there are several inmates there who are guilty of lesser offenses who will see the light of day again. For another, that would not even injure the dementors or kill Riddle. Sorry, but we are just going to have to allow the break-out to happen".

Amelia said with firm resolve, "from now we will try those we have captured and record their crimes. If we are certain that they do deserve only death, we will throw them through the veil. It has been used in the past as a method of execution and we will use it again. For those who do not deserve the punishment of death, we will send them to prisons of other countries in secret where they will serve out their sentences".

Moody growled, "Talking about the veil, what happened to the scum who had impersonated me?"

It was Croaker who answered, "He flew through the veil, Alastor".

Alastor grinned and the scars on his face contorted into a hideous expression, "All the death eater scum deserve to be thrown through the veil for what they have done".

Frank turned to Amelia, "Who was it?"

She smirked, "It was Barty Crouch Junior. He had been sentenced to Life Imprisonment in Azkaban for the crimes he committed as a death eater. Then his father faked his death and rescued him from the prison. Since he was already declared dead and the general wizarding world did not know about it, I did not see any reason to try him again".

Frank nodded, "Right but we are not doing that with anyone who is not proven guilty".

Moody turned to them, "What do we do about the ambush we're planning for the Hall of Prophecy? I assume that Peverell will be involved?"

Frank grinned, "I liked the lad from the moment I saw him. Yes, he will be involved. In fact, he will be leading and coordinating the attack. When he decides to ambush Voldemort, we will provide Aurors to help him. Your task Moody is to select a bunch of them who are battle hardened warriors and train them for ambush without letting them know any of the specifics. We will give Riddle and his followers a mighty blow indeed".

Alastor gave a maniacal smirk, "That is the best plan I have heard. Will I be leading them?"

Frank said, "No Alastor. As I said, Peverell will be leading this attack. You are the most battle-hardened and experienced Auror we have. You will be his second in command and advisor. I will personally be third in command and taking orders from him. I would have led the charge myself but for two things; I have been out of circulation a long time and I'm still not 100% fit and I am not the child of the prophecy. However, I have escaped Riddle's clutches three times already and I'm ready to make it four. I'll be joining you and your trainees whenever I can get away from my desk. Amelia, you will be forming a perimeter with your regular forces to round up anyone who manages to escape the primary ambush and tries to make a run for it".

Amelia shook her head while laughing. It was good to have people around who loved to lead from the front.

Since then Frank and Alice regularly turned up in the Auror Floor of the Ministry, training hard like the older days when they were the star Aurors. Alice had in fact applied for her old job again and Moody had told her that the day she went through the ringer without a scratch, she would be back on the team. Till that time, she was made to sit behind a desk and look after the recruits as well as the younger Aurors.

**Hogwarts**

This was a Hogsmeade weekend which was a relief to the students from the gruelling weeks of school. This year was special for all of them because of the initiatives taken by Dumbledore. He had procured the services of teachers who knew their subject like the back of their hand.

While any teacher would have been an improvement over Professor Binns who was a ghost, Professor Martha Hughes was simply the best. She certainly knew her subject. But that was not all. She also engaged the students. She largely taught by encouraging the students to share what they had learned from their reading and only made subtle corrections when the discussion started to wander too far off topic. The students were excited about being in her class and her style of teaching encouraged the students to do their reading so that they could participate in the class. When the professor spoke, the students listened. She was passionate about her subject and she never sugar coated the truth. She made her feelings clear regarding the mindless fools who followed dark lords and shared many grizzly tales about the unfortunate demises of those minions, often at the hands of the very ones they served. She had introduced new history books to each class, pointing out that the standard text by Bathilda Bagshot was in serious need of editing. She had no patience for death eater's kids either. If they had any ideas that they could intimidate her or gain special privileges because of their position, she quickly set them straight. In her short time at the school, she had given detentions to almost half of the Slytherin House and many students from the other houses. Her detentions weren't meaningless tasks such as writing lines, cleaning the potions lab or her office etc. No, she sent most of those she punished to Professor Sprout who generally made them work in the greenhouses to gather ingredient for potions. If she felt that they required stronger correction, they were sent to Filch who worked them as he saw fit. Very few students were willing to incur her wrath once it was clear that she had no favourites and made no exceptions. She also loved giving homework. Every lesson ended with reams of parchment to be turned in. The students felt that the way she was going, History of Magic will be indeed a hard owl to pass this year.

The Wizarding Etiquette Professor was a different matter altogether. She never set homework in the form of written assignments. She did, however expect that the students would apply what they had learned whether they were in or out of class. She did not put much emphasis on blood purity nor did she allow anyone to use being muggle-born as an excuse for ignorance. When she told them about each custom or tradition, she also told of the reason why each one came to be. If some student contested her views, she would engage them in a healthy debate and get her point across. If she did not like a practice or felt that it was outdated, she did not teach it to them at all.

Then there was Professor Vikram, the new defence teacher. He worked the students hard and minor injuries were common in his class. Even so, he never lost patience with any student. When someone had trouble getting it right, instead of belittling and berating them in front of their class-mates, he took the time to deepen their understanding until they could get it right. He was quick with both smiles and praise every time a student showed improvement and he was equally quick to correct a student and give them push-ups if they failed to give him their very best. On the rare occasions when a student asked what the use of a thing was, he quickly arranged a demonstration that left the student with no doubts.

He never taught a theoretical class. He demonstrated everything he wanted to teach to them. He also gave them homework every now and then to submit an essay about a topic and graded them impartially. The way he was teaching, it was clear that this year there would be a record number of E or O grades from the OWLs and NEWTs. There was also a rumour that he was mentoring Harold Peverell. There were some eye-witnesses who had seen Harry and the professor practicing in the early morning light out by the lake.

The defense instructor was liked by every student in the castle. If rumours were to be believed, the Astronomy witch Aurora Sinistra was quite taken with him. Although he was always polite to everyone, he did nothing to encourage her.

This year was also the year of pranks. Of course, there were the Weasley twins. Some of it was that they demonstrated their new products which they were selling through their mail-order service. They also pranked people who richly deserved it and a few people who just presented a target that they could not resist. Then there were the pranks for which nobody took credit. There was that amazing transformation of Snape into the giant bat. Fred and George had to admit that it was a good look for the potions master and suggested that he should keep it. Snape gave them a week of cleaning the dungeons for their suggestion. There was the Ravenclaw table getting up and walking out of the Great Hall. Even McGonagall could not stop that one by herself. The students were still talking about those stunts.

All students of third year and above were going to the village today. The excitement was palpable. Harry was waiting for Susan in the entrance chamber just on the side of the Great Hall with Neville. Ron and Hermione were already off to the village and he promised to join them in the Hog's Head at one.

As he was waiting, someone entered the entrance chamber behind him and called, "So Peverell, I have not received your answer yet".

He turned to see Daphne Greengrass standing there with her friend Tracy Davis. He had been avoiding the issue of the Hogsmead visit for days because he felt that Susan would hex him for it. Besides, in the last week Susan practically spent every spare moment around him as if she was trying to make a point to someone. He had already sent a letter to Daphne during the past week about the meeting that they had scheduled today and asked her to bring some of her friends who would be agreeable to ally with him.

He turned to Daphne, "Please forgive my failure to answer, Daphne. Although I would be honoured to be your escort today and I do not wish to give you any cause for offence, Susan has laid claim to my company and I would rather face Voldemort and all of his minions than an enraged witch".

Tracy snorted, "And I thought you were a Gryffindor through and through".

Harry mock-protested, "I will have you know Ms. Davis that I have many Slytherins Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs on my family tree. The Sorting Hat itself wanted to place me in Slytherin. I might have gone along with that choice, but having already met Malfoy, I was not willing to associate with him for the next 7 years, I chose Gryffindor".

Daphne was looking at him with her mouth open in an O while Tracy was laughing, "This is rich. Imagine what Malfoy would have done if you were in Slytherin. He would have burst an artery over this".

Neville who had been quiet during this time said, "Imagine what Ron would have been like? He would not have even tried to be your friend".

"While I am sure that would have been a world changing event, it is time for us to go to Hogsmeade.", said Susan who had just entered the entrance chamber with Hannah.

Harry turned to Daphne, "We will all meet up at the Hogs Head at one o'clock.".

**Hogsmeade**

When they reached Hogsmeade, Neville and Hannah decided to go separate ways from Harry and Susan. They confirmed that they would be at the Hogs Head at one and went off towards Tomes and Scrolls to replenish their writing supplies. Harry and Susan ventured into the apothecary to buy some of his potion ingredients. When he tried to pay, the proprietor refused to take any payment telling him that as the landlord of the premises, he was entitled to take anything away with him and it would be deducted from the rent. Harry said that such an arrangement would be convenient for him if he were ever short of funds, but it was just too big a headache for the account manager and it was not necessary. He thanked the shop keeper and paid the bill anyway.

As they left the shop, Susan asked him what the shopkeeper meant and Harry told her that the apothecary was built on land which had been in the Black Family for generations. As such, they paid rent to House Black. In fact many businesses in the Wizarding Village were built on land owned by his Houses.

The next stop was Honey Dukes where they ran into the Marauders and Tonks who were visiting the village reminiscing over the old days. To Harry it looked more like they were there to buy tonnes of chocolate for the werewolf who loved it. He noticed that Tonks was sitting very close to Remus and trying to get his attention more and more. She left soon after they had arrived and Harry saw her tripping over nothing. He remembered that she was a metamorphmagus, the first to be born in the House of Black in three centuries and perhaps had problems with keeping her balance. He had something which could help her but that would have to wait.

Sirius took the three of them to a private room in the Three Broomsticks and ordered lunch for them. Madam Rosmerta was elated to see the marauders in her inn She fawned over them like they were her favourite children. Sirius was openly flirting with the witch making her blush. Harry was thinking about the meeting later in the day and what he would say to the people who would gather to hear to him.

"Pup, what have you been doing in the castle these past weeks? Did you prank someone?" Sirius's voice brought him out of his reverie after they were in the private room.

Before he could answer, Susan had beat him to it, "He has become an absolute terror. He started the first day and has not stopped ever since".

Then she proceeded to tell them in detail about his pranks and by the time she was done, the Marauders were laughing while holding their stomachs.

After some time, Harry told the Marauders about the meeting later in the day. They were hesitant about students being taught but Sirius agreed that they needed to be prepared for more than Stunners and Disarming spells. They scoffed at his choice of a meeting place, saying that it was far too easy to be over-heard in the Hogs Head. They assured him that they would talk to the bar-man and make sure that there were no eavesdroppers nearby. As it was, they wanted to attend the meeting and see what he would say to the students.

As it neared one o'clock, Harry accompanied Susan to the inn. The inn was a lot cleaner than the descriptions he had heard from Hagrid and a few others in the last 4 years. The barman had electric blue eyes, was gruff looking and reminded Harry of someone but he could not place who.

There were around 50 chairs which had been set up in neat rows. There were a few chairs set up facing the rest, which Harry assumed were for him and his closest friends. The barman told him in an undertone that everything had been arranged and whatever anyone ordered would be on his tab. Harry understood that Sirius had hosted this on behalf of the House of Black, something that a lord would do when he invites people to a meeting. With a wave of his wand, he made the setting more informal by arranging the chairs into a circle. He cast a few detection spells and found that anti-portkey, anti-apparition, anti-eavesdropping charms had been placed on the inn and anyone who was not invited would not be able to listen to them.

A few minutes later, students started walking in. Hermione came in first with Ronald. They sat to Harry's left. Next came Neville and Hannah who sat to Susan's right. While they were still getting settled, Daphne and Tracy came in with a party of Slytherins; Lily Moon, Adrian Pucey (a Seventh year, chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team), the Bletchley Brothers, Amrish Gupta, Trupti Kadam, Terrence Higgs (Harry had sent him a message to meet in his capacity of Lord Black), Camille Du Vant and Nerys Orpington. Ernie came with a number of Hufflepuff students from fourth year or above as Harry had expressly said that he would not meet anyone below fourth year. The Ravenclaws came as a block with Cho in the lead with her friend Marietta Edgecombe (Harry had heard her name from someone he could not remember), a couple of other girls from her year, Luna Lovegood, Michael Corner with Ginevra Weasley, Anthony Goldstein, Isobel McDougal, Lisa Turpin and Mandy Brocklehurst among those he knew or could recognise on sight. The Gryffindors came in large numbers with the twins in the lead followed by the Quidditch team. Colin Creevey came with a number of 4th years, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, Fay Dunbar, the Patil twins, Sakura Akagi, Fiona Bellmont, Kajal Bhatt, Pete Balsall, Sally Birchgrove, Andrew Cleveley and a few others he could not recognise by name.

As they were all seated and butterbeer was distributed to them, Harry stood up, "Thank-you all for accepting my invitation and coming today. Before we go any further, I would like to have some idea of what you expect to hear at this meeting or what you would like to know.".

One of the claws said, "We would like to hear what you have to say regarding these rumours that You-Know-Who is back. There were a number of nasty articles about you in the paper. We want to hear your side of the story".

Harry responded, "I'm not going to share all the details of what happened on the night of the third task here. What I will say is that I lost a good friend that night. His only crime was that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he was murdered for it".

One of the puffs sneered, "Why did you call us here then?"

Harry recognised Zacharias Smith who had some grudge against him for some reason. He addressed the boy, "I am here to talk to you all about the war which is coming, Smith. If you are not willing to listen then you are welcome to leave. I will not hold it against any of you if you are not willing to listen to what I have to say".

The said boy huffed but said nothing and Harry continued, "To fill you all in, Voldemort (Most of the students gave an involuntary shudder or cringed) returned that night after a ghastly ritual which was a nightmare. I escaped after duelling him and suffering torture at his hands in the form of the cruciatus curse. I had some luck on my side and I escaped from there. Since then, Voldemort has been in hiding augmenting his forces and planning an assault on the wizarding world in the days to come. How he came back is something I do not know but his being back is bad news for the wizarding world in general. When he comes out into the open, we will be in a tight spot because we are not prepared to deal with the situation. The ministry has recently started to recruit more Aurors but the Aurors cannot be in all places at all times. Even if the new recruits finish their training before open hostilities break out, there still won't be enough of them to both give battle to Voldemort and his forces and stand guard everywhere. If they decide to come after us, we must be prepared to defend ourselves. The defence professor this year is teaching us some things which would help us but the bitter truth is that we should have learned these things over the last four years. Our NEWTs and OWLs results in the subject from the last few years would clearly show how badly we are doing in this area. With Professor Vikram, I am sure that there will be better results this year but we are still far behind if it comes down to survival. "All those who lost family members in the last war know how capable Voldemort and his death eaters were. We will not be able to outsmart them with only stunners and disarming spells".

One of the Slytherins said, "What are you proposing we should do, Peverell? Fight with him openly?"

Before Harry could reply, Ron was out of his chair, ranting, "What are they doing here? Are we going to invite all the snakes in it? They would sell us out to Voldemort first chance they get". Ron had been feeling resentful with Daphne coming over to meet them time and again and had kept his peace barely. But, seeing so many of them here and at Harry's request was just more than Ron could stand.

Harry sternly said to him, "Ronald, you need to stop judging people you don't even know. Every person in this room is here because they are willing to take a chance and throw their lot in with us. I don't care what colours they wear. The fact that they are here says everything about them that I need to know. If they are willing to trust me, I will trust them. Now, get your foot out of your mouth and sit down".

This statement was of value to the Slytherins because it meant that he trusted them and had not invited them on a whim. He may not have realised it but he had won a few supporters to him in that moment in the Serpent's pit. Ron sat down, his cheeks and ears red.

Harry continued, "Heir Du Vant, we will not ever deliberately seek battle with Voldemort or any of his followers. We are students, not soldiers. What I propose is that if the fight comes to us, we have several unpleasant surprises ready for them. We will train in a wide variety of non-lethal but dangerous spells. We will drill in shielding, dodging, aiming and creative use of spells so that we will not be a bunch of helpless sheep if we ever need to defend ourselves. I know this for a fact that no one here would join Voldemort on pain of death. As such we need to be ready if the war comes to our doorstep".

He turned to the others again, "So what I am offering is to teach you all to fight with spells other than stunners and disarming spells so that you would be better prepared if you are to face a death eater".

Hermione stood, "For those who are interested in joining, we have a parchment here which everyone needs to sign. This is to keep a record of everyone who is present at this meeting".

Harry had been briefed about the parchment by Hermione the night before. He knew it was jinxed to curse someone who blabbed about their activities to someone who was branded with the dark mark. But he had talked with her and they had charmed the parchment in such a way that no one even could divulge their secrets even under coercion or under the effects of Veritaserum. However they allowed the hex to remain for those who would voluntarily betray their secrets to Tom or his followers.

Everyone shuffled about nervously unsure about whether to commit but Harry dispelled their nervousness, "To put you all at ease, I will be the first to sign this parchment. If anyone of you does not want to get involved in it, you are still free to go".

A Ravenclaw stood, "And what makes you better prepared than us? What is there to prove that you can teach us things that we would not learn from our regular classes?"

Before Harry could answer Neville spoke, "His performance in defense is sufficient to tell us that he is better than us and can teach us. His feats for the last 4 years would put you to shame, Carmichael."

Another of the Ravenclaws whom Harry identified as Shruti Dev said, "And what are those feats, Longbottom?"

Hermione answered, "First year, he fought with a troll in the bathroom on the third floor to save me from being killed."

Everybody started muttering as everyone who had been in school that year had seen Professor Quirrell come running into the Great Hall and then fainting after he had informed the Head Master, "Troll in the dungeons'.

Before anybody could comment though, Ron added, "then he fought with Quirrell who had Voldemort living on the back of his head to save the Sorcerer's stone".

One of the gathered students exclaimed, "that was why he used to wear that turban!"

Another said, "That's why Dumbledore gave you people all those points at the end of the year!"

One of the Slytherins exclaimed, "Dumbledore was keeping such a dangerous artefact in the school? Was he trying to get us all killed?"

The twins said, "Damn! We had charmed snow balls to hit him on the back of the head".

Everyone laughed at their statement and after a few moments when the laughter subsided, Terry Boot asked, "what more did Peverell do?"

This time Ginny answered, "He killed the monster of Slytherin which was a thousand-year-old basilisk. That was what lived in the Chamber of Secrets. That was what petrified Mrs. Norris, all those students and even Nearly Headless Nick. He rescued me from the Chamber of Secrets by killing Voldemort... again. He was trying to use my life-force to return to a body again."

Neville added, "He killed it with the sword of Gryffindor. One of the portraits in Dumbledore's office told me".

The exclamations were louder this time with "There was a freaking basilisk in the school!" to "You found the chamber of secrets?" to "how did you find the sword of Gryffindor?" The claims all sounded pretty wild, but now everyone in the room knew just how much of the rumours were true.

When the exclamations quieted down, Neville picked up where they had left off, "In his third year, he learned the patronus charm, which not many adult wizards can do. At the end of third year, he conjured one powerful enough to repel about a hundred dementors and save himself and his god-father".

Nerys Orpington scoffed, "Pull the other one, Longbottom. No third year can conjure a patronus".

Hermione retorted this time, "I was there with him when he repelled the dementors and saved himself and Sirius Black from being kissed".

Lee Jordan whistled, "That is some cool magic, Harry!"

Susan who had been sitting quietly turned to the others, "Then there was the Triwizard Tournament last year. You all saw him summon his broom all the way from his dorm and out fly a dragon in the first task. Not only did he do it with style, he also beat everyone else's time. In the second task, he rescued his own hostage and the French champion's hostage too. He would have rescued all the hostages if the other champions had not shown up. Then there was the third task. Who knows how many monsters he defeated in that maze? And finally, he escaped from Voldemort, grievously injured, but still alive".

Harry had been sitting, listening quietly to everything the others said. He stood and raised his hand to request quiet before he began again, "I know it all sounds pretty fantastic when it's said that way but it is scary when you are in it and yuou realise that you can lose your life the next moment. It is the fear and our determination that often helps us to get through. I want you to know that I did not do it all myself. I always had lots of help and luck. Hermione, Ron and Professor Lupin all helped me to train and research. Even the Headmaster dropped a few clues that helped me to survive and that's part of the point I'm trying to make here. We are much stronger if we stick together and help each other. It's not all about me any more than it is all about any one of you."

Zacharias Smith said, "Are you trying to avoid showing us some of the stuff that you did, Peverell?"

Harry wanted to hex the boy but kept his cool, "Smith, I am not trying to avoid anything but whatever I did was not my work alone. I had friends with me who helped me a lot and things sort of happened the way I anticipated them. It is true that I learnt a lot of magic along the way but it was not my skill alone. I had been lucky then".

Smith sneered, "Why did your luck favour you and not Cedric?"

Harry said gravely, "That's a fair question, Smith. That night in the graveyard, Cedric was killed because Voldemort had no use for him. He was killed just for being there. I was not killed right away because Voldemort wanted to use my blood as part of the ritual to return to his body. When he was done with that, he still did not kill me. Voldemort wanted to lord his power over me. He had something to prove about how he could toy with then destroy The-Boy-Who-Lived. Killing me while I lay there, tied to the headstone of his dead father and helpless was not good enough for him. So once he had his death eaters gathered about him, he had his servant return my wand and forced me to duel him but it did not go exactly the way he planned. Thanks to the Moody's imposter, I was able to resist the imperious curse. When he engaged me properly, something happened with our wands which he did not expect. In the distraction which that caused, I was able to flee for my life. It wasn't easy to see Cedric die the way he did. It was like a nightmare that I can't wake up from. It is no comfort knowing that the only reason I'm not just as dead as he is was because Voldemort wanted to taunt me before killing me. That is what happened. You can believe me or walk away. I won't blame you either way".

Neville who had stayed silent all this while turned to Zacharias, "if you have any doubts still Smith, you are free to leave. In fact among you people, if someone thinks that Harry is lying or you do not want to join us, you are free to leave. He will not be telling you anything more about that night or going to demonstrate something just to appease your curiosity".

Zacharias left the inn. Harry decided to deal with him later. He had an interesting experiment in mind magic to perform on the boy.

As the Hufflepuff left, Hermione produced the parchment and a quill. Harry took the quill and with a deliberate flourish, wrote his name in the first spot. In turn, Susan, Neville, Ron, Hermione and then Hannah all signed in turn. Without exception, the rest of the students all came to the front and took their turn to sign. With all the signatures collected, Hermione furled the parchment and stowed it into her bag.

They had decided to let it look like Hermione was in charge of the parchment, that it had been her who put the charms on it. In reality Harry had done it. He had been quite inventive to include charms to prevent anyone from speaking about what they were being taught to anyone who had any hostile intention towards him. It was a very hard and obscure charm from Achala's memories which made it possible. The parchment had 50 names on it. Harry considered that an achievement considering that there were many students who belonged to the Dark Families and would follow Voldemort. He would have to make do with the 50 of them for now.

Harry turned to the others, "Now there are a few rules which you must know. The first rule is to keep it quiet. You are not to discuss what we do with anyone who has not signed this parchment. Anything that I teach you, this meeting and all other meetings are strictly confidential. What we learn here may help you with your academics, but the main purpose is to help you survive a potential encounter with death eaters. The second rule is recruitment. None of you recruit. If you come across someone that you feel should be part of this group, let me know. If I am satisfied that they are not trying to infiltrate to give away our secrets, I will admit them to the group. You, however are to say nothing. Confirm nothing, deny nothing. If asked, a blank stare is the best response. We will not admit anyone below fourth year. They are simply too young. They will be better off learning from our defence teacher. Finally, we will be meeting twice a week once I have found a place to practice. You will all be contacted when this is done".

After that the meeting did not last long. They sorted out little details such as the meetings should not clash with quidditch team practice for any house and other such matters. Harry reminded them that he would inform them when he found a place to hold their meetings. If they were to have any chance of keeping what they were doing quiet, they could not practice out in the open.

As they all were leaving, Harry asked Terrence to stay back. When the inn was empty, he turned to Terrence, "I have some questions to ask of you, Higgs before I can offer any choice to you".

Higgs nodded, "Yes, Lord Black".

Harry asked him, "Is your family supporting Dark Lord Voldemort? Have they returned to his service since he was back? Do they expect you to go into service? Are you branded?"

Higgs started telling, "Lord Black, the Dark Lord sent his minions to the Higgs family home a week after he was reborn. My father renewed his loyalty to him, though it is not clear whether out of fear or faith in him. My father asked me to join his service as soon as I graduate. He said something about keeping some followers unmarked so that they can be used to infiltrate the ministry etc. in case they adopt security measures specific to the dark mark. My father plans for me to be one such follower but I do not want to join the charlatan".

As he was speaking, Harry had been reading his mind. He could see that the boy had mind shields but they were down. He read his mind easily. Harry found that he was speaking the truth. Harry started addressing him, "I will offer you protection against Voldemort and his followers and grant you asylum in case you are estranged from your family however for now I wish for you to remain in the Serpent's pit acting as if you hate me with every fibre of your being, flushing out those who are loyal to Voldemort. When you graduate, I will give you a job and a safe house if the war is not already over by then".

Higgs left happily. The marauders came down from the upper floor where they had been sitting, listening to everything that was being said in the meeting. They commended him for the successful meeting before taking their leave.

As others had some last minute shopping to finish, Harry and Susan started to walk towards the Three Broom Sticks by themselves. Since the rules said that they could stay out on a weekend until ten p.m. he and Susan had decided to make the most of it by themselves and were going to a dinner in the Three Broomsticks.

On their way, Susan asked him, "Have you thought about life after the war is over, Harry?"

Harry thought for a moment before replying, "Not really. When I was small, all I thought was that some long lost family member would come and rescue me from the muggles. The 10 years of my life I stayed with them were spent living worse than a house-elf. On my 11th birthday, Hagrid came to rescue me from a rock in the sea where Vernon had taken us to outrun wizards and post owls so that I would not get my Hogwarts letter. Hagrid broke down the front door, gave a pigtail to Dudley, tied Vernon's rifle in knots and then told me 'Yer a wizard, Harry'. (Susan chuckled here) Since then, every year I have faced Voldemort in addition to the school trying to besmirch my name. So, I guess I never figured out what I would do after I was over the threat of Voldemort".

Susan had been listening intently. This was the first time that he talked about his life before Hogwarts and was allowing her to see Harry Potter, the orphan who had come to Hogwarts, underfed and skinny. She also had a suspicion that he might not have told his story to anyone before this and wanted him to go on but perhaps he had finished for today.

They had arrived at the Three Broom Sticks and Rosmerta gave them a private booth around which Harry put his own wards to make them impenetrable. As they sat, Susan picked up where he had stopped, "So in four years, you never thought about a career you might want to take?"

He gave her a lop-sided grin, one which made her stomach flutter, "Actually last year, the impostor Moody gave me the idea of being an Auror. My Mom and Dad were both Aurors, my god-mother is an Auror, and I could still do that but; I have so many other options now. I don't even need to work. I already have all the money I could ever need and thanks to the goblins at Gringotts, that is only likely to get better. Even so, I am interested in brooms. I already own a good chunk of the company that makes the Firebolt. Another way I could go is into potion research full-time."

She grinned, "Imagine what would happen if sometime after you have killed Voldemort, Harold Peverell the-boy-who-conquered appeared for recruitment by the Aurors. Perhaps they would put you in charge of the whole force directly. There is no Auror there right now who can fight you and expect to win. Even Auntie told me the other day that with the way you use your spells, the most seasoned veterans would not last against you for more than 5 minutes".

Harry blushed a little at the praise. That was the moment that Rosmerta chose to appear carrying their food. He cheerfully let the moment pass. They resumed their conversation once the food was laid out and Madame Rosmerta had left the booth again.

Harry asked her, "What careers have you thought about for yourself, Sue?"

She blushed a little when he called her Sue but controlled herself and answered, "I have thought about it a lot and I would like to go into magical research in the Department of Mysteries. They are always trying new things there. I wanted to be a healer when I was younger but I do not think that a person with blood on their hands would be a good healer. We will all get our hands bloody in this war".

Harry inwardly said to himself, "You need to meet Charak then".

By the time they finished dinner and emerged from the Three Broomsticks, the moon and the stars were filling the sky. When they started walking back to the castle, they realised that all the others were already gone and that they were the last students remaining in the town.

With a twinkle in her eye, Susan said, "it is getting quite late, Harry. If you were any kind of a gentleman, you would have arranged transportation so that I don't have to drag my weary bones all the way back to Hogwarts".

Harry, rising to the occasion, gave Susan a formal bow and said, "Far be it from Lord Peverell to disappoint such a fine lady.". he pulled on his familiar bond with Black Storm. A minute later, a darker blackness against the starry sky descended and with the whooshing of his mighty wings, the hippogriff landed in front of them.

Since Susan took Care of Magical Creatures with the Ravenclaws, she had not met Black Storm yet. She was reluctant at first, but once Harry introduced them, she warmed right up to the magnificent creature. In another minute, Harry had the tack on Black Storm and they were mounted with Susan hanging on tightly around Harry's waist. She snuggled up close to him making his heart beat flutter. He would have taken her for a flight all the way around the school and grounds so that he could stretch out the time with her. But they were dangerously close to being overdue and Dumbledore might get nervous and send out a search party. That would be just too embarrassing, so he made a beeline for the front gates of the school.

The hippogriff took a few galloping strides as he spread his wings and launched itself into the air. The two teens whooped with joy as they all became air borne. But the ride only took a few minute before they were landing at their destination. They leapt down from their mount. With a wave of his wand, the tack disappeared back into the pocket in Harry's robes. They thanked Black Storm for the ride and he flew off to his stall by Hagrid's hut to bed down for the night.

As he escorted Susan to the Badger's hole, she snuggled up close to him, holding his hand, their fingers intertwined with each other. A few people they met along the way whistled at them. Harry resolutely avoided eye contact with them. As she was about to go into the badger's hole, she pulled him close to her and reached up to give him a peck on his cheek. She entered the fake barrel before he could say anything.

**The next day**

The next day, he had blushed every time that he thought about the peck on his cheek. He had some feelings for Susan but he was still not sure about them. There was no one he could ask for advice.

If he asked Sirius, the marauder would just have fun at his expense. He didn't expect much better from Remus either. The only one whose advice he felt he could trust was Alice but he still felt awkward about approaching her with the questions that were on his mind. Amelia was Susan's aunt and may be a bit biased. He did not even want to think about what Mrs. Weasley's reaction would be if he tried to talk with her about it. The only one he was comfortable talking to was Rachael and she was half a world away.

Harry had also been on the lookout for Zacharias Smith since breakfast. He was constantly looking for a way to corner him. The opportunity came for him when the classes were over for the day and the Hufflepuff was going to the Quidditch pitch for flying practice. When they entered the stadium, Harry wandlessly stunned him then dragged the boy to the Hufflepuff dressing room and enervated him.

As the boy came to his senses, he started shouting, "Peverell, I will have you expelled for attacking me".

Harry sighed. There was no way to have a civilised conversation with the puff. He petrified the boy, entered his mind space and started sifting through his memories.

There had been a blood feud between House Potter and House Smith in the past. The fighting did not end until the Lord Smith died and the dowager Lady Smith had gone to Lord Potter as a supplicant asking him to end the blood feud. The feud had tarnished the reputation of the Smiths who boasted of having been descended from Helga Hufflepuff. The boy had been taught about the feud. He had been indoctrinated to blame the Potters for their tarnished reputation and to hate them. Harry had no recollection of this feud and Smith's own memory of it was thoroughly second-hand, biased and sketchy at best. Harry had no hope of learning the truth of it from this source. It didn't seem very important to his father either. If it was, he would have mentioned it during Harry's time in limbo.

Harry carefully started casting the spell to lock the memories of the meeting at The Hog's Head and Harry's ruthless rifling of his memories. Harsh had told him that this was a delicate version of the Fidelius which was used to lock memories of a person and the memories so locked could be undone only by the caster. The mystics had locked Voldemort's memories this way since an Obliviate charm could be undone by a skilled legilimens. He planted fake memories of his being in the Three Broomsticks the whole day enjoying the weekend. He also wiped the memories of his being attacked by Harry and the memory spell performed on him. The boy would not remember the meeting and others would not be able to talk to him about the meeting or what they had learnt in the sessions with Harry due to the charms on the parchment.

**A week later**

For the last week, the morning exercise routine for his friends continued with some more people joining him on the run after they had found that the physical exercises helped their casting. There were around 25 students this morning with a number of the Slytherins.

Harry had another worry on his mind for better part of last week. That being working out a way he could communicate with everyone to tell them about the meeting times or alert him if they were in trouble. There was an easy answer to his question which came in the form of the 'protean charm'. Hermione offered to do it on some fake galleons but Harry pointed out that it would be too easy to get such a thing mixed up with their real money and spend it by mistake. They needed something better than a fake Galleon.

Then Harry remembered how he used to carry his wand around in his pocket before this year and how dangerous that was. The answer to his predicament came to him. The answer was wand holsters and he just happened to own a large part of a company that made them. With a few seconds on the mirror to Remus, his steward had instructions to obtain one-hundred Auror grade wand holsters and send them to Harry with Dobby. The next day, Dobby popped into the fifth year boy's dorm as Harry was getting ready to go out for his morning work-out.

Later that day, Hermione and Harry worked together to cast the charms on the premium holsters. Not only were they capable of two way communication, Harry's wand holster could be used to determine the location and well-being of the wearer of any other holster. Then the holsters were Glamoured to look perfectly ordinary to anyone but the person that they were keyed to. Each time that the Holster had a new message, it would heat up to alert the wearer. With the devices prepared, Neville and Hannah delivered them to the intended recipients in three houses while Daphne took it upon her to deliver it to Slytherins. Harry was careful not to be seen to do anything directly and kept his involvement behind the scenes.

His next challenge was to find a place to meet and practice. The mystic was not forthcoming on this subject. He would have to find it another way. He would have to find someone who knew every inch of the castle. He racked his brain for the better part of a week on this problem. Fred and George had explored the castle extensively, but they only knew what the Marauder's Map showed and Harry knew the place he was looking for was not on that map. Even Dumbledore admitted that in his over 70 years at Hogwarts, student, teacher and Headmaster, that he did not know everything about the school. Hermione having memorized "Hogwarts a History" said that there was a hint about a room that answered to specific needs, but that was all.

He finally got a break when he asked Professor Flitwick about it. The charms master had enthusiastically told him that except for the elves, no one knew every inch of the castle. With that clue, he took Susan to a dinner date in the kitchens. This was a clever cover for his true intention that being to have a meeting with the elves.

_**-Flash back starts-**_

When Susan and Harry entered the kitchen together, many elves approached them bowing and asking what they could do for them. Harry asked them if they would put on a private lunch for the two of them. A moment later, the elves lead them to a beautifully spread table for two off to one side of the kitchen. The table was laid out with linens in Gryffindor colours and set with golden dinnerware and flatware. The goblets were of the finest silver crystal with the Hogwarts crest etched into them. The scene was lit with smokeless candles. Harry walked around to Susan's side of the table and held her chair out for her. Once he too was seated, an older male elf, with all the airs of a maitre D at a five-star restaurant, came to their table and asked, "What Master Peverell be liking?"

Harry looked at Susan and asked her choice by raising an eye brow at her but she shrugged. Harry asked the elf to bring them the lunch which was being served to the rest of the school and treacle tart, his favourite dessert. While food arrived, Susan asked him, "That day in Hogsmeade I wanted to ask you so many questions but there was not enough time".

Harry smiled, "You can ask those questions now, Sue. I will answer them if I can".

She asked the most important (in his opinion) question, "What is your desire?"

He put down his fork and sat still for a few moments before replying, "During my first year here, I came across the mirror of Erised. It is a magical artefact which shows one their heart's desire. What I saw was me with all my family behind me. It was the first time that I saw my parents. My deepest desire is to have a family to call my own. While Uncle Frank and Aunt Alice consider me as good as their own child, Gran Augusta dotes on me as a loving grand-mother, Aunt Amelia and you consider me as your family and Mrs. Weasley mothers me a bit too much for my comfort sometimes, I crave a family above all things".

She asked further, "And have you given any more thought about what will you do when you graduate from here?"

He smiled, "I have so many avenues open to me. I would love to take up enchanting to make racing brooms or I could delve into research in potions or something like that. Then there can be times when I will be called upon to fight and I will fight then".

Susan listened to his options and pondered them for a long time before she spoke, "Looks like you have a lot of options to choose from but do not worry. We will figure it out together".

He remembered something that he had to ask, "Sue, what is your desire?"

She blushed a little, "My desire is to have a family and live in peace without people bothering us all the time".

As the lunch was winding up, Harry called an elf, "Little elf, can you answer a question for me?"

The elf nodded its head vigorously, "What be master asking for?"

Harry asked, "I am looking for a place where I can practice defensive magic with my peers.

The place needs to be big enough. We also need to make sure that no unwelcome observers ever find the place or learn what we are doing there".

The elf was jumping up and down with glee, "Tippy be knowing a place, Master Peverell. There be a room on seventh floor near the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.  
The room be big enough to become anything and not found unless in need".

Harry excitedly asked, "And what is the room called?"

"The Come-and-go room, sir also known as the Room of Requirement", the elf replied.

Harry asked about how to open the room and access it. When the elf had answered all of his questions, they left through the fruit bowl painting and headed off to their classes, hoping to go unobserved. If anyone learned about their date, it would cover the real reason for their visit to the kitchen, but Harry would never have another peaceful day again.

_**-Flash back ends-**_

That evening, Harry had taken Vikram along (promising Susan to take her when he could ascertain that the room was not dangerous) and they reached the portrait of Barnabas the barmy teaching ballet to trolls. The wall opposite to the painting was bare. Harry walked in front of the wall three times wishing, "I need a place to practice magic where no one can find us".

As he finished his third pass, a door emerged out of the plain wall. It was very ornately decorated and as he opened it, he gasped.

Despite having seen some very bizarre creatures during his travels and even Mother Magic herself, the room surprised him. It was a huge room which had many practice ranges around it with dummies programmed to cast or defend as needed. There was a table full of dark detectors like a Sneakoscope, probity probes and a foe glass. Near the table were huge shelves bulging with ancient tomes.

As he was trying to take in everything that the room had to offer, the mystic said, "Rowena outdid herself".

Harry raised an eye brow at him, "Are you also as ancient as Guruji? I thought you hardly look a day above 45".

The mystic snorted, "I am a child if you compare me to Guruji, Harry. I am only 80 years old. Guruji told me the story of this room. It was designed by Rowena Ravenclaw with significant input from Helga. Slytherin had his Chamber of Secrets, Godric enchanted the sorting hat, and Rowena designed the Headmaster's office. This room was designed by Rowena and Helga. The only thing to be careful of is that this room will answer to anyone irrespective of whether they have good intentions or bad. It has infinite uses and can fulfil almost any needs, there are a few limitations. One of the major limitations is that it cannot violate the laws of magic like producing food from thin air".

Harry nodded, "Still this room will be of great use to us. I can teach the students here. At times I can use it for my own purposes".

The mystic nodded, "I agree however I would advise you to use the path behind the mirror for other meetings with your friends since anyone can walk into this room anytime increasing the potential risks of eaves-dropping.".

The classes had been the same for the last week. McGonagall gave them complex transfigurations which Harry could do with ease. She had stop comparing him to the other students because it just made the rest of the students look too disappointing with their progress. She of course knew that none of them had been subjected to the same gruelling exercises as him however at times she could help but compare this Harry to what she had seen in previous years.

Before this he had turned in mediocre essays that would barely scrape an A and now he was writing essays that were detailed, inciteful and to the point. There were no crossings-out and instead of the blotchy chicken-scratch of former years, he wrote in a smooth, flowing script with little illustrations around the capitals at the beginning of each paragraph. He seemed to always have just enough material to fill each assignment without exceeding the parchment length. There were definite gaps in his theory, which is why he was not getting O all the time, but at the rate he was going, it would not be long before he would be at the top of the class there too.

When she teamed him with other students, he was always better than them at casting. He usually spent his time quietly and patiently helping his partner to correct their casting and their aim. There was also the suspicion that he was an animagus but she had not been able to prove that. She had tried to hit him with the animagus revealing spell and he had dodged it rather spectacularly. She did not try it again because Harry was alerted to her intention and he never let his guard down.

Flitwick was a bit disappointed with Harold Peverell because he did not make himself stand out like he did in his other classes. True that he was able to finish whatever Filius assigned him to do rather quickly, but, he had not shown any extraordinary skill. He had expected the boy to be showing a grand display of charms by now. He had a fleeting suspicion that he was behind all the pranks of which the twins had been innocent but could not prove it. Even if it were true, none of them were charms but pure transfiguration. He chose to wait for a time when Harold Peverell would show his skills. With Voldemort back and the wizarding world readying itself for war, that day would not be far away.

Filius also had received a letter from his kin at Gringotts asking him to offer any assistance that he could to Harold Peverell. The goblins were in charge of the money of the Wizarding World. When they saw that money was leaving the vaults of families who were known death eaters, more often than usual it meant that war was not far away. He had also been told of the preparations being made by Harold Peverell. He was making preparations to clothe an army in the best armour that he could find, made from Basilisk Skin. His steward was also visiting the bank more often. They were in talks to purchase a potion making company involved in the business of making wolfsbane potion and going through financial crisis. Perhaps Harold Peverell was trying to bring the werewolves to his side in the war with promises of free wolfsbane.

Severus Snape was having a difficult year. He had wasted two lessons with the first year dunderheads. Instead of humiliating them and throwing them into potion brewing from a cold start, he took the time to teach them the importance of weighing out ingredients precisely, using clean equipment and the properties of the ingredients. He had never done that in the previous years and he had seen the results for himself. This first year class was perhaps the best he had seen since he started teaching the subject. More than half of them were brewing nearly perfect potions by their third lesson. Those who failed tested his patience but he gritted his teeth and restrained himself from pulling his hair at their slightest mistakes. It had made a remarkable improvement in his class. Students were actually smiling. Some of them even asked questions! The dunderheads!

The fifth year class was the most difficult of the lot because he had to remember to sneer at the students every now and then even though he really did not want to. Harold Peverell had become quite the potioneer. He always brewed three potions at a time. What was more interesting were the potions with his own alterations. Even with Snape's formidable potions knowledge, he was hard-pressed to understand all of the alterations Harry was making to his custom brews. Without realizing it, he had begun to look forward to his fifth year classes and seeing what Harry would do next. He considered setting Harry to try and brew Felix Felicis for extra credit but that would be long wait since Felix took more than 6 months to brew.

Neville Longbottom was also in the class and Severus could not say anything to him. The lad worked quietly at his table brewing perfect potions class after class. Severus knew that he was green thumb meaning he knew his plants thoroughly so his prowess in brewing was not unexpected either. Severus could gauge someone's power and Longbottom terrified him. He knew that Harold Peverell was powerful like the Dark Lord but Longbottom was no slouch either. With the training that the boy had gone through this summer, he had become a force unto himself. Severus had also been stunned when Longbottom's parents had made an appearance in the Wizarding World after 14 years of incapacitation. He had been embarrassed by Alice for being a bully to her son when she had been nothing but kind to him.

Frank had not chastised him but rather reminded him of the times that he had warned him about some prank of the marauders which would have been too humiliating or caused some real injury. He wanted the war to be over as soon as possible because he was ready to turn in his resignation and go into retirement. He had enough of the Wizarding World and its troubles for one lifetime.

Grubbly Plank was having the best time of her tenure at Hogwarts this year. She had taken the class for part of the last year but that time, the students were not showing any interest in the subject. This year, the students were interested in the creatures that she had to show to them. The information that she had received on the Yeti was a goldmine. There was a real dearth of first-hand accounts with that creature. It seemed that they are not seen unless they want to be and those occasions were both rare and long ago. Just about all the information available on them was folk-lore, myth and endlessly regurgitated old accounts, at best sketchy general characteristics and none of it reliable. It seemed that Harry Peverell's was both a keen observer and that he had a first-hand encounter. She wanted to know more about these remarkable creatures, but he was not saying anything more. She had been impressed when she saw his bonded hippogriff. Judging by hippogriffs she had seen and known before, this one was a king of his kind.

Aurora Sinistra had a life which was untouched by the goings-on of the wizarding world. She taught Astronomy and it was a boring subject if you ask a student. The best thing to happen this year was the defense instructor who had come to teach at the castle. He was polite and cheerful at all times, but he was either completely oblivious to her interest in him or he was simply not interested in her. Whatever the reason, he had not done anything to encourage her advances.

**Serpent's pit**

The serpents pit was changing. In the previous war, the snakes had stood together behind the dark lord with the exception of a couple of stragglers who had stayed on the sidelines. All of the Dark lords hype about pure-blood superiority and how the wizard's rightful place was to rule over the muggles had appealed to the ambitious and exclusive Slytherins and they followed him in droves. This time around, however, there was no face to lead them. The dark lord had chosen to remain in the shadows. Then there was that history professor. She did not spare any details when it came to teaching about the massive losses suffered by all the wizarding families. This dark lord and all others like him did not care about pure-blood wizards or anyone else for that matter, anyone who stood in the way of his plans was branded a blood traitor and marked for death. Then there was the money. So much of history and the present was determined by the flow of gold. In the last war, the houses of Rosier and Black had brought not only numbers of powerful recruits and allies but also gold and lots of it. The Lord of Rosier, Evan Rosier was in his inner circle and had wealth to splurge on his conquests. The House of Black had given him Bellatrix, Regulus, Lucius (he had been inducted by Bellatrix) and they brought the might of the Black wealth with them. With the wands offered in his service and the mountain of wealth, the Dark Lord had been paying his recruits for their services but this time, the wealth of the Blacks and Rosier were with Harold Peverell who was the Lord of both the houses.

The Dark also had lost a lot of his followers in the last war whose heirs otherwise would have walked the halls of Hogwarts and become a part of his army. The Notts had lost 3 sons in the war at the hands of the Aurors with 2 of them being killed by Moody himself. Evan Rosier had been killed heirless by Moody. Regulus had been killed sometime during the war but no one knew about it and Bellatrix was cooling her heels in Azkaban. The Lestranges were practically extinct because their last two scions had been in the care of the dementors too long to have any hope of siring new heirs. This time, there was no Black in the Serpent's pit. The House of Nott had one heir who from the looks of it was not at all interested in House politics. The House of Parkinson had a sorry excuse of an heiress in the form of Pansy Parkinson who was good at nothing but following Malfoy like a lost puppy. Bulstrode was nearly a troll by her stature but sadly seemed to have about the same magical aptitude as one. Crabbe and Goyle, for all their bulk seemed to share one brain cell between them. The sixth and seventh year students did not care about amassing power in the serpents pit at all. They were deeply immersed in their NEWT studies and being so close to graduation, they could enter into the dark lord's service for real once they were out of there, instead of playing at politics with school children.

The only one who could have been a serious contender was Draco Malfoy. Previously, with his posse, being the heir of Black and with his father's wealth behind him, he had been directing things in the snake pit. But, no more. The death eaters knew that his father had nearly outlived his usefulness. Potter or Peverell or whatever he was calling himself this week, had taken the heirship away from him. The vassals of the houses of Black and Rosier had also withdrawn their support and that left Draco with his four idiotic minions, no vassals and a long history of bullying to his disadvantage. Not only had he become irrelevant, none of the other snakes even liked him. What's more, the way things were going for his father, the dark lord would discard him soon too. He was not sentimental about disposing of tools that were no longer useful.

The only one who seemed to be amassing power was Daphne Greengrass who was consolidating power quickly in the pit. It was a known fact that she was Harold Peverell's friend. Although the heiress of Greengrass was more than capable of looking after herself, people had learned quickly since term started that Lord Peverell was someone you crossed at your own peril. For that reason no one attempted to start a feud with her. Malfoy seethed daily about Daphne becoming a friend of Harold Peverell but his rants were not heard. They were all waiting for him to cross one line too many and watch Peverell use him as a whetstone and maybe teach the arrogant whelp some manners. Things were changing and the house was dividing itself in two camps- Dark Lord or Harold Peverell. With the pros weighing heavily in Peverell's favour, it was not hard to understand why the children of the neutral families and those who were disenchanted with the dark lord were looking to the boy who lived.

**The Room of Requirement**

Harry had sent a message via his Wand holster to the students about the time and place for the meeting. He was waiting for them to arrive on the seventh floor. Vikram was standing by under his own cloak of Invisibility. As each group of students approached the seventh floor, Harry made a great show of waving his wand and using some arcane spells while Vikram walked back and forth the required three passes to summon the room under his invisibility cloak and the door appeared. This was to lead the students to believe that the doors were opened by some complex incantations instead of the simple way of walking past it three times while wishing for a place to practice. He of course planned to tell his friends the way to access the room. The charade was to prevent others from bringing children of death eaters to the practice room.

The first group of students arrived consisting of Susan, Neville, Hermione, Ronald and Hannah. After Harry had them safely inside of the room, he told them how it was really done. Once they all had a chance to look around, Hermione, as he had expected, gave a cry of enthusiasm and said gleefully, "Oh Harry, this is the perfect place. There are dummies we can practice with and the books. There are so many of them that we can learn new hexes and jinxes from them and practice here. I would bet that the room is fortified to withstand magical discharge from all our spell casting. How did you find it? What is the room called?"

Others were watching her with amusement.

Grinning, Harry had to shake her by her shoulder, "Hermione, breathe. Take a breath between sentences, will you? AS everyone will have similar questions, I would rather wait until we are all here and explain all of that once. In the mean-time, have a look around. I'm sure that there are several books there which would interest you".

Harry went back out into the hall and put on the same show for each group of students as they arrived. When a quick head-count told him that everyone was there, he re-entered the room with the last group and Vikram, under his cloak behind him. He came into the room and was greeted by quite a buzz and a barrage of questions, "What is this room?", "How did you find it?", "How come nobody ever told me about this place?", "Where did all this stuff come from?"...

Harry stood to address them and signaled for silence, "Welcome to the Room of Requirement. I don't know everything about this room. What I do know is that it accommodates the needs of the person or people who use it. We will meet here twice a week to practice spell casting".

He deliberately did not share what he knew about the room's history. That would have lead to more questions that he did not want to answer. He knew of no books which said anything about the Room in general much less where it was or who designed it.

As they were all gathered, Hermione stood, "We are all here to learn some magic that they don't teach us in class..."

She was cut-off mid sentence by Du Vant who said, "Are you going to teach us? We thought Peverell would be the one to teach".

Hermione was flushed, "Yes, he will be teaching us".

One of the Ravenclaws said, "Then let him speak, Granger. Or are you his spokesperson?"

Harry stood and said sternly to them, "I have agreed to teach you all. We will be practicing duelling and people will get hurt. For that reason, I insist that you show  
respect for each other at all times. There is no place for hot-heads in this room. You can start by showing respect for Hermione. She has an exhaustive repertoire of spells and she knows how to cast them all perfectly. You would do well to listen to her". He then motioned to Hermione and sat down.

She started speaking again, "Our first order of business is to elect a leader for our group".

Cho said, "Who else other than Harry? There is no one who can lead us better than him".

All others murmured assent to the proposal and it was decided.

Then Hermione said, "We need to decide a name for our group. Are there any suggestions?"

**Reviews**

* * *

**A/N- I am leaving a cliff-hanger here with a request to you guys to suggest some names for them. It cannot be DA this time around and Harry's Army sounds pedestrian. I hope you all are enjoying the fic so far. Thanks for the lovely reviews. Keep sending your infinite love to this fic. **

**THANK YOU HYPERGYM.**


	31. Chapter 31

**The Room of Requirement**

When no one spoke for a few moments, Harry asked, "What? None of you has a suggestion?"

One or two of them mumbled something but Harry could not make any of it out clearly.

He waited for some time before Daphne voiced a suggestion, "We should have a name which has no meaning to anyone who is not in this room. We also should not have a name that makes the purpose of this group obvious nor should we use any name which would indicate that we are affiliated with either of the leaders from the last war, Albus Dumbledore or You-Know-Who. I think that it is pretty clear that we all despise You-Know-Who. But, neither do we want to show our unconditional support for our Headmaster. There are many who say that he was too slow to act against Grindelwald and that his refusal to use deadly measures in the last war resulted in countless needless deaths. While we may value him as an ally, he is not the man to lead us. We are not soldiers, but students who are just trying to survive in difficult times. Our leader is Harold Peverell. Our name should have something to do with him and say that we are a third faction, independent of the rest".

Luna Lovegood was the next to speak, "How about 'Children of Magic'? Magic is mother after all".

Harry said, "That's a great suggestion Luna. Sorry to say that I think it is too inclusive. We just want this name to apply to us, here, in this room".

Finally one of the Indian students from Ravenclaw said, "There are many magical creatures in the wizarding world. We could choose one like Dumbledore chose The Order of the Phoenix. We would look at Harry's characteristics, his magical gifts etc. to determine the best name. I will start. We know he is a Parsel-tongue and we could use a snake or a serpent as he has slain a basilisk. We know that he has become fast as a cat and his magical prowess is being talked about so that is also something we can consider".

Luna's countenance brightened, "How about the Order of The Snow-Leopard? They are quick, stealthy, vicious and top predators. That would mean nothing to anyone else".

Hermione huffed, "What is with your fascination with snow-leopards anyway? Not that it is a bad name but they are not native to England. They are found in the Himalayas. What do we have to do with them?"

Luna looked at Harry curiously, "Oh, Harold Peverell knows why I am fascinated with them. The Phoenix is also found in the Himalayas and Dumbledore has bonded with one and named his order after it".

Susan broke up the debate, "Let's keep the snow leopard for consideration. What other names would we like to consider? I would like to get on to some practice today. We all have classes tomorrow".

Harry could not believe that choosing a name could be so onerous but having gone through the dilemma when he was naming Black Storm, he could understand the struggle.

Ronald spoke at last, "What about Defense Association?"

Hermione turned him down, "We are not doing a club recognized by the school but organizing it for our own training".

Tracy Davis who had not said a word in the entire meeting finally spoke up, "So does anyone else have a name to put forward or we are going to wind up without even a name?"

Daphne spoke, "I propose Peverell's Defense League or PDL for short. Alternative name can be Personal Defense League".

People grumbled over it and debated too. In the end, it came down to The Order of The Snow Leopard or Peverell's Defense League. With only two clear choices, Hermione called for a vote and it came down in favour of The Order of The Snow Leopard. The name sounded exciting, much like the noble knightly orders of old. With a flourish, Hermione added the name of the group to the top of the parchment.

Harry found Luna looking at him curiously. He took a moment to study the bronze trim on her clothes signifying she was a Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw! That reminded him what connection he had been missing. She was the one Harsh was hinting at. Luna Lovegood was the third seer at Hogwarts.

With the name decided, Harry addressed them, "As I have seen in the first defense class this year, most of us are far behind where we would be if we had studied under the tutelage of competent teachers regularly for the last four years. So I would start by assessing where you stand in terms of casting and magical prowess before I can start teaching. Let's see you all perform the 'Expelliarmus' jinx".

One of the claws said, "What are we, firsties? Do you think that we can't even perform expelliarmus? How can a simple expelliarmus help us survive?"

Harry addressed the boy directly, "If you think that Expelliarmus is old hat, how about you give them a demonstration, Stewart? You can use expelliarmus and try to disarm me. I won't even try to shield or dodge".

Harry took the boy to a practice range and asked others to stay back because if the curse went astray, it could harm someone.

The boy shot the expelliarmus but it passed inches away from his hand. Harry smirked at the boy, "Stewart, your aim was off by inches. If I were a death-eater, you would be dead already".

The boy bowed his head and whispered, "I am sorry, Harold".

Harry put his wand away and turned to others, "we have 71 people here and I know for a fact that Susan Bones, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Ronald Weasley, Ginevra Weasley and our extra-ordinary twins have no trouble in casting most of the spells and jinxes that we will practice here. So that leaves 63 of you to be divided into groups. Divide yourselves into 7 groups of 9 people each and they will be looking after your casting and correcting whatever faults are there. I will be roaming around and paying attention to everyone and if it looks like someone needs my personal attention, I will give it to them".

Soon groups were formed and Harry assigned each to a person and told them to supervise people or help them. The Room was echoing with shouts of Expelliarmus however there were many who were not successful with their aim and their spells were going awry and hitting objects instead. Harry kept his wand in his holster and prowled the room correcting those who needed his direct assistance.

Daphne was a witch who was good with a wand and had no trouble in practicing disarming Tracy who by the looks of it was enjoying it.

This year was good for Daphne but she was still far from what she wanted to achieve. She wanted Harold Peverell for herself but it looked like Bones had beaten her to it. Whenever she looked, Susan was always latched onto his arm and not giving Daphne any chance to be alone with him for a minute or more.

She realized that these classes could be the time that she was looking for considering Bones could not object to it. Harry was dealing with a group of 4th year Lions at the moment and she hollered for him, "Peverell, I can't seem to get it right. My spell is missing her".

Harry arrived very jovial, "What is the problem, Daphne? Why can't you disarm her?"

Daphne wailed, "I am getting the incantation right, wand movement right but my spell is missing her by inches".

Harry told her to cast and watched her closely. As she had cast and the spell missed again by a few inches.

He took her arm and said, "Now cast", while he guided the wand movements. Tracy's wand flew through the air to his outstretched hand.

The feeling was indescribable for her. He had grasped her hand softly yet firmly and she could feel callouses from his palm on her skin. His hands were a little rough like he performed a lot of physical labour with them. There was also a scent about him which smelled like fresh cut grass and a cauldron bubbling. His hair was starting to grow bigger than she had seen and it gave him a rugged yet handsome look. The fact that he had grown taller and bulked up a lot didn't hurt either. The emerald orbs were glowing with power and she shivered slightly just looking at them. She felt weakness in her legs and hoped they would not give up and embarrass her.

She remembered how mortified she had been when her father had asked her about the interesting comment that he had made while Lord Greengrass was visiting him and other leaders of the Great Alliance to give his support to Lord Frank Longbottom.

_-Flash Back Starts-_

_As they had returned to Greengrass Manor, they had seen Astoria and Roxanne sitting in the parlor and reading the evening prophet which carried the details of the Wizengamot session of that day. Daphne wanted to escape to her room but a pointed look from Cyrus and she had taken a seat across from her family on one of the chairs._

_Cyrus asked a little loudly for the benefit of his wife and younger daughter, "So Daphne, did you forget to tell or willingly omit mentioning that you had sneaked into the Hospital Wing to see Harold Peverell at the end of your last year?"_

_Astoria looked up sharply and shouted, "What! You sneaked into the Hospital Wing to see him and you have been telling me all these years to stay clear of the boy-who-lived?"_

_Astoria had been to her Grand Parent's place since the holidays had started so she knew nothing of the developments which had happened. She had been willing to meet Harry Potter due to her fascination with the fictional character of the children's story books. Daphne had told her that it was a bad idea because the Slytherins would not take kindly to what they perceived as fraternizing with the enemy. Astoria was a Ravenclaw and her parents were neutrals they still thought it would have damaged their position if their children were seen mingling with the champion of light._

_Roxanne was smirking and turned to Daphne, "I knew that you had fascination for the boy but I did not know that it went as far as you sneaking into the Hospital wing to see him sleep. Exactly how long have you known him anyway?"._

_Astoria nearly shouted, "You like him? That is why you tried to stop me from seeing him?"_

_Cyrus turned to his youngest with mirth-filled eyes, "Astoria now is not the time. You can rant and vent your anger later but right now we need to discuss some important house business"._

_-Flash back ends-_

"Daphne? Daphne!", Harry's voice brought her out of her reverie and she found that she had inadvertently clutched his wrist while Tracy was snickering, perhaps controlling herself from laughing hard. She found that others too were starting to look in their direction and she let go of his wrist instantly.

Harry asked her confusedly, "what just happen? Are you alright?"

She genially smiled, "I am alright, Harry. It's just that my mind wandered off somewhere else".

Harry shrugged. "You have no problem with your casting. Only you are not aiming it properly. Expelliarmus is cast at the other person's hand because it disarms them. So if you were to cast it at someplace else like the forehead, it would not work in that case".

He asked her to try again and reluctantly she had to cast it right because there was no reason for her to pretend to fumble or miss.

Afterwards Harry attended to many other students, helping them to correct their casting. When finally he was satisfied that they were able to cast it correctly, he divided them into pairs and told them to take turns trying to disarm each other.

Susan had paired up with Hannah to teach her to cast the disarming spell. Neville was left without a partner to practice with and he paired with Harry. Harry let Neville cast first and let his wand fly out of his hand every time. Wands did not change allegiances in friendly practice. After about 30 or so tries, he started casting the disarming spell at Neville. Neville allowed Harry to disarm him a few times before he tried to pull his old trick on Harry.

As Harry sent his disarming spell at him, Neville tossed his wand into the air. However before he could catch it, Harry had cast the summoning spell and Neville's wand floated to his hand. Neville's wand was powerful but did not sit right in his hand perhaps not being compatible with him. They had practiced for two hours straight before Vikram nudged him from under the cloak and told him to dismiss the students because it was going to be curfew time soon. Harry started sending them out in groups to their houses. As each group passed the great stairs, he could feel his proximity wards chime telling him that the group had passed through there. He had placed the wards so that he would know if someone walked upon them during their session. If someone did, Vikram would send them away.

**Two days later**

Daphne was irritated and ready to hex Tracy into oblivion. Tracey had been ribbing her about deliberately aiming poorly to get Harry's attention. She even vehemently asserted that Daphne should just drag him into a broom closet and snog his brains out. He would do the rest by himself.

Daphne was getting ready to go to the Great Hall for breakfast. She had over-slept this morning and was now running late with the fear of being late to her first class of the day. She knew it was a bad idea to arrive late to Professor McGonagall's class because she was a stern teacher who never cut anyone some slack. What surprised her was that Tracy had left her behind this morning and did not even wake her up. She was rushing to the Great Hall when, in her haste, she nearly ran into Malfoy who was leaving with his lackeys.

He growled, "Keep your foul presence away from me, Blood Traitor".

Daphne stiffened and snapped back, "You have the gall to call me a blood traitor? When your family is nothing but fugitives from France?"

She left him there seething in anger and proceeded to the Slytherin Table. She heard a loud bang behind her and whirled around to find Malfoy on the floor clutching his ribs while Pansy was holding his head in her lap looking concerned. Standing at the entrance of the Great Hall was Harold Peverell with his wand drawn, eyes burning with rage and his magic oozing out of him forming a gray aura around him.

He pulled Malfoy up by the front of his shirt with one hand and growled, "I warned you Draco. Did you not understand that she is under the protection of House Peverell and House Black?"

"Peverell!" Bellowed Severus, "That will be 20 points off Gryffindor and a week of Detentions with me in the Dungeons."

"Severus", Dumbledore cut in, "I will meet with you, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Peverell and Professor McGonagall in my office immediately." Without so much as a glance backward to confirm that his order was being followed, he swept off and up the stairs to the second floor. Not even a minute passed before they were all assembled in the Headmaster's office.

Dumbledore began the discussion, "I expect you know why you are all here? I will not contradict or undermine a member of my staff in front of the students. This called for a private meeting. Mr. Peverell was only defending one who is under the protection of his House and did not attack Mr. Malfoy first. It was Mr. Malfoy who pulled the wand first when Miss Greengrass's back was turned. There will be no deduction of points or detention for Mr. Peverell".

McGonagall added, "Agreed. In fact for his display of chivalry and righteousness, I award 20 points to Gryffindor".

Harry however was not done. He turned to the Headmaster, "Headmaster, I understand that Mr. Malfoy is a student and as such, you are ultimately responsible for any discipline he receives for his actions while under your care. He has violated a direct order from the lord of his house and I ask permission to deal with him as I see fit".

Dumbledore had a very unusual situation on his hands. It had almost never occurred in the history of the school that a Lord was a student there and it was unprecedented that a scion or vassal of a house had become subject to discipline for violation of a direct order from his or her lord while at the school. Dumbledore knew that he had no right to interfere in this business and he suspected that Lord Peverell knew it too. He was just being polite asking permission first. He thought to delay the inevitable, "Mr. Peverell, this is a school and classes are going to start in a few minutes. This is a task which requires time and deliberation before you decide to punish someone for their insubordination to their lord. I beseech you to deal with it later".

Malfoy was seething with rage by now. Watching Potter and Dumbledore decide not if, but rather when he would be punished was more than he was willing to let stand. "Peverell, I challenge you to a duel on your honour", he bellowed for everyone in the room to hear.

Some of the portraits glared at Malfoy. Some of them exclaimed their disbelief of the arrogance of the boy.

Dumbledore hung his head, "Very well, Mr. Malfoy has challenged Mr. Peverell to a duel on his honour. Such duels are not common practice anymore, much less between students, but according to ancient laws no one can interfere to stop this. Mr. Peverell do you accept the challenge?"

Harry was inwardly smirking. He had got what he was waiting for. This duel would take away whatever support was left for the ferret in the Serpent's pit and tilt more snakes on his side or his fear would keep them neutral.

He straightened and said regally, "I accept the challenge Headmaster. As this is your house, I ask you to decide the terms and conditions for the duel".

Dumbledore sighed, "The Duel will take place this evening after dinner in the Great Hall and there will be only non-lethal spells used. Anyone who uses a lethal spell will be expelled from Hogwarts without being given a chance to make his case as to why he should not be expelled. If Mr. Peverell wins, Mr. Malfoy will have to apologize before the entire school. If Mr. Malfoy wins, Lord Peverell will forfeit the right to invoke any punishment for this incident. Gentlemen, are we agreed?"

Harry gave the Headmaster a formal bow and replied, "I accept your terms Headmaster".

Malfoy tried to give Harry a look that said, "You're dead meat Peverell." and failed miserably, then said, "I accept your terms, Headmaster".

Honour being satisfied for now and being 40 points up for his house, Harry dashed off to finish breakfast.

When he arrived back at the Gryffindor table, he found Daphne already sitting there. She took one of his hands in her hands and said earnestly, "The house of Greengrass is indebted to you for saving me, Lord Peverell".

Harry waved her off. "I did exactly what honour and my position as Lord Black demanded of me. If I had allowed him to curse you after publicly stating that you are under my protection, just think how that would have looked. And if that foul git or any of his goons try something like that again, they will get more of the same that is a promise. Put the word out. Malfoy has challenged me to a duel. For educational purposes, I shall use him as a whetstone after dinner, here in the Great Hall this evening".

Susan saw Daphne's attempt to try to reach out to Harry and fumed but said nothing. There was nothing that she could say without causing more troubles and with a duel to worry about, she did not want to burden Harry with any more bad news.

Hermione spoke up, "A duel, Harry? Are you out of your mind! Dumbledore will expel you".

Harry cut her off, "Don't worry about it Hermione, he has approved and he will be present to witness it".

The look on Hermione's face was worth a million galleons, so Harry whipped out his camera and took a picture of it. The Great Hall was emptying out so the group headed for class.

Classes were buzzing with excitement that day about the upcoming duel. Harry could hardly wait for the evening. He thought long and hard about how the perfect object lesson should look. Malfoy's father was bound to be there as well as the children of some of the death eaters. He did not want to show off too much of his abilities. They would be sure to report back to Riddle with everything they saw. To deliberately dumb down his power, he decided to use the new holly and phoenix feather wand that Dumbledore had made for him while he was in the hospital last year. The thing felt foreign, like a dead piece of wood to him, but he would make it serve. He had also decided that Malfoy would never get a chance to land a single spell.

He had called the Marauders on the mirrors and told them about the duel. Sirius looked extremely angry but agreed that he would let Harry deal with the situation as he saw fit. He also promised that he and Moony would be there for him.

Draco had been taken aside by Snape to a class room in the Dungeons where Snape thoroughly chastised him for his stupidity. Snape who knew that his godson was an idiot gritted his teeth, "Tell me Draco why did you try to attack Miss Greengrass? Did you even bother to consider the repercussions of this act? You knew full-well that she was under Peverell's protection and that he is the Lord of House Black and you still tried to attack her. No one, not me, not even Dumbledore can shield you from the consequences for disobeying your lord. She is heiress of an Ancient and Most Noble House while you are heir of an Ancient and Noble House. Her father has gained significant power in the Wizengamot in the last session and he can brew a storm of trouble for your father. Then, instead of even attempting to apologize for your ill-considered action and taking the humiliation you had coming to you, you challenged Harold James Peverell to a duel. Do you not understand the significance of him taking that name? The Peverells were war mages, the likes of which have not been seen in Wizarding Britain for a thousand years. He has access to all their magic. The odds of you winning this duel are laughable Draco, but I am not laughing", he finished in his very low and slow drawl.

Draco had realized the folly of his actions by now but was not ready to accept it. He ranted to Severus, the only person who still listened to him, "Greengrass had it coming. She has been fraternizing with the enemy. She is also sullying the name of the Slytherin House by making people turn to Potter's side. Besides, I am a Malfoy which means no one can do anything to me. Peverell cannot best me in a duel but I will humiliate him today. Cyrus Greengrass is a money oriented person and the coffers of the Malfoy family are enough to appease his greed. Besides Saint Scar Head is stinks at Duelling or magic in general. Why do you think he lives with Blood traitors, squibs and mudbloods?"

Severus slapped him across the face and growled, "Idiot boy! Never ever let me hear you say that again. Have you learned nothing in the last four years? Our magical prowess defines us and you have been outdone by the same muggle-born every year". As he dismissed Draco, he told him that he would have to inform Lucius and Narcissa because the rules said so and that Lucius would not be happy with his conduct.

When classes let out for the day, Harry had some time to slip away to the Chamber of Secrets for some wand practice. He made an excuse to his friends and donned the invisibility cloak to make the trip. When he arrived at the well-hidden portal, he found Vikram waiting for him there, "How did you know?" Harry said from under the cloak.

"That you would put in some hard-core practice before a Duel?", replied the mystic with the simplicity of one explaining that two plus two equalled four.

Harry opened the portal and the two of them emerged into the chamber. Once the portal closed again, Harry said, "There are two objectives to this duel. The first is not to show off my abilities to Tom's spies. The second is to give Malfoy such a thorough lesson that he will never dare to bother any of my friends again. It is not enough that I should win. He must be completely and utterly humiliated".

Vikram replied, "Yes, Harry. It would seem that Guruji's lessons are sinking in".

They spent the next two hours with Harry getting the dead piece of wood to obey his will. Since he was capable of casting without a wand at all, he was able to do it, but at a fraction of his real power. So far, so good. As for the tactics he would use in the duel, well, Malfoy would just have to find out.

As evening approached, Harry behaved normally despite the excitement of a duel and his magic singing in his veins. As dinner was winding up, the doors to the Great Hall opened thunderously and walked in Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black. They walked up to Draco and Dumbledore sent them to the chamber beside the great hall where the champions had gone after Harry's name had come out of the goblet during the Triwizard Tournament. Harry subtly cast a snooping spell on Malfoy which would let him hear what was being said in the room. He also allowed his friends to listen in on the conversation going on inside the room.

As the door slammed shut, Lucius Malfoy started shouting angrily. "What possessed you to challenge him to a duel, foolish boy? The Dark Lord is not happy with you because he has marked Peverell to be killed at his hands. Besides why did you challenge him? Did you forget that he is your Lord? That he can throw you out of the Black family whenever he wishes?"

Draco stuttered, "Father... he... he attacked me when I was trying to teach a lesson to Greengrass".

Lucius seethed, "Are you an absolute fool, Draco? Sometimes I wonder if the Sorting Hat bungled somehow when it sorted you to Slytherin. None of your acts are like a Slytherin but more like a fool-hardy Gryffindor. Cyrus Greengrass is the leader of the neutrals and if you had hurt his daughter, he would have the entire Wizengamot up in arms against us. Not to mention the Dark Lord would have been angry over your posturing to appease your ego".

Draco perhaps had looked towards mother for support. "Mother! I did no wrong. I had to challenge him because he attacked me in front of the entire school".

Narcissa said to him kindly. "I love you son but you did not act in the best interests of your family. It does not matter whether what you did was right or wrong anymore because it is done. I just hope that he does not throw us out of the family for this. He is the lord of your family and he ordered you to behave yourself and not to hurt his friends. You disobeyed him. This is out of my hands. All I can do is to beg for clemency".

The door to the Great Hall opened again and Harry had to disconnect the spell. A party of witches and wizards had entered the Great Hall at that moment. Sirius Black was in the lead followed by Remus Lupin, Andromeda Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Theodore Tonks, Alice Longbottom, Augusta Longbottom, Amelia Bones and Lord and Lady Weasley. Lord and Lady Greengrass had come too but they were standing apart from the party which had come to meet Harry.

Dumbledore escorted them and Harry, Neville, Hermione, Susan, the twins, Ronald, Ginevra, Daphne and Astoria to the entrance chamber beside the great hall. The first thing Harry did was to cast some privacy wards around the room so that no one would listen to what was being said.

Harry was hugged by everyone in the crowd and so were the other children in their turn. Then he asked the obvious question, "How are all of you here?"

Mrs. Weasley answered, "The head master flooed me and told me about it and I sent a letter to Arthur at the ministry who informed the minister and Madam Bones. The Minister informed Alice and Augusta. Sirius likewise informed the Tonks family. Since we are all family to you, we decided we would come and see this duel".

Lord Greengrass approached him, "Harry, I am thankful to you for the assistance you provided to Daphne this morning and saved her from harm. The House of Greengrass is indebted to you".

Harry waved him off. "Lord Greengrass, I did what any friend would do for another. There is no debt here. Besides, as I explained to your lovely daughter, I told Malfoy that she is under the protection of Lord Black and he attacked her anyway. Honour demanded that I act immediately".

Sirius turned to him. "Pup, what are you planning to do to him?"

Harry said, "Dog-father, since you are here, would you do me the honour of being my second?"

Sirius's eyes went wide for just a moment, then he said, "My wand is at your service, Pup. But, this is a duel between students. I am sure he will not have his father acting as his second. Does that honour not belong to Neville?"

Harry nodded gravely, "Yes. You are right". Then, turning to Neville, he asked, "Neville, would you do me the honour of being my second?"

One huge, maniacal grin spread across Neville's face, "Yes, Harry, I will! And that git Malfoy had just better hope that I don't have to step in because if I do, they will have to scoop pieces of him with a mop!"

Augusta and Alice gave each other a look that said, "We're going to have to talk to Croaker about what he has been teaching this boy".

Harry said, "As for the target of this object lesson, what I have planned for him is a program of humiliation and pain that his ancestors are going to feel".

Alice said to him sternly, "Harry remember that you should not falter till he is on the ground and not able to fight anymore. Leaving your opponent standing is sign of your kindness but is often interpreted as foolishness".

Augusta calmed her down, "Alice, this is just a children's duel. Harry is powerful I do not think that the Malfoy boy will be able to match him".

The Greengrasses were huddled together the entire time while Harry talked with his family (he considered them his family for obvious reasons). Soon Dumbledore came into the entrance hall telling them that it was time for the duel.

The house tables and staff table had been vanished. Seats had been placed in the great hall arena style and it had been expanded with expansion charms. A duelling ring had been set in the centre of the Great Hall and Vikram was standing at one side.

Harry entered the ring from one side while Draco entered from the other side. It looked like Malfoy had chosen Crabbe to be his second. Vikram was in the ring with them and announced the rules. "No lethal curses will be used. Using any such curse will result in forfeiture and the guilty one will leave the hallowed halls of Hogwarts forever. The duel will continue till one of the contestants is unable to continue".

He then called out, "Bow to each other". Harry bowed gracefully as he had been taught while Draco just jerked his head. Harry took the dueling stance while Malfoy did the same and Vikram spoke again, "At the count of three, start casting".

The mystic called, "One, two, three", while Harry positioned his feet to dodge or sidestep the spells cast by Draco.

Malfoy opened with a severing charm. Harry countered with a shield which he raised effortlessly. Harry's next move was to cast a sticking charm on Malfoy's wand hand so that no matter what happened, Malfoy could not drop his wand and forfeit the duel. Harry was more than capable of casting four or five spells to Malfoy's one, but he was not showing-off here, Harry's shield took Malfoy's next bombarda, the holly wand was really cutting down his power and the shield collapsed. Harry's next spell was a bone-breaker which hit Malfoy in the middle of his chest, making it painful and hard to breathe. Malfoy fired back with confringo. Harry made it look like he tripped over his own feet and side-stepped the spell.

Malfoy had gone for three borderline deadly spells in a row. If Harry were willing to show what he had, he could dance out of the way of everything Malfoy could cast and then laugh as the git dropped from exhaustion, but that was not on the program tonight. This was going to be humiliation with pain that Malfoy would never forget. It was time to get nasty. Harry fired a carefully measured bludgeoner to the middle of Draco's face. He was gratified to see the git land hard on his butt with his nose broken, the blood flowing freely from the shattered mess but more importantly, the eyes filled with tears which would make it impossible for Draco to see clearly. To Harry's perception, the whole battle seemed to go in slow motion. He could see every movement of Draco's wand and he almost knew what his opponent was casting and where it was going before Draco did. Draco's next bone breaker went wide. Harry didn't even bother to side-step. He replied with the levicorpus and hoisted Draco a good ten feet into the air before releasing him. Draco narrowly avoided breaking his neck and Harry could hear the bones in his left shoulder break as he hit the floor. As Malfoy struggled back to his feet, Harry started peppering him with high-powered stingers, carefully aiming each one to make a welt on a different, sensitive part of the body while keeping up a relentless circling motion around his victim. Malfoy went berserk and started casting everything he knew. Most of them went wide, but each time something would have hit, Harry's shield was there in the nick of time.

As the duel went on and on, Malfoy was covered with welts, bruises, blood and sweat, but too proud to surrender and Harry was careful not to cause so much injury that the boy could not stand. Every time it looked like Malfoy had enough and his eyes started to roll up in his head, Harry enervated him, non-verbally with his off-hand. Harry was sure that by now, the boy could not feel any more pain. It was likely that he didn't even know where he was anymore. It was time to finish this.

"Aguamenti!" and Harry hosed Malfoy down with a jet of water. "Levicorpus" and Malfoy was hanging upside-down by one ankle. With a flourish of his wand, Malfoy was stripped down to his y-fronts. With a cushioning charm, Harry let the limp form down, then encased him in ice with the Glacius charm. He took a moment to remove the sticking charm from Malfoy's wand hand and stood back, holstering his wand as Vikram entered the ring.

In a loud voice, the mystic announced, "Malfoy being unable to continue, I declare Lord Peverell the winner". Then he stepped back to allow Madame Pomphrey to minister to her patient.

Harry clamped down hard on his Occlumency shields. He really didn't want anyone to know what he really wanted to do to Malfoy. As it was, Harry didn't have a scratch on him anywhere. He could have disarmed Malfoy and ended the duel in about 1 second, but that would not have made the point he was trying to make tonight. Power must always have a purpose or it is just brutality.

Madame Pomphrey dispelled the ice and examined the ground meat that had been Draco Malfoy just a half-hour ago. He had a broken nose, a grade two concussion, a broken left clavicle, five broken ribs, and countless bruises, welts and lacerations all over his body. Add to that a mild case of frost-bite. There was nothing life threatening. She could patch up most of the injuries in the space of less than half an hour, but the concussion. She conjured a stretcher and a blanket, and then levitated Malfoy on to it. She turned to Dumbledore and said, "None of his injuries are life-threatening. I can have all the broken bones mended in a trice, however, those cuts and bruises will take about a week to heal and I'll have to keep an eye on his concussion for at least three days before I can release him".

Dumbledore said to her gravely, "Take your time Poppy. I do not think that he has any urgent business. In the meanwhile the classes can go on just fine without him for a couple of days".

She trotted off to the hospital wing, levitating the stretcher in front of her. Lucius followed her from the room.

Now that Harry was calming down, he thought that maybe he had overdone it. Vikram turned to the assembled people around the hall, "Harold Peverell has won the duel according to the terms which had been set by the Headmaster. By the terms of the duel, Mr. Malfoy has to tender his unconditional apology to him in front of the whole school when he is conscious again".

Narcissa approached Harry who was talking with Sirius. Sirius nudged Harry to look behind himself. When he turned around, he found Narcissa standing there, wringing her hands and looking uncertainly at Andromeda and Sirius. Harry adopted a formal demeanor and asked her, "What may I do for you, Narcissa?"

She bowed before him, sitting on her knees and her head down, "Lord Black, I have a request to make but I hesitate to speak for fear of rejection".

Harry answered, "You are free to speak your mind before these people who are my family. If your request is just, I may grant it but if it is unjust then I will have to refuse".

Narcissa started speaking, "Lord Black, my son is impetuous, foolish and does not think things through before he acts on them. He committed an offense by going against your will because he could not understand the consequences of his actions. I beg you to forgive this offense of his and do not oust him out of the family".

Harry signaled her to stand, "Narcissa, for such an offence, I would be completely within my rights to strike him from the family tree. In the hope that he may choose another path, however, I chose to discipline him instead. He chose the manner of his punishment when he challenged me to a duel. I have used him for a whetstone in front of the entire school and no less a personage than the spouse of the Minister of Magic and the Head of the DMLE. When he has sufficiently recovered and fulfilled the terms of his defeat, I will consider this matter closed. Because you have chosen to intervene on his behalf, I charge you with the responsibility to train him in his duties to the lord of Black. If he disobeys me again, I will not be so lenient with him. Do you accept this charge?"

Narcissa looked at him with relief in her eyes, "Lord Black, I am thankful for the mercy you have shown upon him and I will do my best to ensure that he mends his ways".

Harry shook his head, "Narcissa, please do understand me clearly. I am sad to say that I do not expect you to succeed and I will not hold you accountable if you fail. Having said that, I will support your efforts in any way I can and nobody will be happier than me if you prove me wrong. I sincerely wish you the best of luck".

As Narcissa was leaving, she gave a nod to Andromeda which was answered so subtly that most of the people gathered there missed it entirely unless they were watching very closely. All the visitors left soon after the duel was over.

When the Gryffindors arrived back at the common room, Hermione as usual, started hounding Harry, "Harry you did not use any dangerous spells on him. How did you win the duel with only such ordinary spells? I know you were not allowed to use lethal spells but you could have used some hexes which are dangerous but non-lethal. You did not even stun him and just pummeled him. The worst that you used was a bone breaker and the glacius charm. Also, you can sidestep any spell or curse then why did you raise a shield?"

Others were snickering but no one dared to laugh knowing that they would only enrage the bushy haired witch further.

Harry sighed, "Hermione, do I have to spello-tape a reminder to your robes to take a breath between sentences? To answer your question, I knew he would not use any lethal spells against me for fear of expulsion from the school so I was not worried on that point. I did not have any concern about beating him, but rather much more concern about displaying too much of my abilities to Tom's lackies, like Draco's father. Besides, for me, the point was not to simply beat him in a duel, but rather to show him up as an arrogant ponce with nothing to back him up but a big mouth. I pummeled him without mercy for a half-hour straight. By the time I was done with him, he wasn't even conscious anymore. But I assure you, he will feel every inch of his body when he wakes up. I just hope that he never and I do mean never raises a wand to me or any of my friends again. The shield and the stumbling about were for show, of course. He never had a chance of hitting me, but I could not make that too obvious".

It was past curfew but that didn't stop Fred and George from starting an impromptu party. They were distributing butter-beers, pumpkin pastries, candies to the students gathered. They had slipped out of the castle during the day from the humped witch's statue and brought everything for the party which they knew they would be having. The party was in full swing and the Gryffindors were having a great time. Although Harry was being polite and accepting of the complements and cheers his house-mates gave him, his heart wasn't really in it. He begged off, saying that he was tired, as soon as he could make it believable.

The twins had also sneaked in a bottle of mead from the Hog's-head Inn which Harry knew would be consumed later in the seventh year dorms. Harry was preparing a nasty surprise for all who were planning to partake in the mead (With knowing magic the bottle could last for hours). He knew that Madam Pomfrey would not give a sober-up potion to the students without reporting them to the Headmaster and they could not brew it when required because it was not a part of the curriculum. He planned to confiscate the Seventh Year boy's stash of sober-up potions and let them suffer for a day for bringing in mead. Not to mention, he had his own stash and he could make a killing selling them if he wished to. Knowing full-well that the seventh years would not go looking for their dorm and carefully removed the phials before going up the five more flights of stairs. He put the whole stash in his trunk where he still had a part of one of the compartments under the Fidelius.

**Next morning**

Harry woke up a bit earlier than usual. Nudging Seamus awake, Harry told him to get dressed and bring his broom. Seamus was thinking that Peverell has lost it, wanting to have Quidditch practice at this hour of the morning when Harry mounted his broom and opened the big common room window. He gestured for Seamus to follow him. Once they were both outside, Harry gestured with his wand and the window swung shut behind them.

The raven haired wizard led the way to the top of the battlements where nobody ever flies. There was a reason for that. Besides the tops of the battlements being out of bounds for students, which was worth a detention if they were caught, there were all kinds of wards which would swat them out of the air like pesky mosquitoes if they tried to fly over them. Again, Seamus was sure that Peverell had lost his mind.

As they approached the outer wall of the school grounds and were well out of earshot of the castle, Harry slowed down and flew beside Seamus, "Sorry for all the mystery, mate. This is something which has the Headmaster's approval. We'll be fine". Then they landed on top of the great wall. Harry turned to Seamus and said, "There are giant slaying catapults up here".

Seamus started to open his mouth to tell Harry that he was most definitely bonkers when the stone-work seemed to re-arrange itself and no less than four massive, goblin-built siege engines appeared right before his eyes. The Irish student's mouth just hung open in mute surprise.

"Seamus, what I am going to tell you, is something that I have not told anyone yet. Not even Ron, Hermione or Susan knows about it. Voldemort (Seamus yelped) has recruited Giants to his cause and at least 30 of them are on their way to Britain now. I and some friends of mine have made some catapults which can be used to kill them or disable them".

Seamus had been listening to him intently and when Harry finished, he started, "You know Harry, before this year you lived by yourself. Not talking to anyone except for Ron or Hermione or occasionally Neville. I had never thought that a day would come when I would be asked to help you with anything. This year it looks like you have changed. The runty underfed boy that I was used to seeing seems to have disappeared and this more confident, powerful Harry scares me, to be honest. However, I know of your reasons and that you will not hold back when the war comes. I am honored that you chose to trust me with something". Seamus started grinning then, "Now tell me, what I get to blow up?"

Harry grinned widely and laughed, "You could have cut to the chase and just asked me to show you. There was no need for the grand speech".

They spent the next half hour together with Harry showing Seamus how to work the catapults. Unlike the mundane, medieval siege engines, these could be aimed and fired with pin-point precision. There were muggle legends of something they called Greek fire. Thanks to the International Treaty of Secrecy, legends were all the muggles would ever know of it. The stuff of legend was, in fact, a variant of fiendfyre which when lobbed over a wall by a catapult, had devastating effect on everything within the fortifications. Even in all-out war, the use of this stuff was strictly regulated and only used as an absolute last resort. The other things the catapults could fire included exploding rounds, armor-piercing shrapnel and simple, solid boulders. The pivoting mechanism could be easily operated with two fingers and the sights, once you got used to them were pretty straight forward. Most of the cranking energy was provided by magic and supplied through the ley lines of the castle. Harry showed Seamus how to set the range with the cranking energy. What's more, thanks to the goblin smithing, these catapults just got tougher every time they were used. They would never wear out or break in the middle of combat.

By the time they were finished test-firing the catapults and Seamus got the hang of it, he was able to hit a rabbit-hole nearly two miles out. And to dispel any doubt, he fired a second catapult and hit the same target. Harry, looking through his onmioculars at the devastation wrought on the unsuspecting bunny-hole, said, "Well hit, Finnigan! I think that will do for today. You will be in-charge of these beauties".

Seamus asked, "Mate, I can just barely manage one of these catapults by myself and there are four of them. Won't we need more people?"

Harry grinned, "I am glad that you pointed out the obvious. I am recruiting the services of some of the claws and they will assist you with operating these things. I will allow you to come here once a week and practice operating them but you are not allowed to come here during the day. You have to make time either in the dead of night or before dawn".

As Harry returned to the tower, there were a lot of grumbling sixth and seventh years, Girls and boys alike who were suffering from splitting headaches due to consuming the mead last night and not having any sober-up potions to help with their hang-over. Almost half of the Sixth and Seventh years were given detention that day by Professor McGonagall for failing to adhere to standards as were expected from her lions.

During breakfast that morning, Daphne and Tracy chose to sit at the Lion's table. It might have caused tensions all around a week ago but now no one batted an eye over this. In fact, many snakes had started to come over to other house tables and mingle with them. Harry was elated that things were going according to plan. Love & Friendship will be the power that Tom could not have foreseen and these powers will ultimately defeat him.

Daphne was looking very tired and had dark spots under her eyes while Tracy too looked like she had not slept a wink the past night. It was Hermione who asked, "Daphne, did something happen? You are looking tired and not as your usual rosy cheery self".

Tracy snorted, "Rosy Cheery? The Ice Queen? Are you out of your tree this morning, Granger? It is just that Pansy was being a nuisance last night. She kept threatening Daphne that she would teach her a lesson for landing her poor Draco in the Hospital Wing. When I tried to intervene, she pulled up the old filthy blood purity excuse. It was only with Dryden and Everly interfering on our behalf that none of Malfoy's posse harassed us further".

Harry placed his hand atop Daphne's and asked her kindly, "Do you want me to deal with her?"

Daphne was blushing hard and had bowed her head so no one would see her rose tinted cheeks but Tracy was smirking inwardly.

It was Ron who answered, "It would serve no purpose to deal with the pug-faced snake directly or openly. Better make her the victim of some random prank".

Ron had his faults, but even Harry had to admit, the red-head had a gift for tactics. He grinned to himself as he came up with what to do next.

When he was leaving the dungeons after Potions class that day, with a little non-verbal and wandless work, Harry prepared a little surprise for Miss Parkinson. When Pansy entered the Great Hall and was about to sit down, she started levitating in the air. She rose about 20 feet and was shouting; crying in her obnoxious nasal voice while flailing her arms and legs. No one even tried to bring her down or to release her from her predicament. After a minute as she was released, Professor Flitwick already had his wand out and stopped her fall with 'Arresto momentum' before she could have hurt herself.

Dumbledore advised her to take some chocolate for her shock and that was that. There was no way to find the person responsible for her condition however a few of the professors were looking towards the Gryffindor table where Harry sat eating his lunch, nonchalant and oblivious.

Daphne who was sitting among them asked, "Am I seeing things or are the teachers staring at us?"

Neville spoke, "Not quite. They are not looking at us as a group but rather Harry because they believe that he put her in that situation. Not that they can prove it by any means".

Daphne raised an eye-brow, "Really?" She turned to Harry, "Harry, did you do that to her?"

Harry, looking just a bit too innocent, said, "If I were to do such a thing, I would be within my rights because everyone knows that they cannot bother my friends with impunity. If I did not, it is likely because my friends look out for each other".

Hermione asked him, "How did you make her levitate up there? The levitation charm does not work on humans".

Harry, still feigning innocence said, "Hermione, you are just about the cleverest witch I know. I'm sure you can figure that one out".

It was George who answered this time, "It's easy enough to charm her clothes. When they rise, she rises right along with them".

Fred said, "What I can't figure out is how he does the time-delay thing so that he is always beyond reproach when his pranks go off. Could have been useful all the time we had to sacrifice ourselves for our pranks".

Everyone who was sitting around had a good laugh.

The laughter died away quickly when they saw Luna approach the table. They did not want to miss a single precious word when she spoke. Luna walked straight up to Fred, "Hello Gred".

The others gaped in wonder because at times it was not possible for everyone to tell them apart but Luna, who never had much to do with them in the first place had identified them correctly. This also confirmed Harry's suspicions. Luna was a seer.

Fred replied with equal enthusiasm, "Now there is a girl I like. She has our approval. How can I serve you, Luna?"

Luna simply said, "Tracy Davis has been making googly eyes at you for the last few days but she feels that you are too much of a moron to notice her at all".

As was her way, Luna drifted away after causing her share of chaos. Tracy had choked on her food and Daphne was patting her back.

Alicia who was sitting near them asked in surprise, "Do you fancy him? What do you see in this red-head git? It is full of stupid ideas and pranks and nothing else. These two even pranked their dates at the Yule Ball last year. George impersonated Fred and Fred impersonated George. I thought I was at the ball with George and Angelina was with Fred but it was vice versa".

Others were laughing hard hearing everything that had passed between them. Fred was trying to look serious and blush a little but everyone knew that it was a losing battle already. Tracy was trying to hide her blush and when it became apparent that she would not be able to do so, she excused herself from the table cringing that Daphne would be able to rub it in finally.

**The Room of Requirement**

The meeting in the Room of Requirement was attended by the students enthusiastically. The way Harry had dealt with Malfoy made them all giddy and hopeful. As they all entered the room, Harry met with them at the door keeping it open this time. When everyone was inside, he willed the door to disappear and to be replaced by a blank wall. Vikram had taken his leave of them saying that he could not afford to go missing every now and then and make people curious. As it was, students flocked to him by dozens and even hounded him in the evening with their doubts and questions. The younger years were more enthusiastic and doted on the defense instructor.

As everyone was seated, Harry started addressing them, "The ideal syllabus of the class does not allow us to learn anything more lethal than the reductor curse or deprimo but we need to learn more. Today I will be teaching you Reductor, Confringo, and Bombarda. The reductor curse will reduce anything to rubble while Confringo will blast things apart and Bombarda produces explosions. There are two variants to Bombarda being the Bombarda and Bombarda maxima".

He showed them the wand movements and cast the curses at three dummies in succession leaving rapidly settling clouds of dust. Harry divided the students in groups of six each and assigned them to the seven as the last session and set them to practice casting the curses. The students were to pair up and try to cast at each other. One would cast while the other would defend. Thanks to Vikram's ministrations, they all were good at casting basic shields so there was no way they could be harmed by a stray spell. Students started to try and cast the spells and Harry realized that this was going to be a long session indeed. The students would have to learn to cast the spell first.

He kept walking around and corrected people's aim or showed them the wand movement again while his friends were doing the same with other students. Once he stopped to teach Colin to cast properly again and another time he had to stop and remind Cho to not wave her wand too much. Luna Lovegood was also there and enjoying herself being in the crowd. She was casting perfectly but her aim was off. Something that could be worked upon later, Harry mused. Harry also realized that she was not wearing her shoes and the usual assortment of odd jewelry was also missing. He neared her and asked, "Where are your shoes, Luna?"

She dreamily replied, "I believe the Nargles have taken them. Most of my stuff is also missing but it all turns up at the end of the year".

Harry realized that perhaps her house mates stole her things and Luna was not about to complain. He planned to raise the issue to Flitwick though. Bullying was not something that he tolerated. He also decided to make it a point to send a message by gestures that Luna was under the protection of House Peverell now and to mess with her meant to mess with him.

After about 2 hours had passed and most of them had learnt to cast the spells, he excused them telling them to keep practicing in their spare time before they met for the next week. Harry was also bogged down with Quidditch practice which was taking up two hours a day thrice a week. Angelina was not Wood but she had the same drive and she was driving them all up the wall. The first match of the season was ages away and they had time to prepare them for it but she relentlessly pushed them to do better.

**Serpent's Pit**

After Pansy's humiliation at lunch-time and with Draco still in the hospital wing, the Serpents were mellowed out and no one bothered Daphne and Tracy at all when they returned to the Slytherin Common Room. There were already a lot of students who were on Peverell's side and the way Draco was dealt with and Pansy had been humiliated even children of hard-core death eaters were not ready to risk her ire. If word got to Harold Peverell, they would be punished. A few of the serpents tried to make her acquaintance and Daphne merely politely made small talk with them while giving no answer about Harry. Some of them expressed their interest in joining him but she told all of them that she would convey their message but that she could not make any promises on his behalf.

As they had entered their dorms, Daphne asked Tracy, "So you like the red-headed prankster and you did not think it fitting to inform your best friend?"

Tracy obfuscated, "He is too brainless and oblivious to even know that I exist. But he is fun and I have hopes of teaching him to be more, shall I say, suave? Besides, I didn't want to give you an opening to torment me. Speaking of which, I couldn't help but notice the colour mounting in your cheeks and the smug smile on your face when The Raven-Haired-one placed his hand on your hand at breakfast this-morning. Or for that matter when he turned the ferret into so many pounds of ground-round last night, on your behalf I have never seen you act like that ever. You need to be careful, Daph; or people will forget that you are the Ice-queen".

Daphne huffed, "Will you please stop using that moniker for me? I am not an ice-queen. With the reason to stay aloof gone, I can be myself finally".

Tracy asked her, "What are you planning to do now, Daph?"

Daphne smirked, "I plan to make him mine, of course".

**Next day, The Black Lake**

The next day was pretty ordinary. In the pre-dawn light, all of the members of The Order of the Snow leopard were running laps around the lake. As their fitness levels increased, Harry kept pushing the pace and working them harder. Many of them even joined Harry and the giant squid in swimming laps across the lake. It didn't take Harry long to teach them the charms to stay warm while long enough to stay in the water and swim without ill effects. The brutal regimen was not just making them fit and trim, it was also helping them with their spell casting, so nobody complained, they just worked harder. Harry was glad that they were all taking so well to the physical training, but it did cut into his practice time with Vikram.

This morning as Harry was done with his exercises, he came out of the lake after a long swim. Daphne was waiting for him.

He raised an eye-brow at her, "Daphne, why are you here? Don't you have to get ready for classes?"

Daphne said to him shyly, "You still have not answered the question, Peverell. I really wanted to go out with you and the next weekend is weeks away".

Harry sighed, "I have already told you that I cannot refuse anything to Susan. She had claimed the weekend for her own. How could I answer you then?"

Daphne internally seethed but kept her calm demeanour, "Then perhaps you can agree to sneak out of the school with me?"

Harry looked at her in surprise, "What? And risk getting caught and detention or expulsion or even worse, the ribbing of our fellow students? Besides, what makes you think that I have any idea of how to sneak out of school?"

She, joining in with the spirit of the thing asked, "And what if Ms. Bones ever found out?"

Harry said, "No need to worry on that account. A smoldering pile of ash feels no pain and that is precisely what I will be if she ever suspects such a thing".

She rolled her eyes and said, "Well, young Lord Peverell, if the prospect is too frightening for you..."

He gave in, "Ok, ok, Daphne. Meet me in the fourth floor hallway, by the mirror after classes today and I will do my best to make reparations to you for not answering you properly before now". Harry had been so frustrated with witches and their subtle ways that he had just agreed to Daphne's demand to appease her. He thought that he would take her to the Three Broom Sticks, and return after a light dinner and before Curfew.

**Breakfast, Great Hall**

This morning he chose to sit at the Ravenclaw table beside his year mates. They were the ones he had little interaction with and he was set to remedy that oversight. He had asked his friends to remain at the Gryffindor table while he slipped into a space beside Padma Patil who he thought was least likely to hex him or swat him on the head if he made any bad jokes. A few eyed him curiously but paid him no heed until he called Luna to sit beside him. As it was still the case, the girl was barefoot.

Harry asked her a little loudly, for the benefit of the rest of the Ravenclaws, ""So your stuff has not yet returned to you?"

She answered in her dreamy voice, "The nargles have them and I believe it will all turn up at the end of the year".

Harry turned to Padma, "Padma did you know that the house of Ravenclaw has some bullies among them?"

Padma vehemently protested, "No Harry, there are no bullies in this house".

Harry looked at her incredulously, "Then how do you explain her belongings disappearing? Just because she has different beliefs from other people does not entitle them to bully her or steal her stuff. She is different from most of the other Hogwarts students except you and your twin".

Padma understood what he was alluding to. One thing she did not know was how he had arrived at that conclusion. She asked him in an undertone, "How did you know about this? Of all the Hogwarts students, only Parvati and Luna know it".

Harry whispered to her while smirking, "Let's just say that I have enough confidential information about a number of students to make them nervous. I would appreciate it if you would ask your housemates to return Luna's things by morning tomorrow or I will be forced to go to Flitwick asking him to take action against them".

Mandy Brocklehurst who had just arrived at the table and saw Padma and Harry with their heads together, said to him, "I did not know that you fancy Padma, Peverell. The rumor mill is still churning that you and Bones will be going at it like rabbits any day now".

Harry choked on his food, then said with mock indignation, "What! How crude! Really, I am surprised at you". Then joining in with the spirit of the thing, Harry gave a smug grin and said, "Well, as you know, I took Padma's twin sister to the Yule Ball last year and I thought that perhaps I had dated the wrong twin".

Mandy rolled her eyes, "Yeah, Yeah! Tell that to someone who would believe it".

Harry said, with the same smug expression, "Ok, then, try this one. Susan and I are just good friends".

Mandy made a dismissive gesture and said, "Spread that one out and you can fertilize all of the greenhouses at Hogwarts with it. I can see that I'll have to work a lot harder to get the truth out of you".

Anthony who was sitting on the other side of Padma asked him, "So Harry, are you here to talk about something or just to grace us with your presence".

Harry gave him a big smile, "Now that you mention it, Anthony, I need a team of operators for some interesting machines that I have. Who would be better than the brainy kids whose wit is their greatest treasure?"

Michael asked him, "Where these machines and what are are we to do with them?"

Harry still talking in hushed whispers told him, "I want at least six students on the Astronomy tower at dawn tomorrow. I will show it to you then. For now please do not share this information with anyone except those who are interested".

Lisa Turpin who was a very jovial girl asked him, "So Peverell, has anyone dragged you to a broom closet yet?"

Harry cringed for a second before he realized that others were listening to their conversation with rapt attention, especially the girls. He winked at her, "Miss Turpin, a gentleman never tells".

Others laughed while Lisa turned beet red.

Isobel McDougall who was a shy quiet girl asked him something which threw him off, "Harry, would you go to the next Hogsmeade weekend with me?"

Harry knew he had to refuse her, "Miss McDougall while you are a charming lady and any bloke would be fortunate just to be asked out by you, I fear I have to refuse unless I want a certain Hufflepuff to come after me with her wand blazing. As it is I am rather fond of my limbs".

Everyone laughed while Padma looked like she was considering hitting him on the head but chose not to.

Isobel said to him genially, "It is alright Harry. I had to ask you though just to satisfy my curiosity".

All in all the conversation with the Ravenclaws was better than he had expected. Sure they were driven by logic but they were also fun to be around if they wanted.

**Fourth Floor, Four O'clock**

As he had planned, he excused himself from his friends saying he had some work to do before he went to the fourth floor. There was Daphne Greengrass as she had promised, dressed in her form fitting robes, her hair undone falling to her shoulders smoothly, a silver tiara sat upon her head and it looked like she had taken some time to get ready for this trip. He was dressed in fine Acromantula Silk robes, dragon hide boots and his cloak billowing behind him. The mop of hair on his head which was longer than it had been in past years looked like he had made an effort to comb it but then gave it up as a bad job. While he was not dressed up as she was, he was dressed as befitting a Lord. Rachael's training had, at least, made him conscious of his appearance and he took extra pains to look smart all the time.

He led her to the mirror on the fourth floor and she asked him, "Did you bring me here to look in a mirror, Peverell? Do you think I am vain?"

Harry raised his hands in a placating gesture, "Not at all Daphne. If you would please wait for a moment, you will know why we are here."

He summoned his wand from his holster and she asked him, "Is it the Holly wand with a Phoenix feather core?"

Harry asked her surprised, "How do you know about my wand?"

She smirked, "The entire castle knows. It was in the-boy-who-lived edition of the Teen Witch Weekly."

Harry choked, "The WHAT?!"

She grinned, "It was published sometime last year. Almost every witch in the castle bought a copy. It had so much information about you, most of it garbage I must add. There were days that hardly a witch could be without a copy of it. Some even kept it under their pillows when they slept".

Harry was mortified, "Please tell me you are joking".

She gave him a bright smile, "I am not, Peverell. There were several girls who wanted to get you to sign their copy. It was only when the Harry Potter Fan Club insisted that you would not welcome that kind of attention, that no one harassed you about it".

Harry was getting paler now, "What did you just say? WHAT club?"

Daphne was enjoying it too much now, "Oh yes, there is a Harry Potter Fan Club which is run by the Weasley girl and the Creevey boy who used to follow you like a puppy. They even host a few Harry Potter nights where they have Harry Potter trivia contests".

Harry was ready to faint. "Oh, this is so bad. I wonder what they would be doing now", he whined.

Daphne finally took pity on him, "Don't worry Peverell. I will find out about it and tell you. I am just surprised that Granger did not tell you. She is also one of the members due to her status of being your best-friend. She writes a monthly column in its newsletter I believe. Anyway you can ask them about it later but right now, we are wasting time that we could be spending in Hogsmeade".

Harry reluctantly nodded and cast some glamour charms on himself. When he was done, he looked like a man in his early twenties with straight brown hair, his skin a shade darker, his eye-brows a little more bushy than normal and His eyes steel-gray. Daphne raised an eye-brow at him, "I know you are adept at magic Harry. You don't have to show me that you can cast glamour charms expertly".

Harry gave her a lop-sided grin, "Daphne, I do not know if you have noticed but every time I step out of this castle, the Daily Prophet gets wind of it and my photo ends up on the front page. You surely do not want the media coverage?"

She nodded, "That would put me in the sights of a number of jealous witches. I surely don't need that. Would you do the charms to me as well?"

Harry cast some charms on her turning her hair to black, shoulder length, her skin a shade lighter and her blue eyes were a shade of brown now and she also looked like she was in her early twenties. She looked at herself in the mirror and after being satisfied with what she saw, she asked him, "How are we going to Hogsmeade?"

Harry opened the secret way behind the mirror with a tap of his wand and uttered the password under his breath. As the door opened, he led her into it before closing the mirror behind him. They travelled for a good part of an hour while talking about little things. Finally they emerged in the village of Hogsmeade near the Cottage on the hill and Harry dutifully offered his arm to her which she was happy to take. He led her to the Three Broom Sticks and they walked in unnoticed and took a private room for themselves. He took a moment to erect privacy wards before they sat down.

When they were seated, Daphne was bursting to ask some questions which could not wait anymore, not when she had waited so long for those answers. She asked him immediately, "What was your life with the muggles like?"

Harry was drinking a butter beer and put it down before he answered her, "The muggles that I thought were my blood relatives were the worst sort that you could imagine. They hate wizards with every fibre of their being. They did not allow me to mingle with other muggles so my experience with them is rather limited. The only muggle I thought I liked turned out to be a squib".

Daphne was surprised, "Squib? You had a squib living near your home and you never knew it?"

Harry nodded, "She came to live there at the end of the last war. In fact, just a week after I was placed with the muggles. She was there to keep an eye on me and to report if Death Eaters found me. Dumbledore had placed her there".

She asked again, "Has Dumbledore always interfered in your life?"

Harry said a little ruefully, "he placed me with the muggles for my safety. He believed that he had no other option. I do not hate him for it but I wish he had taken sometime to see to it that I was being looked after properly".

Daphne asked him the same thing that Susan had asked him the other day, "Have you thought about what you will do with your life after you graduate?"

Harry gave her an answer he had rehearsed after being asked by Susan, "I have decided that I will play professional quidditch for sometime after I graduate. When I am done, I will take up broom making as a skill".

She nodded, "looks like you have sorted your life. I thought you would say that you would research potions considering the mammoth improvements in the field this year".

Harry asked her, "Have you decided on anything?"

She replied off-handedly, "My father owns an apothecary business. We are the second largest potion makers behind Herbs and Weeds. I thought I would take over his business and expand it to make it bigger than Herbs and Weeds. We could have surpassed Herbs and Weeds years ago but they can get a lot of raw materials at a cheaper rate than we do. We have our own green houses but they are insufficient to cater to our needs while they have some supplier who supplies them the raw materials in return for their shares".

Harry was listening to her intently and had a good idea who the supplier was. House Potter had some very extensive Green Houses which supplied raw materials to Herbs and Weeds in return of 20% of their shares. However he did not need to tell her that.

Before Harry could ask anything more, a bull patronus came floating through the air to them and said to him, "Return to Hogwarts. The Headmaster is looking for you".

Harry looked at Daphne who had her mouth open in O, "Was that a corporeal patronus? Who was it from?"

Harry smiled, "Sorry, Daphne. That is a secret which I am not going to give up. We need to be moving. I do not want the Headmaster to launch his Order to search for me. That would be catastrophic".

They hadn't even managed to order dinner yet. Harry ordered a couple of sandwiches to go and paid the bill as quickly as he could. As they came out, he pulled out his broom from under his robes where he always kept it in shrunken form and with a tap of his wand, it expanded. He turned to Daphne, "While I am sure I can fly like I am insane and reach Hogwarts in minutes, I am not certain if you can fly on a broom".

With an impish grin, Daphne replied, "Try me".

Harry said, "OK, then". With that, he mounted the broom and extended his arm to her. She mounted behind him and grabbed him tightly by his waist. Harry kicked up in the air and headed off through the streets as fast as the broom would go.

For Daphne, it was surreal. Sure she had not got to ask all the questions that she wanted but to sit behind him on a broom was different experience altogether. The way he was flying exhilrated her and she wanted to shout at the top of her lungs but gave it up knowing it as a bad idea.

Within a few minutes, they were at hovering near the school. Instead of heading for the gates, Harry steered towards the Forbidden Forest and they landed near the edge of the forest so that no one could notice them.

He turned to Daphne, "I am sorry that we had to cut it short. I will try to compensate for the lost time the next chance".

He asked Daphne to cast a disillusionment spell on herself and go the castle and thereby to her dorms. As soon as she was out of sight, he disappeared only to appear in the Head Master's office.

Dumbledore was anxious and walking to and fro in his office. Vikram and Sirius sat in chairs waiting for him.

As soon as Sirius saw him, he lunged out of his chair and pulled him into an embrace, "Where were you, you idiot boy? We were worried about you".

Harry looked towards Dumbledore, "What happened, Headmaster? Did Voldemort make a move finally?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "No, my boy. The order spies have brought some information for us".

Harry asked anxiously, "What is it?"

It was Sirius who answered, "Pup, Voldemort has recruited at-least 30 more werewolves to his cause. They are on the move towards Wizarding Britain. The Aurors are not able to track them and Frank requested Albus to do something about it".

Harry asked Dumbledore seriously, "What do you want to be done, Headmaster?"

The Headmaster sighed, "I fear there is only one way open to us, my boy. We will go wolf hunting".

Harry wanted to pump his fist in the air and whoop at the top of his lungs but he restrained himself and asked in a neutral tone, "When are we leaving? Who is going with us?"

Sirius answered, "Moody and Moony will be here shortly".

Vikram answered his other question, "As soon as you can get ready. Go and dress up, Peverell".

Harry almost ran to the tower. He found Neville in the dorm with Ron playing a game of chess. Without bothering them, he started to rummage through his trunk and in a few moments, he had his battle armor and mask in his hands with the Sandalwood wand and the Elder wand on holsters attached to his wrists.

Neville asked him, "Where are you going, Harry?"

Harry was of a mind to refuse to tell the boy but Neville had stood with them every time and deserved an answer at least. "I am going wolf hunting, mate", he said".

Neville immediately stood up, "And you did not think to ask me? Did you forget that where a Potter goes, a Longbottom will follow?"

Harry sighed, "Mate, I am sorry. This kind of work calls for silver blades and you are not ready. We will correct this oversight in your training, but you can't come with us tonight".

Ron said hotly, "Because you are better than us?"

Harry shook his head, "No Ron but because Werewolves cannot be easily killed by magic".

Neville snorted, "So you plan to poke them with a stick?"

Harry grinned as he brought his sword out of his trunk, "Not quite, I intend to cut them down with this".

Neville still protested, "I am not allowing you to go by yourself. Either I am coming or you will not go".

Harry turned to him and said sternly, "Mate, the day you are adept at sword fighting, I will not refuse you a place by my side but not today".

As soon as he got dressed up, he descended to the Common Room where all conversation stopped at once. He saw some witches sitting huddled in a group and went out without answering their questions.

As the portrait door closed behind them, Hermione turned to Ron and Neville, "Where did Harry go? Why was he dressed like that? Where did he get a sword?"

Ron took her by her hand, "Let's get out of here and I will fill you in. There are things that we cannot talk about in front of everyone".

As the two exited the common room, they were followed by Neville, the twins and Ginny who was equally curious.

**Reviews please**

**A/N- **Thank you everyone for the lovely reviews. I am glad that you all are liking this fic and giving such valuable insights.

Thank you Hypergym for the edits.


	32. Chapter 32

**Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts**

Harry entered the office to find Moody and Moony already there looking grim and determined. The Marauders had the basilisk armour which Harry had ordered while Moody was dressed in the Battle Robes he had bought when he joined the Aurors. Only Dumbledore was not dressed in any kind of gear but was sitting behind his table as if he had all the time in the world.

Harry raised an eye-brow and asked him, "Headmaster, are you not coming with us?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "No, Harry. As the Headmaster of the school, it is my duty to remain here to look after the security of the castle. With you and the defense professor gone for the night, we need some people around here to deal with any danger which may threaten the castle. It is not wise in the current atmosphere to leave the school undefended".

Harry nodded, "You are right Professor. Where are we going?"

It was Moody who answered, "We are going to the Ministry to the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures. They have information about the whereabouts of the pack or the closest that they can manage. Amos Diggory, Minister Longbottom and a couple of others are waiting for us there".

Sirius, who was visibly excited, said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Dumbledore handed them a piece of rope, "This is a port-key which will take you to the ministry".

They touched the rope and with the familiar tug behind the navel, they all disappeared.

**Hogwarts**

Neville and Ron entered a deserted classroom followed by the twins and Hermione. After Neville had locked the door with a complex locking spell and Hermione had placed an imperturbable charm on the room, Hermione turned to glare at the others with her hands on her hips, "Now, will you tell me what is going on?"

Neville started, "Do you remember he said that he had something to do and went off by himself after classes? About 3 hours later, he returned in haste to the tower and started rummaging through his trunk. After a few minutes, he had those robes and a mask in his hand. When we asked what was going on, he simply told us that he was going wolf hunting. We tried to get him to take us along but he refused saying that we cannot deal with them yet. Ronald asked him if he thought we are weak and he said no but we cannot fight with a sword. The sword as I recognize belongs to the House of Potter because there was the Potter Crest on the pommel of the sword and as far as I know, he brought the sword with him at the start of the school year".

Hermione said thoughtfully, "It is true that killing a werewolf with magic is hard because they are fast and one would miss their aim unless they are experienced and can cast as fast. They can be killed by silver though and a sword would be the ideal weapon to fight with them. I wonder where he learned sword fighting considering that I have never heard of wizards using swords in battle".

Neville replied, "I know about it. There are many long swords in the Longbottom Family vault mostly the Viking type. They used to conduct their magic through those weapons. But that was during the age of mages when wizards were more adept at magic and they knew more than we do now. Since then the swords just sit in display boxes for others to gawk at".

Hermione as inquisitive as she was could not stop asking, "What are the swords made of?"

Neville sighed, "This is the last question for today. The swords can be made of different metals but the best ones are made of Goblin Silver and do not dent or rust or need to be whetted every now and then. You can bury one such sword in the ground and when you dig it up a decade later, it would not even be corroded a bit and no, Hermione I do not know how those swords are forged. That is Goblin Magic".

Hermione huffed but said nothing. Neville took his leave of them leaving them in contemplation saying that he had work to do.

Hermione turned to the Weasleys who were in the room, "Does your family vault have such swords?"

Gred replied, "Father told us that we used to have."

Forge added, "But they were sold to pay off debts our house had accrued."

Ronald asked her, "Why are you interested in swords?"

Hermione said simply, "So we can help Harry."

Fred and George could not stop laughing at this. When she glared at them, Fred raised his hands in a pacifying gesture, "Easy, Hermione. But do you think you can help him with sword fighting? He is nimble as a cat, powerful as a bull and I can bet that he is a master in sword fighting. Besides I do not think he is going alone on this hunt. There must be a few more people with him".

George added, "Not to mention that he can dodge almost anything. The way he can side step any curse, I would not put it past him to be able to dodge a killing curse though there is a better chance that the caster would be dead before he can complete the incantation".

Ginny scoffed, "He wouldn't do that. He is the nicest person. He cannot kill anyone".

Fred rolled his eyes, "Shows what you know".

Hermione said, "Explain what you mean?"

George started speaking like he was teaching to a small child, "Hermione did you observe nothing in the duels that we have seen him engaging in? Auror Moody is a warrior in spirit and all of us together could not beat him but whenever he fought Moody, it looked like Moody was fighting for his life. When he is fighting someone, his eyes have the bloodlust in them. I can bet he was pulling his punches whenever he practiced with Moody. Hell he defeated Flitwick in minutes and he is a nine-times duelling champion. Yesterday, with Malfoy in the Great Hall, he wasn't duelling. It was more like the way a cat plays with a mouse until the game got boring and he finished the git off. It was strictly a non-lethal duel but he broke several bones, gave him a concussion and the bruises and lacerations could not be counted. I would bet all the money in our family vault that the only reason Malfoy is still alive is that Harry was being very careful not to kill him".

Ronald who had been quiet for sometime said, "Don't you people think it fishy that the defense instructor seems to be very intimately familiar with Harry's power and skills? When the term started, they were even dueling around the lake every day".

Ginny nodded, "Yes, it is fishy. I have noticed too".

Hermione said nothing but took in everything that was being said and tried to figure it out. It frustrated her that she did not know enough to come to any conclusion.

**Headmaster's Office**

Neville Longbottom arrived for his weekly session with the Headmaster in his office. He found the old wizard lost in thought. Neville had no problem in getting access to his office because Albus had instructed the Gargoyle to let him in whenever he visited. Albus was sitting in his chair, his eyes closed, worry lines on his forehead. Neville could see the wrinkles on his face and realized that the old Headmaster was getting on in years. As per the available records, he was already above 100.

He softly said, "Sir?"

Albus opened his eyes and smiled tiredly, "Neville, take a seat."

Neville sat on a chair on the other side of the table and asked him, "Where did Harry go sir?"

Dumbledore gave him a half smile, "Did he not tell you?"

Neville knew the Headmaster was playing a word game and was not going to tell him, so let it go for the time being. Instead he asked, "What are you teaching me today, sir?"

Albus said, "Since the last time when I taught you how to recognize someone's magical signature, have you had any success?"

Neville enthusiastically replied, "Yes Professor. I can recognize people by their magical signature now. Everyone emits some magic all the time and it is never the same for any two people. I tried this with different people during the time between last lesson and today and I can recognize people by their magical signature now. However I have realized that it would not work for someone I have never met before because I would be unfamiliar with their magical signature".

Dumbledore beamed at him, "very astute, my boy. Now if I may ask, are you working on your skills? I know that you have learned your family Grimoire but are you getting sufficient time to practice those spells?"

Neville shook his head, "No. I do not know of a place in the castle where I can practice my family magic without the fear of someone walking in on me".

Dumbledore said to him cryptically, "There is a room in this castle where you can practice casting to your heart's content. It is a magical room and it only answers to those who are in need of it. I, myself only came across this room once in my hundred years but the elves tell me that the room is always there, waiting to be called".

Neville laughed, "Are you talking about the Room of Requirement? I know about the room but it is hardly secure when you can call upon it easily".

Dumbledore said again, "Don't worry. I will give you a room. I will transform an unused room into a training room with fortified walls and keep it under Fidelius. You can use that room for your purposes then".

Neville prompted him, "What are we going to study today, Professor?"

Dumbledore smiled, "have you learned Legilimency yet?"

Neville nodded, "Great-Uncle Croaker gave me a good idea about the art but I have not yet got the gist of it".

Dumbledore started explaining, "When you detect someone trying to intrude in your mind and is knocking on your mind shields, show them a horrible memory. It does not have to be one as horrible as Dementors swooping in to kiss you but one which can distract would be sufficient. As they are unsettled, throw them out of your mind".

Neville nodded and Dumbledore started casting the Legilimens curse upon him. They kept trying for two hours during which Dumbledore was able to enter his mind 10 times of which Neville was able to throw him out only 3 times.

**Ministry of Magic**

Harry and the others arrived in the Auror bullpen where Frank and Alice were waiting for them. As Alice saw Harry, she turned to Frank, "Really Frank? Now you are sending a child on a wolf hunt? I accept that Harry is powerful but do we have to ask him to deal with every trouble?"

Sirius mock chided her, "Hush Alice, you will make him cry. You don't want to make a child cry, do you?"

Harry rolled his eyes but said nothing. Alice embraced him warmly and he returned the gesture. Alice loved him like her own son but she never smothered him the way that Mrs. Weasley did. Harry loved both women equally and certainly had no problems with the two mother figures showering their affections on him.

Moody growled, "Alright, alright. That's enough of that now. We have a hunt to go on".

He turned to Frank, "Minister, who else is going on this or is it just we five?"

Frank shook his head, "Madam Bones told me that it would be a bad idea to send just the five of you so, I have picked Kingsley Shacklebolt and Gawain Robards to go with you. Go down to the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures and Amos will brief you. Remember Alastor, you are the commander of the Aurors but Dumbledore has told me that the commander of this hunt will be Mr. Vikram Rana. He says that he is an expert in these things".

Vikram stepped forward and shook hands warmly with them, "Minister Longbottom, it is an honour to make your acquaintance". He gave a formal bow to Alice before the party went to the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures. Harry was kept in the center of the formation away from the gawking eyes of the few ministry employees who were still in the ministry building.

Amos received them warmly and handed a parchment and a piece of rope to Alastor, "Last time they were spotted, the werewolves were somewhere near Cardiff. Since outwardly we are seen to be doing nothing, we tried not to follow them too closely but as far as I know, the woods around there would provide sufficient cover for them".

Moody nodded, "Right".

He turned to the group, "So we are going to Cardiff. Once we have arrived there, Professor Vikram will form a plan of action".

As the portkey activated, they all disappeared with a tug behind their navel.

**Cardiff**

They arrived in the woods and everybody pulled out their wands, alert for the smallest movements. After making sure that there was no one around, Vikram started briefing them, "We have seven people in our group and I believe that there are about 30 werewolves in the woods which means that we will have to take out four or five of them each.

The trees and undergrowth are thick and will provide excellent cover. This will not work to the wolves' advantage, but rather ours. Since the woods are vast and we have a lot of ground to cover, we will divide up into two parties to track them down. Whoever finds them first will send a patronus to the other group and we will regroup before launching our assault. Remember we are not taking any prisoners and are going to kill them. Try conjuring silver weapons and banishing them at the werewolves. Silver incapacitates them better than anything else. However I would also advise you to keep a silver weapon at hand so that if you are in close quarters with them or lose your wand, you are not entirely helpless".

Everyone conjured some sort of silver weapon for themselves except Harry, the Marauders and the defense instructor. The Defense Instructor produced a short sword which had been hidden in his robes while Harry tossed a silver dagger to Remus and one of the Black daggers to Sirius.

Vikram divided them into two parties with the Marauders and Harry being in one while the rest of them were in the other. Vikram pointed Harry in one direction while he went in another.

As they were walking, Harry put his mask on his face. Sirius asked him, "What is with the mask, pup?"

Harry replied off-handedly, "That is my battle gear. I am an honorary member of the Tribe of Mystics and they always cover their faces when in a battle or fight".

After walking for about 10 minutes, they could smell the Werewolf camp before they arrived at it. Fortunately for them, they had approached from down-wind. The sensitive noses of Remus from his werewolf abilities, Harry and Sirius from their animagus forms were all able to catch the scent of the blood from a fresh kill on the slight night breeze while they were all still 400 meters from the camp.

As Sirius started to walk forward, Harry caught him by the arm and whispered, "Look up in the trees around the camp. They will likely have guards hiding in them. We would be walking into an ambush".

He willed his eyes to see clearly and he could see that some of the trees had guards in them. He said to Sirius, "they have around 5 guards in the trees. I will take them out. When I transform, cast a disillusionment charm upon me then send a patronus to the others and wait for my signal".

He transformed and started climbing up into the tree like it was easy for him. Within a second, he was in the tree and strode forward stealthily. The forest was eerily quiet and the silence was over-bearing. He could smell the werewolf perched on a tree just two trees away. He could hear his heart-beats clearly and eagerly walked towards the guard. Perhaps they had killed some animal earlier because Harry could smell the blood and it was intoxicating him. When he was upon the werewolf, he gave a low growl which he was sure would not be heard by the other guards. As the guard turned, Blizz dived for his Adam's apple not even giving him a chance to scream. In a second, he had torn out the werewolf's throat and left it there to choke on its own blood. He crept towards the other guards and in the next five minutes, he had killed the guards. Remus had followed him on the ground and cast cushioning spells on the dead guards so if their bodies fell, they would not alert other werewolves.

As Harry transformed back, he could taste the blood in his mouth and it nauseated him. His stomach rebelled and he wanted to throw up. He remembered a potion which he had brewed with Prathimaan which could cure nausea. He had his potion belt on him and he quaffed the contents of the tiny phial. As his stomach settled, he cast the aguamenti in his mouth thoroughly cleaning it and then cast Tergeo on his clothes to remove the blood from them.

By the time he was finished cleaning up, Vikram arrived with the others with a similar mask on his face. Harry erected a privacy ward so that their plans would not be overheard by the werewolves.

Robards asked him, "Why are you both wearing masks?"

Moody barked at him, "Just do what you were sent here to do, Gawain. If any word of this hunt gets out, I will skin you alive".

Gawain Robards was acquainted with Moody's temper so he said nothing while Harry turned to Vikram, "Five of them are already dead, Professor".

Vikram nodded, "Alright, make a perimeter and start closing in. Make sure that no one can escape. When you see a werewolf, kill them. Remember if it comes to your life or theirs, your life is always more important".

Remus spoke, "They have a keen sense of smell. I can smell them from here. Thanks to Harry, they have no sentries, however, if one of them is awake in the camp and they smell us coming, this whole thing might not go the way we plan". He pointed with his arm in the direction directly away from the camp and said, "The wind is blowing that way".

Vikram replied, "We are well out-numbered. Surprise is of the essence for our success. We can use disillusionment charms, muffle our feet and scent masking charms".

Vikram tapped each of them in the center of their chest in turn. it was a sensation like being on top of a mountain with a cool breeze blowing for a few seconds before Remus said, " I can't smell any of you! Let's go."

With that done, they took care of the rest of the charms for themselves.

Vikram said, "Alright then. Gawain and Kingsley, you take up flanking positions and make sure that none of them escape. Alastor, you will take position on the right. Harry on the left. Remus and Sirius, move in from downwind. I will go around the camp to the upwind side. I will need about five minutes to get into position. The signal to attack will be when I set the first tent on fire. You will all get the tents burning as quickly as you can and we will take them out while they are still groggy and confused. Any questions?"

Alistor spoke up, "There are sure to be some wands among them. We don't want them disapparating".

Harry said, "They may have sentry wards. We'll have to take care of them if they do".

Vikram said, "While I'm circling around to the right, I'll take care of any wards in that direction. Harry, since you are circling to take position to the left, you can scan that way. Alistor, Gawane and Kingsley, lay down anti apparition and anti-port-key wards while you wait for the signal to attack".

With that, they all fanned-out to take up position.

AS Harry went, he cast detection spells and found no wards at all. Either the werewolves did not have a wand among them (Not all werewolves were wizards or had wands) or they were really over-confident. He cut into the camp as far as he dared and laid down anti-apparition wards and anti-port-key wards on the ground and on the tents on his side of the camp. Just for good measure, he cast a huge earth-wall just outside of the clearing. No werewolf would be escaping in that direction. He observed that the opening of the largest tent was pointing straight at him. With the Elder wand in his right hand and the Sandalwood wand in his left, one trained on the big tent in the middle of the camp, the other at the tent nearest him, he stood ready under his charms and waited for the signal.

The silence was full of the sounds of the usual night creatures. It occurred to Harry that their measures to go undetected had been successful. Another two minutes past, then a massive "Incendio" struck the tent upwind. With brutal precision, a split second later, five more "Incendios" struck the camp and the entire scene was ablaze with the lurid flames of the rapidly burning tents. Harry holstered his wands and drew out his sword and one of the Black daggers.

The disillusionment effect was dispelled by the gleaming goblin-wrought silver, however Harry preferred for them to look at him when they were dying at his hands.

Keeping his sword in his hand, he waited in silence while the other teams began their attack. There were a total of five tents in the camp. Harry was sure that they were enlarged inside similar to the one he had stayed in at the World Cup last year otherwise there could not possibly have been so many sleeping in them. One of the smaller tents was empty probably it had been the quarters for the guards who had already met their fate.

With the opening of the largest tent pointing straight at him, no less than eight werewolves struggled free of the flaming canvas and ran toward him in a howling mass. Then the battle-lust was on him and time seemed to slow down.

As the first one reached him, the point of Harry's blade found his heart. Before the creature even realized that it was dead, Harry kicked the rapidly shriveling body away, pulling the blade from what had been its chest. The basilisk venom would have done the job with a scratch, but this was good practice. The next werewolf had no time to feel pain or terror as Harry's blade passed cleanly through his neck on the backswing. The body toppled to the ground without losing momentum as there was no longer anything guiding the legs and the head rolled on for a few more feet.

There were at least 6 more who circled him now, ready to attack at once.

Harry got into his fighting stance, slightly crouched, with his feet well apart and the blades away from his body. He started to weave the blades in a hypnotic pattern, fascinating the creatures, trying to keep their minds off the fact that a very real flesh and blood war-mage was wielding them. One of them was not taken in. He rushed Harry and got the sword through his heart for his trouble. The blade was lodged firmly in the ribs and Harry let it fall with the body. He moved to one side as he drew out another dagger. With the body dissolving as if it were in a vat of acid, he would be able to retrieve his sword soon enough. He threw the dagger and hit another one of the werewolves in the throat. A moment later he crumpled to the ground in convulsions, his body looking like he had been hit with the blood boiling curse.

There were still four left standing. It didn't take them long to realize that standing back and circling wasn't going to save them, nor was rushing the blades one at a time any better. With a howl, they all charged Harry at once, hoping to tear him limb from limb before he could kill all of them.

Harry read the attack like a Daily Prophet headline and waited until the last possible moment to leap clear. He flipped through the air and landed beside his sword while the hapless werewolves crashed into each other, nearly knocking themselves senseless.

While they were getting themselves sorted out, Harry pulled his sword free of the now shrivelled body and stood up again, ready to kill. One of the werewolves charged him again and Harry kicked him in the chest, throwing him down. As the werewolf fell down, another dagger had left Harry's hand impaling him in his chest. The body began to expand and smoke as the entrails expelling curse took effect. By now, the remaining three were too deep in bloodlust and fear to even consider running. They attacked Harry as one body again. Harry flipped over their heads and cleaved a skull in twain on his way by. The remaining two turned around to see why there companion was no longer with them and Harry bound them both in silver chains with a gesture while they were trying to figure out what had happened. For good measure, he conjured an earth-cage to make sure they wouldn't bother him again while his attention was elsewhere.

The immediate crisis over, time seemed to speed up to normal as he surveyed the rest of the battle. The brightly burning tents provided plenty of light.

Remus had been having an easy time on his side because he could match the werewolves in agility and speed. He shot down two with bone exploding hexes before the third one dodged his curse and sunk his teeth into Remus's off hand. The werewolf hissed in pain and buried his dagger hilt deep into the other werewolf's back killing him. Another was charging him and Remus conjured a silver javelin which he banished towards the other werewolf's heart killing him instantly. He looked around to find Sirius fighting with two at once and joined him. Pulling his dagger free of his slain foe, he threw it and it buried itself in one of the werewolf's back while the other fell almost instantly to a bone exploding curse at Sirius's hand. Sirius growled at him, "Damn you Moony. That was my kill!" Remus looked around and found that Sirius had killed four of them by himself.

They turned to see Harry's blade, sailing through the air, chopping a werewolf's head in two, killing the last of the werewolves. Sirius cringed, "I did not know that he could use a sword so effectively. If Voldemort got in a battle with him without magic, he would make short work of him".

Remus concurred, "I agree, Padfoot, I agree".

They found the Defense Professor who they had connected with the mystics by now due to the mask, to be parrying with two werewolves at once. While Remus wanted to interfere Sirius held his arm, "Moony he does not need our help. He will kill those two in a wink". Indeed as Sirius had finished his sentence, the Defense Professor had buried a dagger in one of the werewolf's chest and impaled the other through his heart with such force that the blade had exited the other side. There were two more werewolves on the ground beside him, dead.

Moody who was fighting with only his wand, was laughing maniacally. Since he had got his new leg to work as well as his normal one, he did not really need his staff anymore yet he kept it with him and now they realized why. He was shooting spells with the staff and his wand. He was not doing parallel casting but it was impressive to watch. He had trapped one in a net of silver spikes and the werewolf was bleeding and dying slowly. The two others who were fighting him were having a hard time to defend themselves. He lassoed one of them in his fire whip and with a jerk he had the werewolf cleaved in two. The other tried to run and was shot with a bone exploding curse from behind and fell to the ground dead. Kingsley and Gawain were standing on the perimeter, their wands out and ready to kill any who tried to escape.

With the battle over, Harry cast a summoning charm to summon all his daggers to him and guided them into his belt as he had been taught aboard the Marichika which seemed like ages ago. Remus had also recovered his dagger and when he tried to return it to Harry but he refused to accept it and told Remus that it was his gift. He noticed the wound on Remus's hand and summoning essence of Dittany from his belt, he cleaned the wound before stitching it together.

Moody, who had been inspecting the dead bodies hollered for Harry, "Peverell, how did you kill those guards in the trees? They are missing their Adam's apples." The Aurors were gawking at the dead bodies in wonder and trying to arrive at some conclusions while Harry replied off-handedly with his face devoid of any emotions, "I vanished them, Master Auror.".

Kingsley in his deep voice asked him, "Why did you leave two of them alive?"

Harry looked towards Moody, "So that Master Auror can torture them to his heart's content and squeeze every bit of information from them".

Moody whipped his wand out and cast a bone exploding hex at one of the werewolves, killing him instantly and grumbled, "One is sufficient. I get enough satisfaction by torturing the recruits every morning". The Marauders laughed while the Aurors shuddered.

Harry, Vikram, Gawain and Kingsley set about the work of taking down the wards and levitating the bodies into the centre of the encampment. When they took stock of the battle, they realized that their only casualty was the bite to Remus's hand and since he was already a werewolf, no real damage done. Gawain and Kingsley, who both had a good view of the camp from opposite sides reported that none of the werewolves had even attempted to flee.

Moody yanked his badge from his robes and tapping it with his wand, gave some commands into it and slapped a port-key to the captive which would take him to a safe house where he would be tortured while he asked others to disapparate to the ministry.

Harry could not contain his curiosity, "What did you do with the badge, Master Auror?"

Moody replied, "Just sending a message to the dispatchers to send the second team this way. Someone has to clear up after us after all".

Harry looked around at the smouldering ruins of what had been the camp. Suddenly, he felt very tired and just a bit sick. He realised he had killed 13 but the feeling remained just for few seconds before he reminded himself that they were criminals. He realized that leaving the clean-up to another crew was a good idea.

Sirius took Harry side-along to the ministry while others apparated in the atrium. Frank was already there with Amelia and Alice who looked anxious. As they landed, Frank asked, "How did it go?"

Moody barked in laughter, "I enjoyed the hunting. Killed three of those scum myself".

Amelia asked him, "How many did Harry kill?"

It was Gawain who answered, "There were more than we had anticipated Ma'am. Since I was not engaged in active combat, I kept a body count. Lord Peverell killed 13 of them, Mr. Black killed 4, Mr. Lupin killed 5, Mr. Rana killed 4 and Master Auror Moody killed 3 of them".

Amelia was surprised, "13? That is extraordinary".

Harry addressed Frank, "Minister, if I may have your permission, I would like to leave. I have classes tomorrow and some very irate friends to deal with".

Frank told him kindly, "Of course Harry. You, Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin can leave".

Harry returned to the Black Townhouse since it was very late in the night and there was no reason to go and disturb his friends. The firing squad could wait till morning.

The next morning, Harry had Dobby bring his uniform from his trunk in the dormitory. He instructed the elf to clean the battle robes and return them to his trunk later with the mask and the sword. Afterwards he sat for a big breakfast prepared by Winky and even greeted Tonks cordially who had come to the Townhouse this morning looking for the Marauders. After breakfast, he took the floo to the Cottage on the Hill. Having had enough adventure for now, he performed glamour charms on himself and took the time to walk back to the school.

**Hogwarts, the next day**

Harry's absence from the castle was noticed in the morning when the students had turned up for their morning exercises. Susan had asked Neville and he had mollified her by telling her that they would discuss it later. Daphne had been hovering near them to know what had happened and was frustrated when Neville had refused to tell Susan anything. Daphne had been worried about Harry since last evening when they had abruptly ended their outing and returned to the castle.

As the students were getting ready for breakfast, Susan had dragged Neville to an unused classroom just off the great hall. Casting the imperturbable charm, she had elicited every bit of information about Harry and was determined to teach him a lesson for making her worry.

Breakfast was about to finish when Harold Peverell entered the Great Hall. Those who knew he had gone out Wolf hunting breathed a sigh of relief to see him back.

Susan Bones walked towards him, her wand in her hand and shouted, "Harold Peverell!"

Harry cringed internally and before anyone could say anything, he took her by her wrist and dragged her out of the Great Hall. Susan's admonitions and shouts were heard throughout the Great hall as he dragged her away from the rest of the students, making others laugh.

Harry dragged her to an empty classroom and after locking the door and casting a privacy ward, he turned to her, "What happened Sue?"

She glared at him, "What happened? You are an idiot, which is what happened. Could you not drop me a line telling me that you are going to play the hero without us? Longbottom told me about it this morning".

Harry gave her his lop-sided grin, "Sue, it was not my intention. It is that I was called at short notice which made it hard for me to inform anyone. I promise I will not do it the next time without informing you".

She said, "See to it that you do. Next time, I will hex you with all the dark curses that I know".

Hermione cornered him during lunch and insisted that he explain everything that had happened and answer all her questions. He refused to tell her everything but agreed that a meeting was in order to bring all of them up to speed about the happenings of the Wizarding World. He asked them to meet him on the fourth floor in the right wing of the castle after dinner.

He remembered that he was to meet the Ravenclaws this morning on the top of the Astronomy Tower but he had not turned up and they would be angry with him. He sent a message to the Ravenclaws to meet him in the Room of Requirement to talk.

All of his year mates from the Ravenclaw tower came to hear him and he escorted them inside. Lisa Turpin immediately made it clear that they were angry with him.

She looked at him scowling, "So Peverell, would you tell us why you made us miss our sleep and come to the Astronomy tower at dawn when you had no intention of turning up? Was this supposed to be one of your pranks?"

Harry said, "I am sorry. This was no prank. I was called away suddenly". He produced today's Daily Prophet for them, "Read the news on the third page and you will know".

The third page had a story of few paragraphs with a headline:

_**"WEREWOLVES FOUND DEAD**_

_**By Amycus Armdale**_

_**Yesterday, badly mangled bodies of three werewolves were recovered from the woods in Cardiff. The head of Department for Regulation of Magical Creatures, Mr. Amos Diggory said that they were entering the country illegally. They were wanted for capital crimes in France. The plan was to arrest and deport them according to our international expedition treaty but they were killed while resisting arrest. **_

_**The Department had received a notice from the French Ministry of Magic that 30 criminal werewolves had escaped their jurisdiction and were trying to enter Wizarding Britain to evade capture and punishment for their crimes. Acting on the tip-off of the Department, the head of Aurors Master Auror Moody led a team of 10 Aurors and apprehended them in the woods of Cardiff.**_

_**The werewolves refused to surrender and chose to fight them. In the battle that ensued, the werewolves had to be killed. A statement from the office of the Minister of Magic states that the act was authorized by the minister to curb illegal activities and to keep criminals from threatening our peace.**_

_**Meanwhile Master Auror Moody remains unavailable for comment on the issue.**_

_**While this is a good move, it raises some questions which need to be answered. Firstly how were so many werewolves travelling together? As it is known, there are no packs in England but all the werewolves seem to obey Fenrir Greyback, the most savage werewolf of modern times. Does it mean that they were taking orders from him? Secondly, if the ministry will authorize execution orders for magical creatures whose guilt is in question, will it not cause unrest among werewolves and disturb what little peace we have recently acquired thanks to the reforms made by the minister himself since taking up his office?"**_

As the students had finished reading the paper, they turned to Harry and Anthony asked, "What does it mean?"

Harry replied off-handedly, "I will only say that I was involved in it and it was due to this reason that I could not meet you people atop the Astronomy Tower. I promise that if you all were to turn up tomorrow I will more than make up for this occasion".

Harry gave a pleading look to Parvati which seemed to convey what he wanted to and she turned to the others, "So long as we have known Harry, we have not found him to be lying so, he has no reason to lie now. I believe what he says".

After Parvati had vehemently pledged her support to Harry, there was no room for grumbling or disagreement however Harry had to ask a question of his own, "Guys, I do not see any sixth years among you all or any seventh years or a fourth year for that matter. Is there a reason for it?"

Michael answered, "The seventh years will be gone by the end of the year and will need to be replaced if the war is not ended by then. The sixth years have many with shaky loyalties or they are disinterested. We figured that the fourth years would be too young so the only ones fit were us and here we are".

Harry nodded and dismissed them. As they left and he was sure that they all were away, he started making his way down to the fourth floor where Hermione, Neville, Daphne, Susan, Tracy, Hannah, the Twins, Ronald and surprisingly Luna were huddled in a room waiting for him. He found them on the Marauder's map and when he entered, he asked them to follow him out and led them to the mirror.

Gred who had realized where they were going said, "If you wanted to go to Hogsmeade".

Forge added, "You should have just said so, Harrykins".

Harry smirked, "Will you two idiots shut your mouth for a minute?"

He tapped the mirror with his wand and gave the password under his breath. The door opened and others climbed in behind him. The twins, who were bringing up the rear, closed the door behind them.

Harry took them some way forward and they reached where there had been a cave-in. Fred asked, "What happened to the cave-in?". George added, "The way was entirely blocked and we had to try the humped witch".

Harry gave them a big smile and said, "I repaired the way and fortified it with runes. The ceiling will not collapse again. And just so you two idiots do not get any ideas, I have put a ward on the mirror and you have to give a password to open it".

Harry produced a few blocks of wood from his bag and with a tap of his wand; he transfigured them into a big table like in the meeting room at the Black Townhouse and other blocks into chairs around it. As the students sat, Harry started telling them, _"This is the first official meeting of the Order of the Snow Leopard. As you all can see we have a few vacant chairs here, they will be filled later with people I trust. We are independent of the Order of the Phoenix. Our only aim is to ensure the survival of the students and the wizarding world. In the last few days, a plan has been devised to lure Tom Riddle out. The finer details have been worked out. Around the time of Yule, the plan will be executed and we will force Tom Riddle into the open. After that, the war will escalate quickly, meaning that within 6 months at the most, we will have the final battle on our hands. We will face dementors, werewolves and maybe some inferi in addition to the death eaters. I initially feared that there may be Vampires but I am told that they are on the run being pursued by a renowned Vampire hunter and his squad. Yesterday the light made its first strike in this war and in one stroke, we have removed 30 werewolves who were coming to join him. I had been sent for by the Headmaster because he wanted me to be a part of this hunt. Now any questions?"_

As expected Hermione had questions and lots of them, "What was with the robes? And the mask? And where did you learn sword fighting?"

Harry sighed, "Hermione you know that I cannot answer even one of those questions. There are bigger secrets at stake if I answered any of those questions. Just to satisfy your curiosity, the mask is part of my battle gear. Those robes are battle robes sold mostly to Aurors but can be obtained with permission of the DMLE".

Daphne asked him, "So what happened yesterday?"

Harry smiled, "Miss Greengrass I have just told you all that I can. I dare not say anything more about the matter. Suffice to say that it was a very satisfying hunt".

Neville asked him, "Harry I had been meaning to ask you if you would teach us sword-fighting?"

Harry shook his head, "Sorry Neville but I was taught sword fighting by some of the teachers I had this summer. They trained me to wield a sword and it is expressly forbidden for me to teach it to anyone else. However if you all can procure some weapons, I will make sure that you at least know how to swing them".

Harry then started again, "another piece of information which I thought I should share with you all. Voldemort has recruited 30 Giants who are on their way to Magical Britain. Hagrid who had been sent as an envoy to them is returning but our spies report that he is having a hard time of it due to certain problems which he is facing. It is expected that he would be able to reach here sometime in the next month. As for the Giants, we all know they are creatures of massive Magic resistance. As such, it is impossible to kill them with a single killing curse. Ordinary spells do not even work on them. To that end, I managed to convince the Goblins to construct some catapults which can be used to kill them or incapacitate them with boulders, stones etc. Once they are disabled, the ministry can do with them as it sees fit. To operate the machines, I have convinced Seamus Finnigan with his propensity to cause explosions (Everyone laughed here), however I need a few more people so I have solicited the help of the Ravenclaws".

When he finished, the twins asked, "Why didn't you ask us, partner?"

Harry grinned at them, "As it happens I need you to make a device for me. A device which turns liquid to fumes and disperses it in the air. The only catch is that the said devices would be planted inside a ball the size of a fist and would go off the moment the ball touches the ground. Do you guys think you are up to the task?"

The twins's eyes were gleaming with mischief, "Of course. But we will need time to create those things because we will need to research the charms to be introduced and the metals to be used in addition to the NEWTs at the end of the year. We can do with a researcher though".

Tracy Davis eagerly presented herself for the task, "I can help you both with this. I have a little knowledge of metals and I am very good at charms".

Everyone was snickering while George tried to look poker face and said to her, "Are you sure you want to help us or do you just want to sit there making googly eyes at my stupid twin here?"

Fred said to him, "Forge, who you are calling the stupid one? Are you forgetting that I am the brains of this operation?"

Harry admonished them laughing, "Enough or I will ask someone else to help me. Miss Davis can do the research and I will procure someone else's services for the design. The one who does will also get the patent.".

The twins unanimously replied, "We will do it, Harry".

Hermione asked him, "Do you not have any task for me, Harry?"

Harry gave her a smile, 'Not at the moment but when I do, I will be sure to ask."

He then turned to Daphne, "How are conditions in the serpent pit right now?"

Daphne briefed him, "Things are quiet right now while Malfoy is in the hospital wing. During a trip to the Hospital wing earlier today, I asked Madam Pomphrey about his stay and she told me that she would release him by tomorrow morning. He has been grating on her nerves with his whining and tantrums. She even had to petrify him twice to feed him potions. A few students contacted me about coming over to your side and I just told them that I would convey their words. You can see them by yourself later".

Harry nodded, "I will meet them one on one and determine where their loyalties lay". He turned to Susan, "Sue, what is the condition in the Badger's Hole?"

Before Susan could reply, Hannah spoke up, "Sue? Since when have you been calling her Sue and why did she not tell me about it?"

Susan hushed her friend and turned to him, "The Badgers are all with you, Harry except for a few of them who are either too pompous or their families are involved in back-door deals with Tom Riddle."

Harry turned to Luna, "Luna, what is the condition in the Eagle's nest?"

Luna said in her dreamy voice, "Oh, the Eaglets are fine. Some of them are corrupted and you need to watch out for them. The Blibbering Humgdinger says they were rotten eggs". After telling her share of information, she sat quietly. Harry, looking at her, noticed that her shoes and her jewelry were back. It looked like his message to the Claws got through. Knowing her to be done, Harry dismissed the meeting.

As he was left with the Lions, Hermione asked, "Harry why did you let Luna in?"

Harry looked at her curiously, "What is your problem with Luna? I did not even know that you were acquainted with her before this year".

It was the twins who said, "She lives near the Burrow and used to come over to play with Ginny. She came a few times and Hermione thinks that she lives in some fairyland".

Harry turned to Hermione, "I understand that she seems a bit odd. But she is powerful. Magically she is well above the average of Wizarding Britain but there is a power in her which others do not know about. Her queer way of being around others is the only refuge she has to stop others from hounding her. Are you scared that she knows about your extended night patrols?"

Hermione turned red and tried to say something but could not form coherent words. Ron snapped at him, "What are you even talking about, Harry?"

Harry said in undertone, "Prefect Patrol, Third Floor, Broom cupboard". The red head shut his mouth with an audible click while his face turned beet red. He was thankful for the small mercy that the twins had gone in search of something for some prank they were planning.

Daphne and Tracy were on their way to the Serpent's pit after the meeting when Luna seemed to appear out of nowhere and pulled Daphne aside, "Daphne, can I have a moment?"

Daphne had never spoken with the Ravenclaw before, but she had seen her talking to Harry at times and he apparently held her in high regard. Also the Ravenclaw had the tendency to cause chaos with her words. All things considered, it looked like she should talk to the Ravenclaw. She could not afford for Luna to blurt out in front of everyone that she was infatuated with Harold Peverell. That would open a can of flobberworms.

She turned to Luna, "Yes Heiress Lovegood". The Lovegood family was old and a part of the Sacred 28. The House had a seat on the Wizengamot and by rights she was called Heiress Lovegood.

Luna gave her a brightening smile, "You do not need to be formal with me".

Daphne deadpanned, "Of course, Luna. Now tell me, how can I serve you?"

Luna said to her simply, "You should stop chasing Harold Peverell".

Tracy asked her a bit coldly, "And if I must ask, why do you say so?"

Luna was unfazed by Tracy's cold demeanor and looking Daphne directly in the eye, said, "The future is full of sorrows for him if you decide to pursue him. There will be too much pain and strife that he will have to face if you continue on this path. I felt like I should warn you because the war will already bring too much death and misery".

Luna drifted away after saying her piece leaving Daphne standing there. Tracy had to shout in her ear to bring her to her senses again, "Daph, where are you lost?"

Daphne looked at Tracy as if she was disoriented and asked her, "Do you have any idea what she meant?"

Tracy shrugged, "I have never seen her like that. Usually she is dreamy like, has a singsong voice but this time she sounded like she was sane and knew what she was talking about. Maybe you will have to ask Harry about it". Daphne decided that she would talk to Harry about it and ask what Luna might have meant.

As they were nearing the dungeons, they did not notice the shadow which was following them and Tracy chastised her, "You have not told me about what happened on your date yesterday yet".

"What? You had a date with Harold Peverell and you never told me?" They were both so shocked by the voice that they jumped. Daphne turned around to find Astoria standing there, her hands on her hips, looking furious. Tracy muttered under her breath, "Uh oh... here is trouble".

Astoria glared at her, "I will give you trouble alright, Davis. You also did not see fit to tell me anything after all the times I have spied on Daph for you?"

Tracy snorted, "It's not like you were doing it for me as a favour. You were well paid for all the information, Astoria. It was business, plain and simple. However she went on an impromptu date and I did not know anything about it until she returned to the dorm grumbling that the Headmaster was an old coot who ruined her date. She is yet to give me the juicy details though".

Daphne glared at Astoria, "What are you doing here? Don't you have your own dorms to go to?"

Astoria grinned, "I asked Professor Snape for permission to stay in your dorms for two hours after curfew".

Tracy grinned, "Excellent. Now come along and we will see if we can thaw the Ice-Queen a bit."

**Next day**

It was Saturday meaning there were no classes. Harry woke up before dawn and taking Seamus went to the top of the Astronomy tower. There were Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein, Lisa Turpin, and Mandy Brocklehurst. He asked them to mount their brooms and follow him. Some of them told him that they did not have brooms and he sighed. He simply assumed that all the students would have their own brooms from their second year up. He also knew that school rule or not, several of the first years smuggled in brooms too. It was almost inconceivable to him that fifth years would not have their own brooms. He whipped out his wand and raising his voice he firmly intoned, "Accio Madam Hooch's Brooms.". A few seconds later three or four brooms were sailing towards them from the other side of the castle. They each mounted their brooms and followed him. Some of the school brooms were pretty rough. Harry made a mental note to see about getting the worst of them replaced.

When they reached the top of the outer wall, he told them the Fidelius Secret, "The catapults are located atop the battlements of the castle.". They all could see the catapults in front of him and Harry asked Seamus to teach them the operation of the siege engines.

After Seamus was done, Mandy asked him the obvious, "Peverell we are supposed to launch boulders with them but I cannot see any here".

Harry told them that there would be a few types of ammunition and that it would be brought in a matter of a few days and that he would find three more people to crew the last two remaining catapults. As it was, he was at least one person short.

The members of the newly formed Order woke up early in the morning and started running their laps around the lake. The weather was turning bad. It was assumed that rainy season would soon start and that meant Harry would have to find someplace else for morning runs, somewhere preferably where the rain could not bother them.

After he was finished instructing them, he stripped down to his trunks and dived into the lake to begin his swim. Some of the student's teeth chattered just looking at him. Neville followed suit and dived in after him.

Harry was happy it was a Saturday. He had been too busy to get much of his homework done all week and the situation was getting desperate. He was usually diligent in finishing everything on time but between quidditch practices, wolf hunting, private practice sessions, Daphne and Susan, it all took a lot of his time. As it turned out, even Neville and Ron were over due for homework and as it was, they had joined two tables together and spent four hours in the Library pouring over tomes and finishing their work. He had no problem in potions where he had just copied his notes with a Geminio spell. Transfiguration had required him to read thoroughly because although Ambar had taught him the practical side and his casting was unequalled, McGonagall insisted that all the theoretical terms be correct and those came out of the books. Harry was determined that nothing less than an O grade would do so he put in the work.

Charms were easy. Flitwick had laid down the groundwork during the previous four years and the theoretical component was nicely organized in Harry's head now. Add to that the extra practice he had during the Triwizard tournament and the intense training he had with the mystics and Harry had to do very little looking up to finish those assignments.

Herbology was a different matter. The training with the mystics helped a lot, but Harry still had to do a lot of reading. It amazed him how many plants there were. To make matters worse, some plants had dozens or even hundreds of variations. If that was not enough, The same plant might have dozens of different common names. The Latin classification of plants was standardized by the ICW and when in doubt, Harry could always fall back on that. Neville was helpful, he was quiet, studious and had a real talent for plants. When Professor Sprout was not available, more often than not, Neville had the answer to Harry's questions.

The one which frustrated him and made him want to pull out his hair was Runes. Again, like transfigurations, his training had been practical. Harry could do things with runes and wards that not even the top NEWT students could do, but he still had to read volumes to understand the languages and translation of the runes he used. Pawan had drilled him in practical learning but neglected the theory portion leaving it for Harry to finish. He had learned the seven languages but the complicated principles and theories required time.

History of Magic was onerous. He was happy that Professor Hughes was teaching them with enthusiasm. But, she was a hard task master. She made them read a lot. Her homework alone took a better part of an hour to just read the theory. After they were done, they went down to the Great Hall for lunch. It was during lunch that Neville proposed that they should do something which would break the monotony of the day. Susan who always had ideas of her own, suggested going to Hogsmeade and the idea was accepted almost instantly by the majority (read Hermione, Hannah and Susan).

Harry asked them to gather on the fourth floor from where he led them through the mirror to Hogsmeade. As they exited on the other end, without a word, the teens paired-off. Neville and Hannah went one way, while Hermione and Ron went another. That left Harry and Susan watching as their friends disappeared into the town.

With his lop-sided grin, harry said, "looks like you are stuck with me".

Susan asked him with mock indignation, "What? Don't you enjoy my company?"

Harry said quickly, "No, it is not that. I just thought that you would have preferred to stay with the others".

Susan off-handedly said, "Hannah and Neville spend every spare moment together. I also suspect that Hermione and Ron are dating so I don't want to cramp their style".

Harry grumbled something which she ignored and taking him by the arm, dragged him along, 'Come along Harry. We are going to the Hogs head".

Harry looked at her in disbelief, "The Hogs Head? Why there? We can have some good food in the Three Broomsticks".

She looked at him strangely, "What? And broadcast to the entire wizarding world that we have snuck out of school? Auntie will hang me by my toenails and you along with me. No one will identify us in the Hogs Head".

When they entered the Hogs Head, they realized almost instantly that it was a bad idea. Sitting on the bar talking with the barman was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Harry almost yelped and started to turn around when the Headmaster called him, "Harry, come and join me".

Harry approached him nervously, "Hello Professor. I did not think that I would find you here".

Dumbledore chuckled, "This is one of the few places outside Hogwarts where I can be found, Harry".

Harry raised an eye-brow questioningly and Albus nodded to the barman, "Allow me to introduce you to my brother, Aberforth Dumbledore".

Harry gasped, "you... you have a brother. I did not know". But now that Harry looked at the two of them, the Headmaster's brother had the same electric-blue eyes apart from sharing some more facial features.

The barman said gruffly, "What did you think lad? That everyone in his family had already passed on to what he calls _the next great adventure_?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "Abe, don't scare the lad".

Dumbledore then turned to him, "Do you know it is a bad idea to have a sensitive meeting like the one you had in a place like this?"

Harry said nothing but averted his eyes looking downwards and Albus turned towards Susan, "Miss Bones, it is good to meet you outside of your classes or training sessions. I suppose you do not want me to tell Amelia about your little excursion".

Susan nodded eagerly, "She would be livid if she ever found out. Please headmaster, you must not tell her".

Dumbledore chuckled before he stood and said to both of them, "For this once, I will pretend that I did not see you both here".

After Dumbledore left, Aberforth gave them a room upstairs and told them that he would be sending food up to them. As they entered the room, Harry raised some wards around the room and then sat with Susan.

Susan turned to him, "You know, with everyone around us all the time and so many things going for you I never get the time to ask you questions that I would like to".

Harry said to her very eagerly, "Then please ask your questions, Sue. I will try to answer them".

Susan started with a question he was still not comfortable with, "Harry, how did the muggles treat you?"

Harry did not want to tell her anything as had been his habit in the last 4 years but the sessions with Charak had taught him that it was cathartic to talk to someone. He was sure that Susan would never betray his trust. He started telling it slowly, "It all started with my mother, Lilly and her sister, my Aunt Petunia when they were really young. Although neither of them knew it but we do know now, my mother was adopted and was actually the heiress of two powerful magical families, the Weber's out of Germany and the Rosier's, one of the sacred 28. Petunia and her parents were ordinary muggles. When my mother's powers began to manifest in the form of accidental magic, Petunia was both scared and jealous. The Evans, knowing the truth about their daughter's adoption were both pleased and proud. They cheerfully sent Lilly off to Hogwarts so that she could develop her talents. Lily came home for the summer after her first year at Hogwarts, full of stories about the school and her friends there. Petunia had been deprived of her sister, she knew that Lily was doing well and popular in a world that she could never be a part of. You see, Petunia was a skinny, horse-faced girl with no magical ability and not much of a personality for that matter and there was her sister who had looks, brains, popularity and magic. It didn't matter that Lilly was her only sister, her only friend or that Lilly had always been kind and generous to her. That was just like rubbing salt into the wound. Perhaps that filled her with hatred towards everything magic. Sirius told me that Petunia turned cold towards her when she returned home after her first year. With every year that my mother excelled in magic, Petunia turned more and more spiteful. Then she met Vernon Dursley who believed in normalcy of things and would never have believed that magic was real. She was infatuated with him and a couple of years after my mother passed out of Hogwarts, she had been married to him. That was the last time that my mother and father saw her. She thought that she was shot off her sister and told her husband about my mother and the little bit of information that she had about the Wizarding World. A few years later, I turned up on their doorstep with a letter in my blanket that my mother was dead and Dumbledore had raised a blood ward around their house which would protect them and me as long as I lived there. Reluctantly they took me in but I was never loved. My cousin, Dudley, their natural and normal son was pampered while I was forgotten in their household. I was given his cast-offs to wear, never given enough to eat and made to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs."

"When I was very young, my powers began to manifest in the form of accidental magic. They had this idea that they could beat the magic out of me and make me normal. Every tine I did something wrong, I was punished. I was their slave and treated worse than a house-elf. In the cupboard, where I slept, There was the blanket I came in, a youth mattress and lots of spiders. I was locked in there a lot, sometimes for days at a time or even weeks. Vernon would beat me with his fists, choke me, yell at me, or threaten me. If there was any chance that I might get something that would make me happy, Dudley would throw a fit and they would give it to him. Vernon vented all his anger on me whether it was my fault or not. This continued for 10 years before I got my Hogwarts letter. Things became a little more bearable after that, but not much".

Susan had been crying while he told of his life with the muggles and when he ended his narration, she said in a choked voice, "If they were not already in prison, I would have hexed them myself. No one treats a child like that".

Harry wiped her tears with his thumbs. He patted her free hand and tried to lighten the mood, "Hey Sue, if you keep that up much longer, I am sure Hogsmeade will drown in your tears".

This elicited laughter out of her and she playfully smacked his hand, "You prat".

Before they could say anything more, Aberforth had sent a plate of food for them. Taking it in, he thanked the older wizard for his service and closed the door behind him.

Harry asked her, "What was your childhood like?"

Susan started telling it thoughtfully, "My parents had died when I was little as you well know. Auntie raised me as her own daughter. She was a field Auror at that time so it was hard for her to manage her work and me at the same time. The Abbotts were best friends with my Aunt and they took care of me while Auntie was working all those insane shifts. I spent a lot of time over there and I grew up with Hannah."

"Later Auntie became the Head of the DMLE. She still worked long hours, but at least her shifts were regular and I could count on seeing her in the late evenings and on weekends. I still stayed at Hannah's place before school and after, up to about dinner-time. She was always stern and strict, but never unfair. She never hit me or forced me to do anything that I really didn't want to do. And she was generous with praise when I did well or really just tried my best. I can't say that I really miss Mom and Dad. I was too young to remember them when they died. My Aunt has been both mother and father to me and I really can't complain".

Harry pressed her hand warmly but did not know of anything to say. At least she was not crying. After a few minutes of tolerable silence Harry asked her again, "What is the best memory of your accidental magic?"

Susan grinned, "There was a time when I was little, about four years old. In the middle of the night I was very hungry and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. My elf was asleep so I did not disturb her. I could find nothing in the kitchen until my eyes went to a jar of cookies kept on a shelf where I could not reach them. So, I was hungry and there was a perfectly baked jar of cookies in my line of sight. Naturally I wanted those cookies. I tried to reach the jar desperately and presto, the jar floated into my hands. Auntie had put feather light charms on things in our home so I would not be hurt if I summoned something heavy to me, the jar was no big deal. I grabbed the jar and ran to my room. When she found me in my room the next day, I had crumbs all over me and a tummy-ache, the jar long since empty. The fun part was watching Auntie trying to decide whether she should laugh, yell at me or give me a stomach remedy. In the end, she did all three".

They laughed until they had tears in their eyes. After a lot of effort, they sobered up and Susan asked him, "Now you tell me something about your accidental magic".

Harry took some seconds to reply, "There was one time when I was in muggle primary. My teacher was reprimanding me for something. Dudley and his gang had made some sort of ruckus and pinned it on me. I was the criminal boy as the Dursleys said, so I was being berated by the teacher. I tried to tell her that I had not done it but she was not ready to listen. I got angry at her and in a second, her hair colour had changed to blue. She figured it out when the rest of the kids in the class started pointing at her hair and laughing. The teacher went berserk and sent a letter to the Dursleys and called them for a meeting. Later they said that I had humiliated them. I think I spent three days in the cupboard for that one".

Susan said nothing but pressed his hand slightly. Before they could say anything, the door to the room opened and their friends entered. Susan hastily pulled back her hand but it was not missed by Hannah who asked, "Did we come at the wrong time?"

Harry said something incoherent while Neville pulled him up by his hands, "Let's go, Harry. We have over-stayed here".

When they were leaving, Neville asked him, "What did you two get up to? You stayed here for two hours and the barman at first did not want to tell us if you were here. It was only when Tonks came around that he reluctantly told us that you were in the inn".

Harry asked him in surprise, "Tonks? Don't tell me she is downstairs waiting for me".

A voice from behind jolted him, "No, I am not downstairs. I am right behind you".

He turned around to find Tonks grinning at him, "Wotcher Harry".

Harry gave her a forced grin, "hi Tonks. What are you doing here?"

She brightly said, "As it happens, Minister Longbottom has stationed 6 Aurors at Hogsmeade: Savage, Proudfoot, Dawlish, Williamson, Stone and me. Madam Bones asked me if I would like to be stationed here, I volunteered. I expect you do not want me to tell her about this little outing of yours?"

Susan frantically said, "Please Miss Tonks."

Tonks ruffled her hair, 'Don't worry, Susan. I am not going to tell her anything. But you lot must be careful especially in times as these".

Harry gave her a smirk, "Who says I am not? There are at least 5 very competent wizards who are keeping an eye on Hogsmeade apart from the Aurors".

Tonks gave him a questioning look, "and who might they be?"

Harry gave her a lop-sided grin, "That is my secret. Now we should leave or the Headmaster will come back here to search for us."

Taking his leave of Tonks, he led the party to the tunnel entrance near the Hogwarts ward line.

Hermione asked him, "Where are we going Harry? I am pretty sure that we did not come this way".

Harry smirked, "That is very observant of you, Hermione. We are going back by a different route because I am sure that there is a posse staking out the mirror on the fourth floor, eagerly awaiting our return. I would rather avoid being busted and sentenced to merciless ribbing".

He led them to a place near the Hogwarts ward-line where they entered the tunnel which led them to the ground floor near the Great stair-case. From the other side, one just had to tap his wand to the wall and it would slide away. After making sure that there was no one outside the portrait concealing the way, Harry opened it and they were in the school again.

As it was dinner time, Harry led his friends into the Great Hall and they sat to dinner. Just then the twins, Daphne and Tracy came over to them with Luna in tow. With a look from Harry, they took seats around him.

As they became comfortable, Daphne asked him, "Where were you?"

Harry answered her question with two more questions, "What happened? Did someone cause you any trouble?"

Tracy snorted, "No Peverell. Junior death eaters run from her shadow now. It is just that we have not seen you since this morning. Also the ferret has returned, still sore I must add. Then Professor Snape asked us to find you and we could not find you anywhere. It was then that Daphne remembered that may be you were on the fourth floor. We did not know the passcode and could not enter. Where were you guys, anyway?"

Harry gave her a half grin, "Miss Davis, you know I was almost Slytherin. You don't expect me to behave like a Gryffindor now, do you?"

Fred asked him, "Which way did you take to Hogsmeade, Harry?"

Harry asked him, "What gives you the idea that I was there, Gred?"

George added, "Because little Harrykins, we were in the village hiding from the Headmaster when we saw you and charming Miss Bones enter the pub. We thought you would be dragged back to Hogwarts by your ears and given a weeks detention for being out of bounds, but that did not happen".

Harry chuckled, "let's just say that the Headmaster told us that he did not see us there".

Before anyone could say anything else, Daphne who was sitting beside him, nudged his shoulder and pointed in a direction with her eyes. Draco Malfoy was stumbling towards him, wincing with each step, perhaps still sore from all the beatings. Except for Parkinson, there was no one with him and he limped on his way towards Harry.

As he reached the Gryffindor table, he got down on his knees and said, "Lord Black, I am sorry to have disobeyed you and given one under your protection grief. I apologize to Miss Greengrass for the insult I committed when I attempted to hex her. I ask that you, as the Lord of House Black, will forgive my rash and ill-conceived actions".

The entire Great hall had been watching the scene unfolding. It was almost never thought of that Draco Malfoy would ever apologize to anyone, much less Harold Peverell, but it was happening. After Malfoy had said his piece, he remained silent while waiting for Harry to accept his apology.

Harry was silent for a few moments and then said in an expressionless voice, "Draco Malfoy, while you defied me and acted in insubordination of my orders, I have decided to accept your apology… this time. I hope that you have learnt from your mistake and will not repeat it. However if you fail to act in the best interests of House Black or disobey me again, I will have no choice but to remove you from the family and withdraw all rights, privileges and protections which this house currently extends to you.".

Parkinson helped Draco to get back to his feet. It hurt just watching him. He murmured, "Thank you, Lord Black". He shuffled to the Slytherin table with Parkinson in tow.

**A/N- **Thank you all of you guys for the lovely comments. It is great journey which we started 5 months ago and have reached here. I love reading your reviews but only a few of them are as detailed as I would love to but I am still grateful for those reviews. Keep them coming.

Thank you Hypergym for the edits.


	33. Chapter 33

**Unknown Castle**

Voldemort was furious. He had just suffered the loss of thirty werewolves who would have added nicely to his ranks. His follower Greyback was on the continent recruiting some more but this foray on the part of the ministry had hurt him. What was worse; there could be no retribution on the ministry for the act. He was still presumed to be dead and even Dumbledore had stopped harping that he was back. Maybe the old fool was doing something behind his back but he definitely was not readying the brat for war. He had seen the memory of the duel from Lucius. The boy was pretty mediocre. It looked like he had no extraordinary power or spells and that the Malfoy boy's spells missed mostly by luck. Even when he did raise a shield, he seemed incapable of blocking more than two ordinary curses. No, the potter boy was hardly a threat.

Things had not been good for him though. He had thought that the dark faction would be able to keep the idiot Fudge in his place and he would do nothing to ready the Aurors but then the boy had changed everything when he took his seats upon the Wizengamot. He had thought the boy was son of a blood traitor and a mudblood but he turned out to be descended from the oldest of families. Even his noble ancestor Salazar did not go back that far.

He had a strong steady force with him and he had been content with working in the shadows until Frank Longbottom had come out of nowhere and became the Minister. As soon as he assumed the office, he was putting the ministry back into shape. According to the most recent report from his spies in the ministry, they had 200 Aurors and they were still recruiting. Voldemort knew he had to up his game if he was to stay ahead of the Ministry and to that effect, he had asked Greyback to recruit with more vigour. It was a pity that Greyback could not go to wizards to recruit them because they would have killed him on sight. Of his servants, Lucius who had big coffers and enough influence could not go to the continent without being prosecuted. No other was as influential as him. He had sent his death eaters to other European countries to find more followers. The 30 werewolves who had been killed the other day were hardened criminals and he had hoped to turn many children and wizards to lycanthropy. He had not expected the Ministry to attack in such an aggressive manner and kill every werewolf they had found.

A move like that would have caused some unrest in the past, but; not under Minister Longbottom's administration. The story in the Daily Prophet and his reputation as a warrior who worked in the best interests of the people just made them love him more.

He had also wanted the Vampires. He had sent Mulciber to contact 3 of the covens in neighbouring countries. But they had all refused to join Voldemort. They had told him that a ruthless Vampire Hunter named Petrov had been hunting them for the past month with his squad. Interestingly, the vampire hunter did not eliminate them outright but told them that if they stayed out of the upcoming war, he would let them live. Voldemort had decided that he would deal with the Vampires when he had triumphed over the Wizarding World for good. As for the vampire hunter, he did not know what was coming for him.

The ministry was putting all the old warriors in their place already. Alastor Moody was in his position as the Head of Aurors which was troublesome. Rufus Scrimgeour who had a well-earned reputation as a warrior from the last war was in charge of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrols. He had been given unrestricted powers to act as he saw fit. Amelia Bones who was a veteran Auror was head of the DMLE and she had no problem with making difficult decisions in the past war. He was thankful that Barty Crouch Senior was not alive or he could have been a pain in his side. The man's impulsive action to send Death Eaters to their death just for having the mark would have been fatal to the morale of his forces.

He, of course, knew something of everyone who was in-charge of things now. Moody was a sadistic wizard who was a living nightmare for his forces. During the first war, he had killed dozens of them and put as many more behind bars. Frank Longbottom had escaped him three times. Amelia Bones had caused a lot of unprecedented trouble for his followers. He also needed to break his most trusted followers out of Azkaban because he knew he would need them. Some of them may be useless from too long exposure to Dementors but may be some were sane enough to command his forces. He would need to train his forces so that they could cast spells properly or they would be sitting ducks.

He had been meaning to march against the Wizarding World since long but the blasted prophecy held him back. He needed to hear it and his followers could not get near that thing. He had lost two of his followers to the prophecy already. Flint had died in St. Mungo's and another was struggling for his life. He could not make a move against the ministry unless he heard the prophecy. He of course knew who gave the prophecy all those years ago but he could not abduct her from under Dumbledore's nose. The old fool knew her importance and as a result he did not want her out of his sight and kept her in that classroom on the north tower.

He had prepared a list of things to do- To kill Dumbledore, Bones, the Longbottoms, Moody, Black, Scrimgeour and Peverell; to break his trusted followers out of Azkaban; to get the prophecy. But right now, he wanted to sit tight and let the little storm pass. Losing 30 was a heavy loss but he would persevere. There would be time enough to even the score with the Ministry. The chaos would start with getting his followers out of Azkaban after he was sure that the fortress could be breached without sustaining more loss than he stood to gain by it. He however would need a portkey or a couple of them to take his forces to the fortress when he was storming it. The fortress was such that he could not make a portkey to get there but only ministry issued portkeys would work. Apparition was also not allowed and if it were someone else, the dementors would have killed them but they would follow Voldemort. He also kept his pet Nagini around knowing how important she was for his survival. If Dumbledore suspected a thing, he would stop at nothing to find those precious soul containers and destroy them.

**Somewhere in the dense impenetrable Jungles of Africa**

Harsh Vardhan was sitting in a tent, wearing his battle gear. The battles all over the continent of Africa were taxing for the mystics but there was nothing that they could do except doing their duty. Having the honour of being the favoured one of Mother Magic was not easy.

One mystic entered the tent in a hurry with a missive in his hand. Harsh surmised from his body language that he had brought some news which required his immediate attention. He addressed the newcomer, "What is it, Martand? Has something happened?"

The mystic presented the letter to him, "Guruji, this letter has just come from Adrishpuram".

Harsh took the letter and cast a detection spell before he opened it. He read the letter at once and then read it again for the message to sink in. He folded the letter and slipped it inside his clothes and said to himself, "As he commands".

**Hogwarts, a week later**

It was near dawn and Harry Potter was standing atop the battlements with the crew he had assembled for the catapults. This morning, he was waiting for the three more people he had been looking for. He had been looking actively for people who could man the remaining catapults and no one had caught his eye until a day ago. Two nights ago, Fay Dunbar had cornered him in the common room.

_**-Flash Back Starts-**_

_It was a change from his busy schedule that he had found time to spend in the common room with his house mates. It was also necessary to maintain a charade of normalcy for others. As it was, Ginny had asked him once or twice as to where he disappeared to in the evenings. He had consulted with Vikram who told him that it would not be amiss to skip practice a day or two in a week. He was already getting sufficient practice with the Order sessions. _

_He was lounging in one of the chairs near the fireplace when he was interrupted by someone, "Harry."._

_He opened his eyes to find Fay Dunbar standing near him. She was a girl of 5 feet 6 inch height, had a petite frame, Auburn hair and grey eyes. He asked her, "Hello Fay, what can I do for you?"_

_She said to him hesitantly, "We need to talk"._

_He motioned for her to continue, "Please do go on"._

_She sounded a little nervous, "not here. Somewhere private"._

_Harry rose from his chair and followed her out of the tower to an empty classroom on the sixth floor. After he had secured the room, he turned to her, "Now tell me, Fay. What can I do for you?"_

_She said, "I want to join your order"._

_He was surprised but hid it well, "What order?"_

_She smirked, "Lavender Brown should really be careful with her mouth. I over-heard her talking to Parvati who admonished her for speaking too loudly"._

_Harry shrugged, "And why should I allow you to join? What stake do you have in this war, anyway?"_

_She said to him a bit hotly, "I have lost people to that maniac. My father was an Auror who was killed in the last war during a raid on Diagon Alley. They never found who had done it and I am determined to have vengeance for his death"._

_Harry asked her, "When has vengeance ever helped anyone, Fay?"._

_She retorted, "Then why are you planning to fight if you are not seeking vengeance for your parent's deaths?"_

_Harry sighed, "Miss Dunbar, I do not have animosity or hatred toward anyone anymore. I do seek to defeat Voldemort (she shuddered) because he is a threat to the safety of the wizarding world. While he lives, people will die. I am sorry but I cannot allow you to join if you want in for personal reasons"._

_Fay was about to cry, her eyes brimming with tears. She folded her hands and said to him hoarsely, "I beseech you, Lord Peverell. I come as a supplicant and ask this boon of you to let me join. I will fulfil whatever role you assign for me without keeping my personal vendetta above everything"._

_Harry was torn. On one hand, he wanted to refuse her but on the other hand, she was formally asking a boon as a supplicant and it was nothing more than what others asked of him. He decided to give her a try though, "I will allow you in the order, Fay but on the condition that if I ever feel that you are letting your personal feelings cloud your judgment, I will banish you post-haste"._

_She replied gratefully, "I am thankful, Harry. I promise I will not place my personal feelings above the greater good"._

_Harry had been scanning her mind for any kind of deception but there was none. She was a pureblood from a minor house but she had no mind shields whatsoever and it had been easy for him to go through her mind and determine where her loyalties lie._

_Harry nodded and took her to Hermione to put her name on the parchment. After that was done, he told her to join him atop the Astronomy Tower before dawn broke and right now was waiting for her to turn up with others. As it was, he had not yet shown the catapults to his friends. Only those who were entrusted with using them knew of their existence._

_**-Flash back ends-**_

Fay came to the tower with her broom atop her shoulder. Soon afterwards, others followed with their own brooms. Sometime during the last week, Harry had met with Dumbledore regarding replacing the school brooms.

_**-Flash back starts-**_

_Harry entered the Headmaster's office to find the old wizard doing some parchment work. He looked up and pointed Harry to the other seat. As Harry sat, he asked him, "What brings you here, Harry?"_

_"Headmaster a few days ago, I had commandeered Madam Hooch's brooms for students who are entrusted with working the catapults. I found that those brooms are ancient and in rough shape. Most of them belong in some museum rather than a school. A big reason that we have so many flying accidents generally in the first flying lessons of the first years is that the brooms are so old that a novice cannot fly them"._

_Dumbledore took a long breath before he started speaking, "Harry, your complaints are valid but the brooms cannot be replaced because we do not have enough money to finance education of poor yet deserving students and give the best facilities. Since the last war, the grants of the ministry have not been sufficient to meet our needs. With the money we raise from tuitions, student fees, alumni grants and fund raisers, we cannot give the best to them. I raised the issue before the Wizarding Examination Authority again after Minister Longbottom assumed office but the Ministry's income is not sufficient to meet the war expenses and to give a budget raise to the school"._

_Harry sat in contemplation for a few moments before he turned to the older wizard, "If you do not mind Professor, may I use your floo?"_

_Dumbledore nodded, "By all means, my boy"._

_Harry threw a pinch of floo powder in the fireplace and said, "Rosier Estate, Dorset"._

_A few seconds later, Remus Lupin was entering the office of the Headmaster followed by Sirius Black who then took a seat and then Harry turned to Dumbledore, "Professor, while I do not intend to boast, I have more money than I could spend in several lifetimes. I intend to create a trust fund worth 1 million Galleons with these two as trustees. The money would be invested in businesses which will earn you a healthy return in addition to five Hundred thousand Galleons payable to the school for use to upgrade, replace or repair facilities Which are in need. The interest generated from those returns shall be enough in addition to the ministry grants to run the school properly and allow you to provide best facilities. Also I have some shares in Quality Quidditch Supplies and in lieu of the income generated to me from them, I can ask them to supply a dozen brooms to the school as a donation in the name of James and Lily Potter alongwith Quidditch gear and other paraphernalia. Not a broom like Firebolt or the Nimbus, mind you but a Cleansweep or Comet would be equally good. Would that help?"_

_Dumbledore beamed at him, "Indeed my boy. That will do nicely"_

_Sirius added, "And I will add five hundred thousand to the fund he has promised. I have substantial inheritance left to me from Uncle Alpharad and it is of no real use to me. Better to be of use to someone than to just lie around and generate interest"._

_Dumbledore gave him a big smile, "people like you both are very few in this world who do such good works for others. I thank you both on behalf of all of them who will be benefitted by your generosity"._

_Harry turned to Remus, "Meet Griphook and ask him to do the needful and ask Uncle Ted to draft the trust agreement. I need this to be done in a week from now. Also, contact Quality Quidditch Supplies through him and ask him to send 6 Comets and 6 Cleansweeps to Hogwarts as a donation in the names of James and Lily Potter"._

_Remus nodded, "This will be done, cub"._

_**-Flash back ends-**_

Later, Harry had asked Remus to purchase 4 brooms in addition to those already ordered and had kept them shrunk in his trunk. He had gifted them to those in charge of the catapults who did not have their own brooms. There had been only two of them though- Mandy Brocklehurst and Lisa Turpin who had a broom which was old.

Three others that he had found to man the catapults were Justin Finch-Fletchely and Dean Thomas. Dean's name was suggested to him by Seamus who said that Dean could do it. He did not know if Dean was up to the task but he was willing to give him a chance. Justin was selected after the Hufflepuff had shown immense improvement in aiming a spell at any designated target in the last training session. He knew that they may disappoint him and was ready for the disappointment to come.

As they all arrived, Harry asked them to follow him. When they reached the battlements, he confided the Fidelius secret to them and enjoyed the gasps of shock and surprise that escaped from the students gathered.

After they quieted, Harry started addressing them, "These catapults will be instrumental in the upcoming war if Hogwarts is besieged. For that reason, it is necessary for you all to learn to use them so there will be no problems on that count. For now, the existence of these is secret from others and as such I do not need to tell you that not a word of what we are doing here should find its way to others. These are calibrated primarily to slay giants and as such, no magical ammunition can be loaded into them but only things which would incapacitate or kill a giant. Later that may change though. I have too many people to look after and too many things to do, so Seamus Finnigan will be in-charge of these beauties. If any of you have a problem, you can voice your opinions. I will hear them and if necessary, I will address them".

No one protested. The Irish wizard was more than accomplished at his task and they were happy to leave him in charge. Harry had not also expected any protests from these students considering they generally followed whoever was willing to lead them.

After that the students started to take their turns at the catapults. Dean and Justin turned out to be accomplished at them claiming it reminded them of muggle games they had played. Harry was satisfied with the work done by now. September was ending and they had made their preparations which were needed aside from training the students at defence.

**Great Hall**

After a two hour gruelling work-out which involved much cursing and whining from the students, the session was over. Harry had started to teach them to dodge by the simple expedient of taking turns with Neville at pelting the students with high powered stingers which felt like Bludgers and left nasty bruises. There had been quite a few trips to the infirmary in the last few days but the students to their credit, did not back out of the sessions.

_**-Flash back-**_

_Harry had been cornered one day by the medi-witch after 7 students had gone to her complaining about bruises. She had sent word to him through a first year to come and meet her when he had the time. Harry was initially worried because before this she always wanted to keep him out of the infirmary and would groan when he visited but this time, she was calling him._

_He went to the infirmary to find her busy administering to a few students who had accidents in potions and asked him to take a seat in her office. She came after a few minutes and as she sat in her seat, she glared at him, "Have you entirely forgotten me this year, Mr. Peverell"._

_With a remarkably innocent expression, Harry said, "Not at all Madame Pomfrey. I'm sure I sent you a patron just last week"._

_She made a visible effort to control her expression as she recalled Malfoy's stay in the infirmary. He had to be the most unpleasant patient she had ever had to put up with. _

_Then Harry continued with a sheepish grin, "Madam Pomphrey, I did not intentionally deprive you of my company. It's just that this year I have been lucky enough to not need your services, that's all. Nor is there anyone baying for my blood this year. So, there was no real reason for me to visit and considering the fussing you do whenever I turn up, it made me wary"._

_She mock scowled, "I do not fuss over anyone. You are just one patient who does not stay out of trouble and you never come for little injuries like a bruise or things like that"._

_Harry gave her his best lop-sided grin and she smacked him on his arm, "That will not work on me, Peverell. Your roguishly handsome father could not charm me and he was more suave than you"._

_Harry smiled but said nothing. She started again, "Can you explain to me why I get a steady stream of students in here with nasty bruises on their body like somebody beat the hell out of them but they claim that it was only a stinger?"_

_Harry smiled nervously, "Madam Pomphrey, they are learning to dodge. Sometimes they are too slow. Besides I never use over-powered hexes. I did not know that they have such sensitive skin"._

_She rolled her eyes, "Tell that to someone who might believe it. Those bruises are not caused by ordinary but powerful hexes. Please see to it that I do not have to bother myself with such petty injuries anymore or I will give your bed to them to recuperate here"._

_Harry protested, "No, that bed is mine. MINE. I won't let you give it to anyone else"._

_She smirked, "then please control the power in your hexes. I would rather that my potions are not used on minor injuries"._

_**-Flash back ends-**_

After the work-out he arrived at the table for breakfast. This morning he sat at the Hufflepuff table with his friends soon following him. If the puffs were enraged, they said nothing. Ernie took a seat beside him and so did others. He had started to sit at different tables for different meals and his friends usually followed suit except for the Slytherin Table. He never sat there for the simple reason that doing so would likely upset some members of his order or those who were working as spies in the Serpent's pit. If they were recognised, things would be difficult for them.

Zacharias Smith who had just come to the table, sneered, "What are you doing here, Peverell?"

Harry gave him a taunting smile and said, "I think I am having breakfast with my friends, Smith. Do you have a problem with that?"

He curled his lip, "This is not the Gryffindor table and no one is your friend here".

Ernie shot him down, "Smith, Harry is our friend and as such, he is welcome to sit here. You got a problem with that, take a seat further down the table".

He seethed, "I thought you were my friend, Macmillan".

Ernie gave him a smile, "I am your friend, but it is you who is making it an issue. If you are comparing yourself to Peverell here, then you have to be at least of his status before you go posturing".

"What do you mean?"

Ernie was still calm, "He is a lord of Five Houses one of which is an ally of my house since as far back as history goes. As such, it is my duty to look out for him. You might be descended from Helga Hufflepuff but the main family line has been extinct for centuries while he is Lord of one of the most ancient families. I know your family had a blood feud with his in the past which ended with the death of the then Lord Smith but that is ancient history now. Why would you beat a dead horse, I do not know".

Smith said nothing. He took another seat down the table with a few other puffs that stayed aloof of Harry. Daphne arrived at that moment and took a seat at the table. She had been acting strangely for the past week or so, sometimes trying to keep distance between herself and Harry, other times trying to be a close friend with him.

He asked her, "Daphne, what is wrong? I have noticed that you have not been your usual self for the past week or so. Is something wrong?"

She shook her head and gave a look that said "Talk to you later".

The classes had been going well. He had settled into a comfortable routine. Since he had started to spend two nights a week in the common room, he had more time to do his reading and finish his assignments. He had no dearth of study material considering he had a trunk full of books with him and often times, he was buried in some book or other. However he was also careful about the books he picked because once or twice, he had taken out a book accessible only to a Black and Hermione in a quest to know what he was reading had tried to touch them which would have been fatal because most of them were laced with nasty curses. He could not remove the curses from them because they were mostly about family magic or there were things in them that should not be known to everyone. There were also a few younger students who were approaching him to ask him a thing or two about their studies and he helped them.

**Room of Requirement**

Today was a session for the members of his little order and he was teaching. They were still doing the bombarda. It had been three sessions already but Harry wanted to make sure that they could do it with ease so he was giving time to it.

The only change in strategy that he had made was to have the students cast spells at dummies and not at each other. He could not afford any accidents that would raise questions.

As the students gathered, they divided themselves into groups and set to work. Harry generally strolled around the room and corrected people if their aim was off or they had problems in casting. There were many who could cast expertly now but there were still a few who were having troubles. He would patiently explain everything to them and then let them try it again. He had noticed that it was generally the witches who required his attention something that had caught Susan's attention and often times it was she who would intervene in his place.

After an hour of casting, he stopped them and asked how many of them could do the impedimenta charm. When asked why, he simply told them that since it was not easy for them to fight with a werewolf, it was one spell which could give them some chance of making an escape.

When Hermione asked how, he adopted a scholarly demeanour and started explaining, "When you are in a close fight with a werewolf, the impedimenta can stop them for a second or two. In those crucial seconds, if you are powerful enough then you can use some of these spells like the bombarda or a reducto to injure them. But since they are magical creatures that really won't do much to them unless there are two or three people casting those spells simultaneously. If you do not want to fight them, you can make an exit from the situation either by disapparating or applying a scent masking charm on yourself and silencing spell on your feet with a disillusionment charm. Since they cannot smell your presence anymore or see you, chances are that they cannot find you. They can be killed by powerful dark curses, which you do not know and would not have the power to cast if you did. They can also be killed or disabled with silver weapons, but to use them, you would have to close to melee with them. This is dangerous for several reasons, they are fast and strong. Their bite or even their scratch can curse you with lycanthropy. This is why I am teaching you to escape from them rather than trying to teach you how to kill them".

Hermione spoke after a few minutes of silence, "so, that means we must know at least two or three spells which are not taught in our regular studies, the impedimenta jinx, the scent masking charm and the silencing spell?"

Harry nodded, "Yes but I would also caution you to not approach one unless you are in groups or you can match its speed".

As they had discussed, Harry started to teach them the impedimenta jinx which was not very hard for them to master but it took an hour for all of them to learn it and do it almost without a thought. Harry also had noticed the growing closeness between many of the students who gathered to practice in the Room of Requirement. He knew of Hermione and Ronald, Neville and Hannah but Tracy was spending much more time around Fred now while George was happily being oblivious working with Angelina. Lavender Brown was getting cosy with Seamus Finnigan while Stephen Cornfoot was working with Sally Anne-perks and Ernie Macmillan was working with Megan Jones. He mused that in a few months there will be many couples walking in the corridors of the castle.

After the session ended, he dismissed the students in groups and returned to the common room to spend some time being a normal teen with his friends. This evening, Ronald challenged him to a chess match and Harry declined saying he had no intention of losing so many matches in a go. The mystic had taught him many things but chess was not one of them. He however encouraged Hermione to take up the challenge and for the next hour watched her lose three matches in a row. Hermione, deciding that she had enough excused herself and wandered off.

**Next day**

The next day, Harry was cornered by Daphne who had waited for others to go while Harry finished swimming. When he came out, she was there looking anxious.

He asked her, "Now tell me what is bothering you, Daphne? I have never seen you look so troubled".

She said hesitantly, "A week ago, when we were leaving the fourth floor, Luna cornered me and Tracy while we were on our way to the Dungeons. She sounded different that day".

"Different?" Harry asked her, "Define different".

"I meant different for her. She did not have the dreamy look in her eyes nor was she skipping as she usually does. She just came up to me and asked me to stop being your friend. She did not even mention any of her creatures like she always does but spoke frankly. She warned me that there is death and misery to come and that it will be unbearable for you if you continued being my friend".

Harry was thoughtful for a long time never having heard of Luna acting out of character. The way she lived around others was a way to keep her sanity and her secret from others but openly warning Daphne did not bode well either. If she was risking her sanity and her secret, there must have been something worth it however he could not figure it out yet.

He replied to Daphne, "I do not know what she meant. I do not see any problems with us being friends. I have a lot of friends and why she would only warn you is beyond my comprehension. I would only ask you to be careful of people around you and who you are telling these things".

With that she went to the Dungeons while he walked to the Gryffindor tower.

His own training was working well for him. He could now fly at a decent speed though nothing like a broom but everyday was an improvement. He had tried to cast the Dementor slaying spell. When he did, it really took a lot out of him. Vikram had told him to try it twice a week so that his core could get accustomed to the demands of the spell. For an average witch or wizard, maintaining the spell for even a minute would be a major accomplishment however it was not advised for them lest they passed out due to magical exhaustion. Vikram told him that the spell could work against all dark creatures but it was typically used only against Dementors because there was no other means. He also had finished mastering the Sanskrit spells which were in the book given to him by Pawan. There was not much to learn nothing new but only to practice what he had learned. He had also mastered the mage vision which was accessible to a handful of wizards and could even penetrate through a polyjuice disguise. This was in the Peverell Grimoire and he believed that it would come in handy sometime. Lately Vikram had started to duel him with lethal spells only and in all the duels that they had done, neither had bested the other.

As Harry went to sleep this night, the weather was turning bad with dark black clouds in the sky swirling and threatening to rain any day. If the signs were to be believed, the storm would be a lightning storm and the rain might go for days.

Sometime in the middle of the night, two figures in the castle rose from their beds and stealthily went out of the castle. While these two figures were out for the same reason, they did not know it. One of them went towards the edge of the Forbidden Forests where they met with a man who took them out of Hogwarts by apparition while the other figure went towards the Quidditch pitch and locked themselves in one of the locker rooms. As the storm started to brew overhead, they pulled a phial out of their robes and waited for the right moment. Lightning started shattering the darkness of the night sky and the storm clouds. Each aimed their wand at their heart and said an incantation and quaffed the potion in one go.

**Next Day**

Next day, the rain was coming down in buckets and Harry didn't want any of the students to drown or sink out of sight in the mud, so he cancelled the morning work-out. There was simply no way that they could go out and run in these conditions. Reluctantly he sent everyone back to their dorms. The students gleefully returned to their dorms to catch up on their sleep.

Harry knew there was nothing he could do and he enquired after Susan from Hannah noticing she was not there. Hannah told her that Susan was still in bed and that she was going to have some fun with waking her up with a jet of water in her face.

Since there was some time before breakfast, he returned to the tower to do some study and found Neville was still asleep. He whipped his wand out and sent a powerful stinger at Neville but the spell stopped a foot before his bed. Harry was surprised at the presence of a ward around Neville's bed. With a few detection spells, he realised that they were basic wards erected to stop spells or solid objects from passing through. Interlaced in the wards were an alert ward and a ward to petrify someone if they got too close. Harry had practiced ward breaking, but simply breaking Neville's wards wouldn't be much fun. He smirked mentally and erected a ward in close proximity to the one which Neville had placed then went down to the common room.

After an hour, there was a great commotion in the fifth year dorms with Neville Longbottom shouting at the top of his lungs and cursing everyone that he could remember. Harry rushed to the dorms with everyone and they found Neville Longbottom hanging upside down and cursing. He came down after about 10 minutes when the wards expired.

Classes in the last week became more tiresome. The teachers were more demanding and assigned them tons of parchment essays.

Potions was the best subject easily with Harry dominating the dungeons now. The condition was such now that the other students had even stopped trying to catch up to him knowing there was nothing they could do to match him with everything going on. Snape had taught them the Calming Draught and was teaching them the Draught of peace now which was used to relieve anxiety.

As it was, most of the fifth year was up at dawn, running laps around the lake before being pummelled by the duo of Peverell and Longbottom for an hour and then returning to the castle stiff and sore. The regular classes were still onerous and then the homework in addition to two days a week in the room of requirement. Those who were on Quidditch teams had two or three nights more per week for practice on top of that. Together it all made school life very tiring for them.

Transfiguration was easy because he could do all and more than Professor McGonagall required. She had mastered them the inanimate conjuration and did not start a new topic until she was sure that every student in her class could perform those conjurations with ease and had spent the last week making the students perform inanimate conjuration. Mercifully she did not give more homework on the switching spell and proceeded to teach them to transfigure a dinner plate to a mushroom.

Flitwick did not give them much trouble except for setting them to revise whatever he had taught in the previous years. He however gave them homework on the topics so that it would brush up their knowledge and OWLs would be easier for them. So far, he had made them revise the banishing charms, Incendio, Locomotion charm and was planning to teach them the colour changing charm next.

Professor Sprout was giving them no trouble. She was teaching them as usual. At the end of each class, she assigned reading ahead for the next class and short essays to see if what they had learned today had sunk in.

On the side, she had got a few of her fifthe and sixth year puffs to work on the plants in the newly set-up greenhouse and had confided in Harry that she was not going to teach about them to the class which was passing out this year because information about the newly acquired plants would be required to be furnished to the Wizarding Examination Authority before they gave their nod to include them in the NEWTs syllabus. The puffs who volunteered to care for those plants were from the Order of the Snow Leopard.

Runes was interesting because there was so much that Harry was learning for the first time. He had started to enjoy her classes greatly. The theory made him understand the principle behind everything that he was doing and how it worked. He regreted that he had wasted two years on Divination because he thought it would be an easy grade. Runes was way better than Divination. For divination, you either had the sight or you did not but Runes could be learned and there were so many uses for them. The amount of homework for Runes was insane but Harry managed it with diligent learning and a glare or two from Susan who wanted him by her side when they studied in the library.

Care of Magical Creatures was easy for them because he already knew the animals they were supposed to be learning about and had more rational answers for the teacher than others. His answers were based on his practical experiences and not on text book reading unlike Hermione who still read every word in a book and committed it to her memory. Harry had realised that his friend had eidetic memory and that was the reason that she could read like she did and she had a well organized mind.

Defence was exciting. Since the professor was one that the students liked, no one ever missed any of his classes and he was yet to pick up a text book to teach them something. Generally he would take them to the practice ranges he had set up, show them the spell he wanted them to know and then let them practice while observing his students and correcting them if required. He had taught them shielding and dodging already and now was teaching them reducto. While most of the class had already perfected the spell in the training sessions in the Room of Requirement, they dutifully cast the spell in the practice range not to let others become suspicious. There were many who were not part of the Order of the Snow Leopard so they had to keep up appearances.

History of Magic was the toughest of the lot. Professor Hughes kept them on the edge of their seats by telling in detail the history of Dark lords in the past who had tried to seize power, their strategies, their failures and the response of the wizarding world to them in general. It seemed that every new Dark Lord had looked like the worst in history until the next one came along. After classes, she often assigned them two foot of parchment to write about the said dark Lords. It required them to read a lot but it was also eye-opening in ways.

Last week had also been Hermione's Birthday on September 19th. Harry had taken the others and snuck out of school after classes. They had spent the evening in the Three Broomsticks in a private parlour upstairs. Harry gave her a book about Occlumency which was in his library. The book did not give all the details about mind magic but had excellent instructions about learning Occlumency while purposefully ignoring Legilimency. He knew that she wanted a book on the topic but as there were none in book stores and she had no wizarding family to give her one, he had decided to do it. She was a sister to him after all. Ronald had given her a book about Numerology which was very expensive while others also had given her gifts, of which there were books mostly.

**5th Floor, Hogwarts**

Harry was walking from the classes alone when someone called him from behind, "Lord Peverell".

Harry turned to find Astoria Greengrass looking at him strangely and he gave a slight bow to her, "Yes, Miss Greengrass. How may I serve you?"

Astoria said neutrally to him, "I was looking to have a word with you without a third party being privy to it".

Harry thought for a second before he nodded, "Follow me Miss Greengrass."

She followed him to a classroom where he locked it with the strongest locking spell he knew and cast the imperturbable charm upon the door. He then turned to Astoria, "How can I serve you, Miss Greengrass?"

Astoria asked him, "Please call me Astoria and tell me is there anything going on between you and Daphne?"

Harry asked her thoughtfully, "What do you mean?"

Astoria scoffed, "So you are just as dense as other blokes and clueless. I thought you would be better than them".

Harry chuckled, "You speak the truth, Astoria. When it comes to girls, you are still a mystery to me. Perhaps if you spoke more plainly, I could understand you better".

Astoria asked him frankly, "Are you and Daphne an item? Are you both seeing each other?"

There was no mistaking what Astoria was saying now. He employed Occlumency to keep his outward demeanour calm while he quickly rifled his own memories of his interactions with Daphne. Now that he thought about it, she had been quite forward with him. Then he put it together with that strange talk he had with her by the lake. He had to think and think fast. Daphne was a friend and a priceless ally. He didn't want to mess that up.

All this took a few moments before he answered, "Astoria, if we were an item, as you put it, I am a gentleman and I would not dishonour her by talking about it, not even to her sister. But, no. We are not seeing each other in that way. I am yet exploring my feelings towards others and I am not sure yet. May be in a few months I will know. I am curious, though, what makes you think that we might be an item?"

Astoria looked at him poker faced, "How do you explain to me why a bloke would ask out a girl and take her to a date sneaking out of school? As far as I know, you need to be secretive only if you have got something to hide. Daphne however has been very forthcoming about her feelings. She has been infatuated with you since I can remember".

Harry felt uncomfortable, "You are right, I have been dense. I felt bad because she asked me out for the first Hogsmeade weekend and I did not answer her properly. I wanted to make it up to her, so we went to Hogsmeade together. We sneaked out because I didn't want people talking. As I already said, I am still exploring my feelings towards others. It may change someday or may not but that is in the future. For now, she is one of the people I trust".

Astoria pouted, "That is disappointing. And here I was expecting to know some juicy details or encourage you to drag her to a broom cupboard".

Harry felt uneasy and stuttered, "Are you not a little young to talk about such things yet?"

She gave him a bright smile, "I will thank you to not determine for me what I can do or what I cannot. If things progress between you both, I intend to hear it before anyone else".

Harry had no experience with prying little sisters. He just shook his head making a mental note to talk to Daphne about it when he got the chance.

As it was nearing dinner, he decided to bring it up with Daphne. There was no way he could go about being her friend if she thought that way. Harry was telling the truth to Astoria when he said that he had not thought that way about Daphne and he had to make sure that Daphne also knew it.

**Great Hall**

Harry sat at the Gryffindor table waiting for others who were in the library or engaged in different tasks. Daphne slipped into the seat beside him as she asked, "What has got you in a tizzy, Harry?"

Harry eyed her warily, "Your sister, that is what has got me in a tizzy".

Daphne arched an eye-brow, "What did she say?"

Harry raised a privacy ward around them, "She cornered me after classes during the day and asked for a word. As I granted her request, she asked me if there was something going on between us. She also claimed that you are infatuated with me. Can you shed any light on that?"

Daphne was blushing hard but controlled her blush and said to him, "I suppose I cannot hide this anymore? Well, she is right and I have been infatuated with you for the better part of the last four years now. Since I am not a Gryffindor, I did not have the courage to admit this to you".

Harry was looking at her with a poker face expression and it took him some time before he could reply, "Daphne, I will tell you what I have told Astoria. I am not sure of my feelings towards you yet. You are one of the people that I trust but I do not know anything more than that. It may change with time or it may not. For now, I enjoy your company. I am glad of the fact that you are one of my best friends now".

Daphne nodded, "I understand Harry".

They could not continue their conversation further because Tracy chose that moment to interrupt them followed shortly by others. Harry was happy to drop the conversation because he did not want to deal with it. Daphne did not push it because she knew it might erupt into a fight.

**Serpent's Pit**

"I am going to murder her, Trace. I swear I will. Father would get angry but I will convince him that I did it because it was necessary. Mother would be a little upset but she would come around. I will ask Harry to defend me from the Dementor's kiss in my trial in the Wizengamot".

Tracy was laughing hearing her friend rant. Daphne had just told her what Astoria had done and she was enraged. She wanted to lay the ground work before making her move but Astoria had ruined it for her. Now she could not face Harry without thinking that he knew everything and her attempts to snag him were done for.

"Calm down, Daph. She is a child and was only trying to help you in her own twisted way. Think about it this way, now you do not have to gather up the courage to tell him that you have feelings for him. He knows it and maybe he would stop being clueless now and may even start returning your affections".

Daphne calmed down a little thinking it may lead him to return some of her affections in one form or another but all the same, she was angry with Astoria for ruining it. She was planning to write a letter to her mother anyway and ask her to rein in Astoria.

**Green Hues**

Frank Longbottom was in the parlour after a tiring day. He was sitting with Alice and Augusta enjoying sometime as a family. The moments to enjoy quiet time with his family were few and far between. With his job as Minister of Magic and Alice working in the Auror Department demanding most of their time and energy.

They were both starting to get some of their old prowess back. They were still not like they had been in the past, and maybe they never would be, but that would not stop them from giving their all in the upcoming war, come what may.

As they were sitting in the parlour making idle chat, Neville's owl, Hector flew to them from the open window and landed before Frank presenting his leg to him. Frank detached the letter from the owl and started to read it. Neville wrote at least once a week to them from school but this was the second letter this week which was unusual for him. With a frown Frank started to read the letter.

_Dear Father,_

_As you well know Harry was sent on a werewolf hunt last week. I and his other friends wanted to go with him but he turned all of us down telling us that we could not help him in the task but would be an obstacle since we cannot fight with a sword. While I would agree with him on this point yet it was not easy to see him go traipsing off to slay werewolves knowing I would be useless even if I went with him. _

_I wish to ask you if you could send me a sword out of the Longbottom Family Vault. He had promised to us to teach us to wield and swing swords so that I can stand beside him the next time. Needless to say that being his godbrother, it is my duty to do so. If you do send one, please send it through our elf as I would like to attract as little attention as possible._

_Love_

_Neville_

Smirking Frank handed the letter to Alice wordlessly. She read the letter in one glance and looked at him as if asking a question. When Frank did not answer, she impatiently asked him, "What do you wish to do with his request?"

"I will honour his wish, of course. You know he will not stand back and let Harry face everything alone. He is too noble for that".

Alice sighed. "If that is your wish, then I am coming with you to find one for him".

**Hogwarts, next day**

The next day, when they returned to their dorms after classes, Neville's elf popped into the 5th year dorms startling Neville, Harry and Ron who had just returned from classes and were changing into more comfortable clothes.

The elf had apparated into the dorm rather loudly. In the next instant, three wands were trained on it but before anyone could fire a spell, Neville's voice boomed out. "Don't fire it's just my house elf".

The house-elf was shaking from fright and Neville picked it up in his arms and patted its back for a few minutes before he asked. "What brings you here, Squeaky?"

The elf said in her squeaky voice. "Master be sending sword to you, master".

She produced a scabbard with a sword in it and handed it to Neville. As he took it, she disapparated. Neville took the long sword out of its sheath and examined the sword more closely. It was made in the same shape and style as the 10th century Carolingian sword. Unlike those ancient blades which were made of welded, braided steel, this blade was of goblin forged silver and was all one colour. The blade, cross-guard an pommel were all forged in one piece with craft and skill which would have been beyond the skill of even the legendary sword smiths of Seville. The single edged blade was about three feet in length. The pommel ended in a series of five rounded lobes, while the hilt was decorated with costly gems and had the Longbottom Crest on it. The blade was sharp and hummed in his hands. It was quite different from the sword Harold Peverell had because it did not have a basket guard, the blade was a single edge and it was clearly intended to be wielded with one hand. The hilt was rather plain except for the gems which adorned it. There were runes running through its body and just above the hilt, the house animal of House Longbottom i.e. a Hippogriff was drawn.

Harry looked at the blade in awe for a few seconds before he found his voice. "Mate, what do you need a sword for?"

Neville smirked. "So you do not have an excuse to leave me behind the next time you go running to face werewolves."

Harry started to protest but Neville shut him down. "Mate, this time you have to listen to me. You cannot always tell us what to do. This war is not just yours but for all of us who oppose them. You are the leader we look towards but that does not mean that you can dictate our course of action. Now either you will teach us how to use a sword or I will obtain the services of a master".

Harry looked at him open-mouthed, surprised that Neville could shut him down. He thought for several moments before a half-smile started to form on his face. He turned to Neville, "Deal. I will teach you to swing it at least provided you can find a place for us to practice without others watching and you cannot use the Room of Requirement for it because that place is hardly secure".

Neville smirked. Harry of course did not know about the little room on the third floor which Dumbledore had put under a Fidelius for him to practice his magic. He turned to Harry, "deal, mate. Meet me on the third floor at 9:00 where we had met Fluffy".

Ron who had been watching the conversation while saying nothing realised that his friends had just planned something without including him in it and he raised his hands. "Hang on you cannot do this to me. You both cannot leave me out of it".

"Sorry Ron but it looks like there is nothing for it. I had already told you that you need to bring your own equipment. As it is, I do not want to involve anyone in it but Neville will not be left behind and he has a sword to his credit".

Ron huffed but controlled his tongue knowing anything he said would cause trouble and with his propensity to put his foot in his mouth, he might end up saying something which would not be appreciated. He decided to corner Hermione and ask her what they could do.

**Third floor**

Harry met Neville at the third floor after dinner and they both snuck out without anyone knowing except Hermione and Ron. Hermione knew that Harry would not bow down to her and there was only one person he would really listen to and that was Susan. Susan was not powerful but she had a way with him and Hermione was yet to see him deny anything to her. While others may say this was bloody blackmail but to her, it was just using one of your resources and Gryffindors were nothing if not resourceful.

Neville took him to the left wing where there was a statute of a mermaid. Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "Are we here to see a mermaid, mate? Because trust me, I have seen them and they are nothing short of ugly".

Neville whispered in his ear, "The sanctuary of the mermaid can be found beside the mermaid statue in the left wing on the third floor of Hogwarts Castle.". Harry eyed Neville looking surprised, "Fidelius? You did not tell me that you have a special room for you. Who cast the charm?"

Neville smirked. "Dumbledore did that. He wanted me to keep it a secret so I can practice my family magic here in peace, away from the gawking eyes of others and learn whatever he is teaching me".

The lesson started with the basic stance which took him ten minutes to achieve after which Harry taught him about how to swing it. Harry had talked with Vikram who had told him that there was nothing wrong with teaching sword fighting to Neville or to any of his friends. The prohibition was mostly about teaching them to use the weapons to cast their magic through it. That was a long forgotten secret accessible only to mystics now.

After Neville had practiced swinging the sword for 30 minutes, Harry conjured two sticks which were the same length and balance as the swords and tossed one to Neville. As Neville caught it, Harry started attacking him vigorously and for 10 minutes mercilessly pummelled Neville. By the time he was done, Neville was out of breath and panting with bruises on his body from all the times that the sword had hit him and he could swear that he was going to be sore for the next few days.

Harry vanished the two conjured swords and turned to him. "Next session will be two days from now. I expect you to do better than that. Also you cannot go to Madam Pomphrey for the bruises. Let them heal on their own. This is a part of this discipline".

Neville meekly nodded wondering if he had made some kind of mistake when he insisted on learning sword fighting.

**REVIEWS**

* * *

**A/N- **I read some very interesting theories in the reviews lately. I would say that I was amused however I am not saying anything about coming chapters just now. That would ruin things. I loved the reviews guys and sorry that this chapter was late but professional commitments tend to do that sometimes.

THANK YOU HYPERGYM FOR THE EDIT.


	34. Chapter 34

**A week later**

September had passed into October and the mornings had become chilly. It was not raining everyday but the muck and mud never really dried out, making it too slippery outside for students to run. Harry found an alternative by having the students run through unused corridors in the dungeons of the castle. For this purpose, he had erected two heavy duty 'notice-me-not' wards in the corridors to keep uninvited witnesses from stumbling across them while they were running. They had spent a day scrubbing down the corridors to remove the cobwebs, dust and make sure that there was nothing unsavoury lurking in the corners for them. The corridors were not wide enough for many students to run through at once so Harry had limited them to no more than two side-by-side at a time. That still left enough room for them to practice dodging while Harry and Neville fired spells at them. Most of them were getting better at running and dodging at the same time however at times, Harry would surprise them by casting in a different direction than the students thought he would. That way, he was entirely unpredictable and kept them on their toes. The sessions usually lasted for an hour but the changes were visible for the students to see. They were getting better at casting, their endurance was increasing and that meant it increased their chances to survive. Harry realized that it was time to put his next plan into action which meant making battle plans and making them follow it. It was necessary for the students to know what to do if Hogwarts was attacked so they would not be clueless and could effectively deal with any threats.

The mystics had taught him about formations one could adopt in battle and fine points about making strategy. It was part of this strategy which he had discussed last week with Dumbledore.

_**-Flashback-**_

_Harry entered the Head Master's office to find him trying to enter Neville's mind. Neville was doing a good job of keeping him out however it was clear that he was struggling. He took a chair and waited for them to notice him. After about 5 minutes, the head master noticed him and said joyfully, "Harry, my boy. What brings you here?"_

_"Head master, I wanted to talk strategy with you. My friends taught me about the importance of strategy in a battle and the foremost of those things is to know the battle field. Another is choosing your battle field. While Tom Riddle can attack at any place he wishes, I want to force him to attack here at Hogwarts where we know every inch of the castle and can better prepare ourselves"._

_Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling as he thought about what Harry was saying. "You make a good point, my boy. How do you suggest we go about it?"_

_"When we have found those objects which keep him tied to this astral plane and destroyed all of them except one, I propose to leak news to him that all the prominent personalities of the wizarding world are congregated at the school and we are planning to launch a counter offensive against him. With the blows that we would have delivered to him by that time, he will have no option but to attack here where we will have all our resources gathered. When we receive confirmation as to his movement, we will put the castle in emergency lockdown mode, empty the owlery of all the owls and stop all communications from the castle to the outside world. We evacuate the students out of the castle to our safe houses where they will be looked after. We send the children of dark families to one safe house where they will be kept but not allowed to send any communications to their families or friends until the battle is over"._

_Dumbledore beamed, "Ingenious, my boy. I believe the plan can work but it will need a little fine tuning"._

_As a rough sketch of the plan was drawn and Harry was satisfied that this would culminate in a better plan with all the little details in place, he turned to Neville. "Mate, do not try too hard to oust him. Just think of your worst possible memory when he is in your mind and let him see it. While it may not be as horrible as the ones I have, they would buy you a second or two. In that moment, throw him out with all your strength"._

_With that Harry took his leave of the duo leaving them to practice occlumency._

_**-Flashback ends-**_

He had also snuck out of the castle once in the past week for an impromptu date with Susan, who had the ability to charm him. She would give him the big eyes or glare at him, depending on the situation and he would often rush to do her bidding. Being with Susan made him feel like an ordinary teen despite everything going on which was a welcome distraction. She had also given him a tongue lashing a week ago a day after he had pummeled Neville in sword practice.

_**-Flash Back-**_

_Harry had arrived outside the Hufflepuff Common Room with Neville who was still wincing with all the bruises he had received the last night. He had a tough night and he had spent a major part of it wincing and turning in bed but true to his word, had not complained about pain. _

_Susan was standing there with Hannah and as she saw him, she scowled, "Harold Peverell, what do you have to say for yourself?"_

_Harry had no idea about why she was so worked up, so he asked her straight forwardly, "What is the matter, Sue?"_

_She gave him the evil look. "Please tell me why Longbottom is walking like someone beat him black and blue and wincing with each step? Then tell me what made you think it was a good idea to teach sword fighting only to Neville and not us?"_

_"It is very simple, Sue. Neville here has requested to learn how to wield a sword under my tutelage and one of the rules of the lesson is that he cannot magically relieve himself of all his bruises and pain. That will teach him to not make the mistake he made the first time. In response to your next question, I did not choose him specifically to teach him sword fighting but when he pestered me about it, I put forward a proposition that he had to obtain a sword and a place if he wanted to learn sword fighting. The same goes for everyone else. He fulfilled the conditions and I had to keep my word"._

_"And you are going to teach us too". A voice said from behind him and he turned to find Hermione and Ron there._

_"Sorry Hermione but the same goes for you. Find a sword and a place to practice"._

_Susan turned him towards her by his shoulders. "Then I will join your next session. Auntie is not going to refuse me anything I ask of her"._

_Hannah raised her hands as if to stop them. "Hold on Susie. You cannot abandon your friend"._

_Susan smirked, "You heard the gentleman, Hannah. Bring your own equipment or rather ask your charming boy friend to find one for you". Neville was blushing heavily or perhaps wincing in pain. It was hard to tell with the facial expressions he made every now and then. _

_Harry turned to Hermione, "Sorry Hermione. It looks like you have to employ your resourcefulness elsewhere"._

_**-Flashback ends-**_

In the next session, Susan had turned up with a goblin silver sword in the shape of a falchion. It was one-handed, single edged with a slight curve at the pointed end. Unlike the blades which Harry and Neville had, this one had most of its weight toward the tip of the blade, giving it balance which was suitable for chopping, more like an axe than a sword. The blows delivered with this style of weapon could be devastating, but it was not meant for subtle work. The hilt was wrapped in dragon hide for a better grip. It was also affixed with a quilloned cross-guard on the hilt which contained intimation of the house animal of House Bones- the Common Welsh Green Dragon. The pummel ended up in a lobe and on it was the Bones crest. The metal was goblin silver and the sword had been crafted in one piece. Harry of course knew about the popularity of Falchions and how very few original falchions had survived from the medieval times when they were popular.

Neville had given her the Fidelius Secret to his sanctuary and she had brought Hannah along. Hannah claimed to not like sword fighting one bit. Harry told her that she was not under any obligation to join in the lessons. She had however agreed to stay and watch Susan getting trounced. The practice session had been brutal for Neville and Susan. He had told them of the stance that they needed to achieve and left them to practice it for 30 minutes while he sat and watched them. After they were done, he told Neville to take a walk while he sparred with Susan with wooden swords. When she asked him why they were practicing with wooden swords, Harry had to ask her if she had a death wish because practicing with real swords and no skill would almost certainly end with serious injury or death. In the ten minutes that they sparred together, Harry had to stop his hand before he struck her. She had noticed it after he had not hit her for the tenth time and she had told him to treat her as he would treat Neville. Reluctantly Harry gave her an impressive collection of bruises and a lot of pain.

When it was Neville's turn, he did not realize what he was walking into when he started to spar with Harry. Harry did not hesitate or pull his punches but practiced with all his skill and each of his blows were backed with all his power. It was all that Neville could do to parry the blows and hope, or rather wish, for an opening to reply to the pummeling he was getting. Their practice was so intense that Harry's wooden sword broke in half from the force of his blows.

It was then that he realized this was no way to teach Neville sword fighting. He threw his sword aside and asked Neville to attack while he would only dodge his blows and try to disarm him with his bare hands. While Neville tried everything he could think of to try and hit Harry, Harry commented on Neville's style and technique to help him improve.

As Harry stood crouched ready to dive to either side, Neville stood taking stock of him. Without giving any warning, he raised his sword and ran towards Harry who stood his ground. Just a moment before Harry would have received a mighty blow, he side stepped. As Neville barrelled past him, Harry caught his sword arm. In one fluid motion, Harry pivoted while pushing and twisting Neville's arm as his momentum carried him past Harry. The pressure on his arm forced Neville to flip onto his back with a resounding thud. When he looked up, he found that Harry had turned his own sword against him and was now holding it to Neville's throat.

Harry could see that Neville had landed hard and that he was really hurt. After he checked Neville for serious injuries, he helped his friend to his feet. Then he whipped his wand out and cast 'spongify' over the floor of the room, making it squishy so that Neville would not be hurt the next time he landed hard. Harry made a mental note to teach him how to break-fall.

He turned to Neville, "Once more, mate. Do your worst".

Neville this time was alert and did not run at him but cautiously circled him waiting for Harry to drop his guard. Harry made a slight movement to his left and Neville swung his sword however Harry had moved just enough for the strike to miss him. As the wooden sword whizzed past him, he kicked Neville in the chest knocking him to the ground and before he could stand up again, he had Neville's sword on his throat and said "Yield".

It might have looked like Harry was trying to keep his friends from learning sword fighting but he had different work for everyone and his friends did not want to understand that. If everyone wanted to fight werewolves or put all their energy and resources in one place then who would look after other things? Besides none of them could keep pace with him when he was really fighting and they would only impede him. He wanted to discourage them gently and not give the bitter truth to them but they were not listening to him at all.

The training sessions in the Room of Requirement were going well with the students having mastered the triplet of reducto, confrigno and bombarda. The sessions were often two hours long and did not require much intervention on his part except for a nudge here or there. The students were content with him teaching everything he wanted to. He had discussed the sessions with his friends and they had agreed that two sessions a week was a bit much.

_**-Flash Back-**_

_They had convened in the hidden passage on the 4th floor and Harry had sat quietly for sometime observing the students gathered there. He had expanded his circle and there were a few more people around the table. Among the new faces were Seamus Finnigan, Michael Corner, Ernie Macmillan, and Lilith Moon with a few others. They all knew each other but they were all apprehensive about this meeting because none of them had been a part of this meeting before now. Hermione was sitting with Ron beside her, Neville was with Hannah, Susan sat on his left side while Daphne took his right, Tracy sat beside one of the twins (it was hard to tell normally which one) while the other twin sat beside Luna who looked like she was still in a dream. Harry had wanted to ask her about what she had said to Daphne but feared her answer. Seers were cryptic and never gave straight answers. If they were doing so that could mean impending catastrophe. Lisa Turpin sat on the other side of Luna with Terry Boot._

_Harry started the meeting, "I have called you all here to know about your thoughts on the practice sessions we have had lately"._

_Tracy had answered, "These sessions are interesting and we always learn a thing or two. Additionally these are also useful in cultivating friendships with people of other houses who would otherwise not even spare us a look because we wear Green and Silver"._

_Lisa said, "I agree with everything Tracy has said. I would like to add that while the sessions are useful, two sessions a week is a bit much for those of us who have other obligations"._

_Harry arched an eye-brow, "And what would those obligations be, Lisa?"_

_"Oh, there are so many. First there are the classes where the teachers are trying to bury us with mountains of homework. I must say that I am very pleased with the new teachers and at the same time angry with Dumbledore for lading us with useless wizards like Lockhart in the past who did not know one end of his wand from the other. The History of Magic teacher is my personal hero now with the way she treats the mini death eaters and the defense professor certainly knows what he is talking about. All the same, the work is mountainous and takes a lot of time. Then there are the morning sessions where you two take sadistic pleasure in torturing us.", she gave a significant look to Neville and Harry. She continued, "Then for some of us, there are clubs which we need to attend like the Charms club, the gobstones club etc. For the Quidditch players, there are practices often twice a week which leaves us tired. In fact, I do not even remember the last time that I felt relaxed or well rested"._

_Harry had to laugh at her tirade. "I think you made your point, Lisa. I understand that there are things that you all have to do which require time and effort. I think that a session a week for the members of the Order would be enough because we do not need to follow the pattern laid down by Professor Rana. There are a few more things that I can teach before I will teach the students to duel like spell chains, advanced shields and using charms and transfigurations in a duel. From what I have seen of your rate of progress, you should be able to learn all the spells I am going to teach by Yule. After which we will do spell chains, duels etc. If anyone of you has any objections, please voice them"._

_So it was agreed that the sessions would be held one day per week and they would find something they wanted to learn and if it was useful, they would practice it or Harry would teach them a spell. As it was, most of the students wanted to learn to cast a patronus which was an incredibly hard piece of magic. In fact none of Harry's friends had learned the Patronus charms in their lessons over the summer because it took a lot of time and energy which was spent learning other useful things._

_**-Flashback ends-**_

**Astoria's POV**

In the last week, Astoria had avoided her sister as much as she could. She knew she should not have approached Harry directly and bluntly asked him but she had been curious and Daphne was not forthcoming with answers. They had spent two hours that night asking her details about their date but she had not told them anything except saying that the date had been abruptly cut short by a speaking patronus. A speaking patronus? Astoria did not even know that was a thing.

A day after she had asked Harry if there was something between him and her sister, Daphne had cornered her and threatened her at wand point. She had aimed her wand tip at the middle of her face and warned her to never try anything like that again or she would have to hurt her. Sometime later, she had received a letter from her mother in which her mother had reproached her for being so tactless and forbade her from prying about the topic again. If that wasn't enough, every time Daphne saw her near Harry, her big sister would caress her wand handle where it hid in the wand holster up her sleeve while glaring at Astoria.

She wanted to apologize to Harry for her conduct but it looked like Daphne was determined to keep her away from Harry. She still could ask for his forgiveness through the Harry Potter Fan Club though. They would take her message to him.

**Rosier Estate, Dorset**

This month's clinical trial was to start the next day and Remus was hopeful that they would be successful as well.

Thanks to the successful trial last month, more werewolves had joined him and were now working for Harold in the greenhouses. They were a welcome addition because there was always more work to do and not enough hands to do it.

The werewolves were grateful to Remus for giving them a respectable life. Many people were still apprehensive about werewolves but here they were being paid and respected for their work. Of course they knew that their employer was the boy-who-lived and it made them admire him even more considering that he was the one behind repealing the anti-werewolf legislation drafted during the last war.

They also knew that many of their brethren had joined You-Know-Who and would fight on his side in the coming war. The light did not have many fighters to deal with the threat of werewolves. The most ideal ones to deal with werewolves were other werewolves because they could not be harmed by the bites or the scratches as other wizards could be. To that effect, some of those who wanted to make a difference in the coming war had met with Lupin and pledged their support to him to fight on the side of light in the coming war. Remus was initially reluctant but when they reminded him that this war was theirs as much as his, he had agreed to the plan. Many of the werewolves had been born in wizarding families but never had any formal training. They could be taught to wield a wand and others could still fight bare handed.

Since then Remus had started to train them. They spent two hours a day in battle practice. Remus had contacted a shady wand maker in Knockturn Alley who sold used wands and had fitted his employees with those wands. He was teaching them a few dangerous spells which could be useful in a fight and also was teaching them to fight with other werewolves without the aid of magic. They had around 70 werewolves working with them now but of these, only 40 agreed to fight in the war. Remus was also planning to obtain silver daggers for those who had agreed to fight under him so as to give them a weapon should they need one in a fight. While a Goblin Silver dagger was extremely valuable and could not be obtained easily, daggers made of ordinary silver could work as well and were easily available. With the insane amount he was being paid for his services to Harry, he could easily use that money to gather some resources for helping his nephew however he decided to make it a surprise for him. Lately Prongslet had a lot of surprises up his sleeve, now it was his turn.

There was also the small matter of Nymphadora Tonks. He knew that the young metamorph fancied him and Remus harbored feelings toward her, but he was conflicted. He loved her but was fearful due to his condition. He could not consciously put her at risk but she kept coming around trying to make him realize that she had fallen for him. Remus thought it was not a good idea.

**Black Townhouse**

Sirius Black had been living an easy life since he had been exonerated. There was not much for him to do other than his exercises in the morning, practice his family magic and run errands for Dumbledore if there were any in addition to attending meetings of the Order. He was also the liaison person for the order for any information which was brought in by the members of the order to the Townhouse and Dumbledore was not there to take it. Sometimes, he would visit Gringotts to meet with his Account Manager Ripfang to discuss his family holdings and manage his accounts. While Remus looked after the other 4 houses, Harry had left House Black and its holdings for Sirius to look after in addition to the regency of House Rosier. Harry had wanted him to hold House Black and House Rosier at the same time but he had refused telling him to bring in Andromeda who had felt left out of the House business till now because her Lord had no assignment for her. In performing his duties as Regent, he had acted in that capacity exactly once in the last month's session. House Rosier had two vassals who had no heirs at Hogwarts at the present moment and they had claimed the right of sanctuary from him. As the regent, he could not make the decision and had promised to them to relay the request to Lord Rosier.

Other than these occasional outings, he practically had no other work to do. If one wanted to find Sirius Black, they could find him in the library or at the Rosier Estate in Dorset where he usually flooed to when he was bored and wanted to have some good practice. The House had been remodeled entirely but still reminded him of the years gone by. If not for the occasional order members coming by, he would have been bored out of his mind.

This fine day, he was sitting in the Lord's study and reading a book on defensive magic when he raised his head to find an eagle owl tapping at the window. With a flick of his wand, the window opened inwards and the owl landed before him carrying a letter. He untied the letter and opened it.

_"Mr. Black_

_This is in relation to some formal matters pertaining to your exoneration at the hands of the Wizengamot. There were some formalities which were not fulfilled and the error was discovered only today. _

_You are hereby directed to present yourself to Master Auror Alastor Moody, the head of Aurors in the ministry at 12:00 sharp. Please note that failure to turn up at the designated hour would amount to presumption of guilt._

_Percival Weasley_

_Senior Undersecretary to Minister of Magic"_

Sirius frowned at the language of the letter. As far as he remembered, there was nothing left in his trial. However the letter had come straight from the office of the Minister of Magic, so perchance there was something which they might have missed. There was a little doubt at the back of his mind about the possibility that people were conspiring against him but he shook his head at the thought. No one could conspire against him unless they wanted to risk the anger of Harold James Peverell. Last time he heard, the wizarding world doted upon his son.

Casting a tempus, he ran to the bathroom because it was already 11:00 in the morning. Within the next 30 minutes, Sirius Black was dressed in his finest robes; the Black family ring meant to be worn by the members of the family was upon his finger, his wand in the wand holster on his arm. Hollering to Kreacher to tell him that he was going to the ministry, he ambled out of the Townhouse and disapparated to appear in the Atrium of the Ministry.

**Hogwarts**

Ron and Hermione had the last week to mull things over. They had decided to find a sword because they were certain Harry would not teach them until they had their equipment. While she could write home and ask her parents for some money, she doubted they would give her money to buy a sword. The Weasley family vault which had recently been reopened did not contain any swords. All of their swords had been sold off in the past. Besides, Ron doubted that Mr. Weasley or Mrs. Weasley would take the news kindly that their son wanted to study warfare. As it was, they had agreed to the training last summer only because it was necessary for survival.

He and Hermione were sitting in the library mulling over the problem when in a moment of inspiration, Ron remembered someone who could help him.

He turned to Hermione. "Hermione, I know of someone who can help us. I do not know if he has any goblin made swords, but he will certainly have a couple of silver swords".

Hermione looked at him skeptically, "Who are you talking about, Ron?"

Ron grinned and whispered the name in her ear and her eyes lit with anticipation. In the next hour, a letter was written and was being carried away by Hedwig who had volunteered for the task since Harry rarely used her for sending letters anymore.

**Hogwarts**

Harry was in the Gryffindor Tower studying the Marauder's map, trying to memorize all of the places which the map detailed so that he would know everything there was there to know about it when he saw something strange. A group of students were starting to congregate in a room on the 4th floor in the right wing. The room was a location that was rarely frequented. There were students of all the houses present in that room and as he looked closely, there were students of almost every year there. What was more surprising was that Hermione was also a part of the crowd.

He donned his Invisibility Cloak and ventured in the direction that the map pointed. He crept stealthily and kept casting detection spells to see if there were any wards etc. to detect an intruder and there were none. He was miffed with the apparent lack of caution by those students.

The room was guarded by a portrait of a witch which did not ask him for a password. Harry looked into the map and there was his dot on the map at the place where he was standing and a bubble was next to it saying, "Hedwig". He was amused at the password but chose not to use it to open the door because a door opening by itself would freak everyone out even if they were in the magical world. He heard foot-steps behind him and turned to find two firsties give the password and enter the room. Careful not to bump them, he slipped into the room behind them. There were at least 40 students in the room. He took a seat at the end of the room with the wall to his back and decided to watch where this was going.

Ginny stood after sometime and started to address the gathering, "Welcome to the first meeting of the Harry Potter Fan Club in this new academic year". As she sat, Hermione stood to address the gathering.

Harry almost yelped. The horror was real. There was a bloody fan club in his name and Hermione Granger was a member. However, he decided to watch what they were doing before he revealed his presence to them.

Hermione was saying, "Now that we are all here, let's start with the Harry Potter Trivia for this month. The first question is- who was the seeker to lose to Harry Potter in his first Quidditch Match?"

One of the older years answered the question and the second question followed, "Who is Harry Potter's godfather?"

This was also answered immediately by the students and then the third question was asked by Hannah Abbott, "Who was the lion who stood in the way of the Golden Trio when they were going to defeat Professor Quirrell and save the Sorcerer's stone?"

Harry almost cringed. Questions about his life were being thrown out like candies and his private life was being made public. However, the trivia was not finished by a long shot and the next question almost made him run from the room. The question was asked by Romilda Vane, a 4th year Gryffindor, "Who is Harry Potter's girlfriend?"

The question was innocuous in itself but the answers raised his hackles. Some named Susan as his girl friend; some named Daphne Greengrass while some went so far as to link him with many witches at once. He was not opposed to the idea of a girlfriend and in fact, he had often thought of the perfect girl but the thought of being with more witches than one at once did not sit well with him. That was Sirius's reputation, not his. He was thankful that Susan was not here or there would have been a massacre in this room.

He heard a boy asking a question and to his surprise, it was Ron. He was asking, "What is Harry Potter's favorite dessert?"

Harry sighed with frustration. His best friends were a part of this club and they never thought to tell him. He definitely would have words with them later. The hour long meeting was spent in agony with details of his life getting broadcast to the students gathered in the room and the students even knew that his personal elf was named Dobby!

**Ministry of Magic**

Sirius Black apparated into the Atrium of the ministry and took the elevator to the floor where the Auror offices were situated. Moody's secretary ushered him in telling him that Moody had told her to send him in as soon as he arrived. Sirius entered the office to find Moody behind his desk lounging on a chair and looking at ease as if he had all the time in the world.

As he saw Sirius, he pointed to a chair on the other side and growled, "Take a seat, Sirius".

"What is this about, Alastor? What formalities were not finished that you had to send me a letter with such language?"

Moody gave him an evil smirk, "The Minister asked me to present you to him as soon as you walked into my office. There is something that he wants to talk about and would prefer to do so in person".

They took the elevator to the Minister's office where they were sent in at once. Alice and Amelia were already present in the office. As soon as Frank saw him, he gave him a big grin and said, "Sirius Black, welcome to the ministry of Magic".

"What was so urgent that you had to send me an official letter, Frank? I must confess that I was worried for a moment that the ministry had dug up something against me however I remembered soon that my friend is the Minister of Magic."

It was Alice who answered, "Sirius, it was a ruse to bring you here and make you sweat a little. Actually Alastor told us that you have become moody with nothing to do at all. Is that true?"

"What has that got to do with the letter?"

Amelia answered, "Simple. You were an extremely able Auror in the last war, perhaps one of the best with your formidable skills at dueling and your repertoire of spells. The minister felt that it would be a waste to let such talent lie unutilized. As it is, the new recruits can do with an Auror of your calibre teaching them. Moody is adept at his task but he take savage pleasure in torturing them in the name of training and he is one man but there are two hundred recruits. With more trainers, we can do better. There is no one else that we can spare. So the job is yours if you'll take it. You were terminated wrongfully and the ministry in good faith is making reparations by returning some of your lost honour to you. What do you say?"

Sirius was grinning with pleasure. This would keep his wits sharp and his reflexes strong. In addition, he would be part of anything that Harry planned and not be counted as the odd-man out.

"There is no question about me taking the job. I will join however I want to be part of any special operations that you plan for Voldemort or his minions".

In the next hour, Sirius was introduced to others in the Auror department and news of his appointment had been given to them. Most of the senior Aurors like Dawlish, Proudfoot, Savage, Rufus, Gawain, Kingsley, Hestia, Emmeline etc. knew him from his time as an Auror and his capabilities but Scrimgeour grumbled that Sirius needed to pass through the ringer before he could be allowed to join them again.

To break the impasse that it present, Frank proposed a duel between the two of them and said that if Rufus lost, Sirius would be appointed as Senior Auror and if Rufus won, Sirius's appointment would be cancelled. The duel was set for non-lethal spells only and would continue till one was not able to continue or was disarmed.

Sirius was in no mood to let Rufus stand before him for long. After they bowed to each other, Sirius sent a bone-breaker at Rufus who took it on a shield. He responded with a bone-breaker of his own which Sirius dodged. Sirius went on the offensive taking a leaf out of his son's book and started casting rapidly without giving time for Rufus to reply to his spells. He used all the spells that he remembered and kept Rufus on his toes. When he relented for a second, Rufus sent a bombarda at him which Sirius dodged while at the same time, sent a banishing charm at Rufus. He stepped out of the way while sending a spell chain of stupefy, petrification hex and incarcerous at him which Sirius took on a shield he had raised hastily. In retaliation, Sirius started peppering him with incendio forcing him to hide behind his shield. In a stroke of inspiration, he cast the fire whip and snared Rufus's shield in it. With a jerk, he broke the shield. Before Rufus could answer, Sirius cast the smokescreen spell impeding Rufus's line of sight. Rufus slashed through the smoke screen to find Sirius standing before him with his wand in his face and before Rufus could say another incantation, he was stupefied.

With the duel won, Sirius was appointed as Senior Auror entrusted with training the recruits. For the very first session, he called all of them to the training hall. As they all stood before him he started addressing them. "Most of you know me as the only person to escape Azkaban while a few of you know me as a former Auror who fought for the ministry in the last wizarding war and almost all of you have heard the story about me being a crazy mass murderer. I have been appointed by the Ministry to teach you all to duel because it was felt that the Head of Aurors would be unnecessarily burdened with his other obligations. So, I have taken on the delightful task of torturing you all in order to make you ready for any contingency".

He pointed to an Auror to come forward and stunned him. While others hissed in indignation, he asked them, "Imagine if you come upon one of your own like this, what would you do?"

One of the recruits stepped forward and enervated his comrade. Sirius turned to the others, "If you are in a battle and only stun your enemies, do you not think that their fellow wizards can enervate them? It will bring things back to where they were. So what should you do?". He paused while the recruits all looked around at each other to see if anyone would answer. "What you do is hit them so hard that they do not get up again to join the battle. Ensure that an enemy who has fallen once remains fallen."

After a two hour long gruelling session, Sirius gave them orders to report before dawn broke the next morning saying that he would be joining them for exercises with Moody and may be with two of them casting spells at the recruits, they would get enough inspiration to run faster.

**Great Hall**

Ginny Weasley had been having a quiet year so far. Since she had been disenchanted with the legend of The-boy-who-lived, she had started to see the real Harry. While he was kind, brave and courageous Ginny thought that he did not measure up to the image she had of him before this year. While witches flung themselves at him, she was happy not to be one of them anymore. Things on the romance front were not good however. Michael had been a considerate and caring boyfriend but he did not measure up to her expectations. He was more studious and did not understand the nuances of relationships. He gave her all his attention but there was no spark between them. Their relationship had not progressed anymore since the end of last year and they both had decided to end things on an amicable note rather than wait for things to get sour.

She had many things to keep her busy anyway. There were classes which were harder this year than previous years. There were the training sessions they did in the mornings and those were a real pain in the back-side. Harry and Neville were absolutely brutal to them and she had to go to Madam Pomphrey at least twice for bruises.

Quidditch practices were also taxing on her and with three evenings a week, it did not leave enough time for her to finish her homework. She had to ask for help from others with her assignments. On the other hand, the order had led her to make new friends in other houses which otherwise would not have been possible in the past years. Some students from other houses had tried to ask her out on a date but she had refused everyone. She was looking for the perfect person who would measure up to her expectations.

She had also been avoiding Harry for one reason or another. Except for a random conversation here and there, they hadn't talked much. The only time he had sought her out was when he had to give her the ring meant for members of the family and he had promised to her father to procure.

A sudden screech attracted her attention and she looked up to find owls flying to the students seated at the house tables. She saw a group of owls carrying a big parcel and flying towards her with a big barn owl in the lead. She and her friends caught the package before it could fall on the table and spill everyone's breakfast or create a ruckus. As they relieved the owls of the burden, the rest of the owls flew away while the barn owl extended its leg to her. She took the letter and the owl sat contentedly in front of her. Thinking he was waiting for a reply, she opened the letter.

_"Dear Miss Weasley,_

_I must say that I was pleased when you were selected as a chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I also noticed that you do not have your own broom and I took the opportunity to reward your achievement as an ally and patron of your Family._

_I have ordered this Nimbus 2001 as a late birthday gift for you and a gift for your achievement. I hope that you will like this gift and put it to good use in contributing to Gryffindor victories._

_This owl is your personal owl which comes as a gift from your parents for your achievement._

_Harold James Black_

_Lord of House Black."_

She was pleased with the gift. She had been meaning to write to her father for a broom when she had been selected but was unsure if Arthur had the means especially after he had bought a Nimbus 2000 for Ronald when he became a Prefect. With the gift from Harry, that trouble was over.

**Hogwarts, Quidditch Stadium**

Today was yet another Gryffindor quidditch practice.

With the howling wind and the rain pouring down by the bucket load, most of the team was not too keen on flying today. But Angelina (who was almost as enthusiastic as Wood) could not be denied.

They had thought that perhaps Angelina could be persuaded to relent a little but that just made her push them harder. She reminded them that quidditch matches are never called off on account of weather and that they needed practice under all conditions.

Angelina had glared at every one of them in turn. "Professor McGonagall told me just this morning that she has gotten used to having the Quidditch cup in her office and would be disappointed if we were to lose it. She has told me to make sure that every member of this team is performing up to your potential and leaves no stone unturned to earn a victory. Short of outright cheating in the game, I want each member of the team to do everything that they can to win the Inter-House Quidditch tournament this year. To achieve that, she has given me a free hand to do anything that I can. As I see it, we had no quidditch last year and there are many new faces on the team, I want all of us to synchronize and work like a well oiled machine because if we lost a single match to any team then Merlin help me, I will hound you all to your crypts".

Since they had included the reserve players in the practice, there were more people and she put them in two teams. For this practice, there would be no seeker and Harry was made a chaser with Ginny and Fay. The chasers were to try to score in the hoops past Ronald and the beaters were to stop them. While the number of chasers almost doubled, the beaters had more targets to look out for and the number of beaters doubled meant more chances of being hit by a Bludger. They practiced for two hours and in that time, the chasers were unseated quite a number of times but they had been equally successful at getting past the beaters and scoring. With the rain falling and the number of players doubled, it made it hard for Ronald to defend but he gritted his teeth and kept the goals. He let in quite a number of goals but also saved as many. Then Angelina asked others to retire to the benches and released the snitch for Harry. The sky was dark and with the rain falling, it was hard to see ordinarily but with his leonine form, he could see better than most in the night sky. He caught the snitch within seconds after it was released several times in a row. Angelina was pleased, but others were having trouble continuing. After about two hours, they were all drenched to the core and shivering with cold. Angelina still wanted to make them practice some more, saying that the first match was hardly a month away and they all needed to practice but other players put their foot down telling her they were not going to kill themselves with cold just for a few more minutes of practice.

**A week later**

The last week had been increasingly busy for the students with everything happening. The rains had been relentlessly pouring down but had abated in the past few days. When it did not rain, Harry took the students down to the lake for a run and when it rained, they ran in the castle. The students were getting fit but it was equally true that they could not fight like Harry. For one thing, they did not have the repertoire of spells that he had. For another, he was more powerful. Lastly, no one really knew all his talents. He had proved himself to be extremely capable with every spell he cast. In the last session, he had started to teach them selvio hexia i.e. spell deflection however not every one of them was successful at it. It was very complex and only those with quick reflexes and people who were extremely sure of their capabilities were able to do it. Last week they had the first accident of their sessions. Carmichael who was learning to deflect a hex had misjudged a bone breaker from Neville and it had broken bones in his wand arm. To the surprise of the others, Harry had repaired those bones in a trice and dosed him with a pain potion. Needless to say, Hermione had pestered him to tell where he had learned healing and how much he knew about it. Diplomatic as ever, Harry had told her that his friends had taught him general healing so that he would not be in a tight spot if he ever broke his bone in a duel. The news of his talent had reached Madam Pomphrey from Eddie Carmichael who felt like he should consult an expert to see if his bones had been mended properly.

_**-Flash back starts-**_

_As he took a seat in her office, Poppy glared at him making him squirm. After a few moments of tension, he had asked her, "Umm. Madam Pomphrey, what is the matter?"_

_"I did not know that you had become a healer too, Mr. Peverell"._

_He gave her his best lop-sided grin. "Madam Pomphrey, I learned some healing this summer that is all"._

_She snorted, "Forgive me if I do not believe it. You did not just learn some healing. I know of the talents of the trainee healer I had for some months during last year and if you learned even a fraction of what he knows then I must say I am curious to know"._

_He eyed her for a few moments before he asked her, "I can tell you a little about my abilities if you can tell me if your mind is secure or not"._

_She nodded, "As healer, we are often taught Occlumency so that no one can pick information out of our mind. And it is our resort to control our emotions in case we have to treat someone who is family to us. I cannot even begin to explain how many times I had to use that when I have been treating you the last four years"._

_She tapped a rune on her table and said, "Now you can speak without the fear of being listened to. There are a separate set of wards in the hospital wing which are controlled from here. I have raised a privacy ward around the room"._

_He contemplated things for a moment sorting out what to tell her and what to keep to himself. "Madam Pomphrey, my friends are not just healers. They can use it to save someone's life as easily as they can use this art for killing anyone. One of my teachers taught me to kill in 30 different ways without making one bleed. While I abhor killing or using the art of healing to kill, I can understand their point and learned everything they wanted to teach to me"._

_**-Flashback Ends-**_

The sword practice sessions were going well with Neville. He was learning to parry, dodge and swing. He was starting to use his bulk in fighting and learned many of Harry's tricks however Harry knew of so many of them that Neville always ended up losing to him. Susan was also progressing well but not as much as Harry would have liked. She could hold a blade; swing it if necessary but she was no expert swordswoman.

Ron and Hermione had got the answer to their woes sometime during the last week when they had snuck out of the castle during the day to meet the newly minted Lord Prewett who had not wanted to give a sword to them but when Ron had told him about Harry's conditions and his need, he had produced two silver swords for them. They were plain swords with no distinguishing feature but were sufficient to serve their purpose.

Hermione and Ronald had cornered Harry in the Common Room and repeated their request that he teach them sword fighting. He had repeated the same conditions to them and they had told him to meet them at the Room of Requirement. He had initially protested that the Room of Requirement was hardly secure for their purposes but Hermione made a good point. She told him that not even all the members of their order knew about how to access the Room of Requirement and therefore the possibility that anyone would walk in on them was very small.

He had reluctantly agreed but had told them that they could not go to anyone regarding any bruises or pain that they might suffer at his hands.

In the session in the Room of Requirement, he had set them to practice the stance for 30 minutes while he duelled with Neville. Neville was wary of him and knew how tricky he could be so he crossed blades with him when he knew that Harry would not try any tricks but have a honest duel. They had been circling each other for sometime before Neville started attacking him which he lazily parried. Neville was no real challenge for him but he could test his agility with the other boy. After Neville had attacked him for some time, he had taken the aggressive stance and started to attack making him cower before him. Sometime during the duel he had disarmed Neville and made him yield.

After that he started to teach Ron and Hermione about how to swing the sword, how to avoid a blow and other important things when Ron impatiently asked him if he considered him weaker than Neville?

Hermione was mortified with the idiotic question and had tried to dissuade him but he was not deterred. Neville gleefully asked Harry to duel with Ron. Suffice to say, Ronald had spent the next two days in great pain. Susan was not duelling with him either but learning to swing a sword before she would duel. She said that she was not a foolhardy lion who just jumped into the thick of things without thinking them through.

The classes had settled into a routine and thus, the students were able to cope and keep pace with them. Potions class was the same as usual except for Harry of course. Snape was still being obnoxious but the vitriol was absent now. He would sneer at the students but his heart was not in it. And he had started to take points off his house too.

The History of Magic teacher had slowed her pace down so that the students did not feel overwhelmed. While she gave them homework, it was not as much as it had been a week before. She was still giving the highest number of detentions though and students from all houses were her victims. Students kept quiet in her classes unless they had a question for her. She would answer every question which came to her.

The Defense Professor had taught them a number of things or made them revise things they had learned or should have learned in the previous years and which he was sure would feature in their OWL exams. He was quick to award them points and was the only one who was yet to give a detention. He was a favorite for students from all years and it was surprising to see firsties so accomplished at defense. They knew more than other years did in their first year at least.

**Dorset**

The clinical trial for this week had been going well and it was believed that it would go well with the full moon being tomorrow. Remus was gearing up for mass production which he felt was not far away now. Griphook had finalized the deal with a company whose finances were in shambles and the company's ownership had been transferred to the name of Lord Potter.

The company was ready to begin its production and since they had no outlets of their own, Lord Potter was looking for contracts with companies which owned apothecaries or were in the business of potion making. Even when the potions were to be sold at a lot less margin than the wolfsbane, it was expected to bring in sizable profits for them. There was also some apprehension that Voldemort would try to attack those selling the new potion because it could make him lose his followers and they were thinking of ways around it. Harry had wanted to give the potions away for free but Remus had dissuaded him by telling him that with the general conditions for werewolves improving, most of them were in a position to pay for them as opposed to those in the employ of Tom. A batch of potions for a month cost them 10G which was lot less than Wolfsbane which was available at 10G a dose i.e. 70G for a month's supply of wolfsbane. Remus was also planning to hire a few potion masters and apprentices because there was a lot of work to be done and he could not do it all by himself. By his own admission, he was not a dab hand at potions.

**Ministry of Magic**

Sirius Black was a menace. That was the general opinion of the recruits who had the misfortune to be his trainees. He was more ruthless than Moody when it came to training and every day, he would select a recruit to duel with him. None of his duels were fought with stunners and disarming hexes but bone breakers and bone crushers.

Whoever duelled with him on a given day expected to break at least one bone. A few of them had been able to get the jump on him but had paid dearly for it the next time they crossed wands with him. Sometimes he even fought with senior Aurors and gave them a run for their money. There were a few though who never yielded to him unless they were unconscious.

Sometimes, the minister himself descended to the Auror offices where he duelled with Sirius Black and none of their duels ever had a winner. Almost all of them ended in a stalemate. Alice Longbottom too had crossed wands with him on occasion and showed her prowess. Seeing them fight was often thrilling for the recruits. As Moody would always tell them, they were all that remained of an age gone by where Aurors were feared by death eaters in the last war. The death eaters were cowards who would apparate in, do their raid and were gone before Aurors could arrive. The reputation of Aurors was largely due to the fact that the well trained Aurors in that age were more powerful, sophisticated and knew their spells like the back of their hand.

Sirius often called all of them in early morning and after a gruelling two hour session of running, they were set to practice spell casting. Those who were better than others would be exempted for the day but those who failed would be set to cast again until they got it right. After spell casting, he would let them go to their other obligations and reconvene them in the evening for duels.

If he ever noticed any recruit using a stunner, he would duel with them himself and teach them a lesson often by breaking a bone or two.

An interesting wrinkle was Emmeline Vance who was a hit-witch for the ministry and would go through the same training regimen as other senior Aurors. Since Sirius had joined, she looked for reasons to be around him and would seek chances to duel with him. Whenever Sirius went home for the day, she went with him. Almost everyone was certain that something was going on between them and were waiting for a signal that indeed, they were dating.

**Two days later**

The clinical trials for this month were over and the reports had been sent to the ICW. Preparations were being made in anticipation of the patent coming to them next month. Remus had also written an article to be sent to Potions Today as soon as the patents were granted.

Harry had spent the last night at the Rosier Estate in Dorset as the snow-leopard keeping company with Moony and Padfoot.

In Hogwarts, students were preparing for the next Hogsmeade weekend today and Harry was going with Susan. Daphne had not asked him about this time but he knew that he would have to make up for the ruined dinner last time. He just was looking for an appropriate time. He also had received a letter from Colin Creevey which had been given to him by Astoria in which she had asked his pardon many times and asked him if he could keep Daphne off her back and patch things up with her sister. Daphne was ready to hex Astoria every time she saw her and it was grating on the nerves of the younger Greengrass girl.

* * *

**A/N- **I received some reviews from a user recently in which they liberally criticised the first few chapters of this fic and pointed out some flaws which I tend to agree with. The first few chapters were a little hasty and I did not take time to show things as others might have thought. Here is a proposition for you all. If you all want, I can edit those chapters and add some things here and there to make it more likeable. However that would depend upon how many people actually want me to do it.

Also, I kind of feel let down that despite giving chapters regularly, this story has not attracted attention like other fics. Am I really writing that bad?

Lastly thank you to all who dutifully read my fic and give their valuable reviews.


	35. Chapter 35

**Hogsmeade**

Harry arrived at the village with Susan in tow. They had decided that they would keep the day for themselves. Most of the time there were others around or Harry was busy with his own plans and as such they never had much time to spend together.

To his surprise, Harry found Tracy going to the village with one of the twins (he presumed Fred) and they were talking happily. Fred was saying something to her and she was listening to him and would occasionally nod in agreement. Harry was pleasantly surprised with this new development. He presumed that she had succeeded in getting Fred for herself.

Some other couples had been formed in the last few weeks as he saw. Hannah and Neville were a given as they spent all their time together. As he knew, Ron and Hermione were seeing each other though they were yet to come clean about their relationship to everyone else. Ernie Macmillan who had become a good friend and was loyal to Harry in his own way was often seen around with Lilith Moon. Harry did not even know that they knew each other before this year. As it was, there were more broom cupboard busts this year than previous years with the fifth years. Or maybe, he had just started to see things this way. Luna Turpin was buzzing around Terry Boot and if Seamus was to be believed, those two were going to find a broom cupboard any day now. Seamus himself was quite besotted with Lavender Brown who did not reciprocate his feelings with equal enthusiasm. Dean Thomas was seen in the company of Fay Dunbar often. Parvati Patil was the only one who was yet aloof of any romance which might have been happening.

As they arrived at the Three Broom Sticks, Harry found Sirius sitting at the bar with Emmeline Vance, a silver haired witch who was employed as a Hit-witch at the Ministry of Magic and was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. The surprising thing was that Sirius was dressed in what looked like robes worn by Aurors who are on duty. As Sirius saw him, he rose from his seat and embraced him tightly grinning at the expression on his face.

After the pleasantries were over, Harry asked him, "What are you doing here? I thought you would be at the Townhouse".

Sirius barked a laugh, "Here is an update, pup. As of a week ago, I was appointed as Senior Auror at the Ministry of Magic by Minister Longbottom. Today I asked my superior Alastor Moody for field duty and Moody assigned me to patrol Hogsmeade with Emmeline Vance".

Harry wanted to whip his wand out and hex the marauder. He clenched his teeth. "So, you are appointed as an Auror and do not see fit to tell me? Thought I would be happy to suddenly see you here springing this surprise on me?"

Sirius laughed, "Hardly. I wanted to see the look on your face when you heard the news though. Sometimes, it feels good to be able to surprise you".

Harry scowled, "Just you wait until I am home for the Winter break".

Susan swatted him on the arm, "Enough with your posturing, Peverell. Why do you have to behave like this?"

Harry immediately cooled down. Sirius started snickering, "I can see who pulls the strings in this relationship. Imagine a war mage being controlled by a charming lady like Miss Bones here. Bards will write songs about it".

Emmeline swatted him, "Hush you. Woman will always control man".

Sirius obediently said, "Yes dear".

Harry raised an eye-brow, "Why do I feel like I am missing something here?"

Susan swatted him on the head this time, "That's because you are an idiot". She turned to Emmeline, "I swear I do my best to try and train this one but he refuses to learn".

Emmeline started laughing and Harry noticed that she had beautiful laughter but he still did not know what he was missing. For the fear of being swatted again, he kept his mouth shut anyway.

Susan saw his expression and said to him, "Don't be a cry baby, Harry. It is not hard to see that these two are seeing each other".

Harry's grin went ear to ear, "That's wonderful news, Sirius. Why didn't you tell me? Are you two officially dating each other yet?"

"Why else would I leave the recruits in Moody's hands and take field duty to meet you here with her? And to answer your other question, I am not yet dating her but we are seeing each other. Let's see where it goes from here".

Harry laughed at that. He was genuinely happy that Sirius had found someone who was interested in him. His laughter did not seem as hollow as Harry remembered from last year. Nor were his eyes as cold now. He looked happy and full of life. Emmeline was good for Sirius, he thought. They moved to the back of the inn where they took a table. He genuinely wanted to talk to Sirius and Emmeline but Susan had other plans.

Susan asked Sirius "Is it ok if I borrow this one for the rest of the day? He is very slippery and I hardly get any time with him".

Sirius guffawed. "I knew there was a reason I liked you, Susan. You know how to look after him. By all means, I release this one to your care. Do not hurt him… much".

Harry sighed while Susan just grinned at Sirius and dragged Harry away by his arm. As they stumbled out of the inn, Harry noticed that the other shops were quite full already and as he could not think of another place in Hogsmeade to go. They did not want to go where they would meet more people and be forced to spend time with them so he asked Susan, "How about we head to Diagon Alley?"

She widened her eyes in surprise, "And how do you think we will achieve that, Peverell?"

He smirked, "I have a few options, Sue. There is my Hippogriff, I have the fastest broom in the world, I can apparate you alongside or the simplest thing would be to take the floo from the Cottage on the Hill to the Leaky Cauldron".

She giggled, "You make good suggestions, Peverell. Let's take the floo and go to Diagon Alley".

After liberally applying Glamour Charms, they took the floo from the Cottage to the Leaky Cauldron. They were visiting one of the restaurants located in the alley and entering, one of them asked for a private parlor.

As they were sitting for lunch, Susan asked him, "Harry, have you been to Godric's Hollow?"

Harry arched an eye-brow, "Godric's Hollow? I have heard it is one of the wizarding villages and Godric Gryffindor lived there and that my parents hid there but other than that, I do not know if there is anything of significance there".

She said to him softly, "Has anyone yet told you that your parents were buried in the graveyard in Godric's Hollow?"

Harry was speechless. Not once in his life had he thought about where his parents had been buried nor had he asked anyone. Sure he remembered them and loved them but this aspect of their lives had been unknown to him. It also made him wonder if everyone around him had his best interests at heart because no one took a moment to inform him as to where his parents had been laid to rest. Of course every witch and wizard knew that the Potters had been killed in Godric's Hollow so it was logical that they would have been buried in the graveyard there considering the crypts of his family were in Peverell Castle and no one except him could open it. He was angry that no one had ever told him this. Sure they could not go to Godric's Hollow during the year because the school rules never allowed that but at least someone could have taken him sometime during his holidays. He would have to ask them why no one ever thought about it or offered to take him and the list of people who owed an answer to him was long. That could wait however because right now he was on a date with Susan and she deserved his attention.

He looked at her and shook his head, not trusting his voice to not break down. It took him a few moments to control his emotions. "No one ever told me Sue. I never thought about it either. Before this year, I did not even know that there was a place called Godric's Hollow. I suppose there are many people who owe me answers".

Her tone was still soft, "I know, Harry. Godric's Hollow is a rather famous landmark for having been one of the earliest settlements for the wizarding families in Avalon. In fact, many families were settled there before they started spreading out later. In the graveyard, you would find most of the names of the old wizarding families on the grave stones. As to no one telling you before, I don't claim to know their reasons but I suppose that they had your best interests in their hearts. Speaking of interests, I would be interested in seeing your home."

He said, "Sue, you have seen Black Townhouse. That is my home".

She shook her head, "No, Harry. That is the townhouse of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. I mean your family home like Potter Manor or the fabled Peverell Castle".

Comprehension dawned on him, "Oh! I have not lifted the stasis charms from them yet, Sue. Since I was in no urgent need for accommodation, I did not bother with that. I think there was a clause about my coming of age before I could lift those charms though Griphook would know better".

She brightened, "Then what are we waiting for? Gringotts is a stone's throw away. Let's meet him and ask if it is possible for you. I must say I want to see the castle".

Harry smiled at her antics. She had a knack for brightening his days and she knew it. She never missed an opportunity to try and make him smile. He liked her company and felt that there was something between them, something inexplicable but it was there. The way his heart would start thumping faster when she was around, the way he was delighted when he did something for her and her simplicity kind of charmed him every time, making him bereft of his senses.

He responded to her, "Well I think we have a bit of time before we have to go back to school. A quick visit would not hurt us".

They arrived at Gringotts and he went to a teller and flashed his Lord Ring of House Peverell in his face, "I am here to see Griphook".

The Goblin closed his register, jumped from his stool and said, "Follow me, Lord Peverell".

When they arrived at Griphook's office, Harry entered with Susan trying to follow him inside but the teller stopped her, "She is not related to you, Lord Peverell. She is not allowed inside the office of your Personal Account Manager".

Harry calmly entered the office and dragged Griphook out with him, "This one is not allowing my friend to enter your office, Griphook".

Griphook glared at the young goblin, "what were you thinking?"

The goblin muttered, "Those are the rules, Account Manager. Only the account holder is allowed to go in or those who are related to him or are in his employ. Heiress Bones is none of those".

Griphook bared his teeth at him, "This is not a random interloper. This is the heir of House Bones and Lord Peverell's guest. I am astonished at your audacity. You know that he is our most important client and she is heiress to an equally important house and yet you tried to stop them? Do you not love your head on your shoulders? Do you want to see it rolling on the ground? Because that is what Lord Ragnok will do when I tell him that you stopped our ally Harold James Peverell and his guest. Now be gone, your fate will be decided later".

The young teller ran back to the lobby while Griphook ushered them in, "I apologize Lord Peverell and Heiress Bones. I hope you will not hold his conduct against the Bank".

As they sat, he started, "Now I would have thought that the two of you would have come to the bank years ago. Have you finally come to see a copy of the marriage contract?"

Harry looked puzzled, "Did you say 'Marriage contract'? What are you talking about?"

The goblin eyed him suspiciously, "Are you trying to take the mickey out of me, Lord Peverell? I am talking about the marriage contract that your father drew up with Edgar Bones. Surely in your over four years of studying together at Hogwarts, Heiress Bones must have mentioned that the two of you are betrothed?

Harry's mind reeled in shock. A strange sense of unreality came over him. Was this a dream? Was this some sort of joke? He pinched himself to make sure that he was awake. He looked at Griphook's face. The Goblin didn't look like he was joking. He turned to look at Susan sitting beside him. The look of stupefaction on her face and a brief touch of passive Legilimency told him that there was no deceit there. It was true and she knew it.

When Rachael had told him about Marriage Contracts, he had dearly wished that there was no contract like that for him. Surely his parents would not have done such a thing, but Griphook had yet to be wrong about anything he said. And to think that Susan knew about it and never told him. She had 4 years to tell him about it but she had not gathered her courage to tell him! He wanted to rage over it and as it was, he was barely controlling his anger. He clenched his teeth and turned to the Goblin, "Send me a copy of the contract at Grimmauld Place and arrange a port-key for Miss Bones to take her back to Hogwarts".

Susan wanted to say something, calm him down but he was in no mood to listen. She tried to grab his arm and he jerked it away from her and glared hard at her making her shiver with fright. Without another word, he simply vanished, leaving behind one very surprised goblin and one very unhappy witch.

Griphook and Susan sat in silence for 10 minutes after Harry's abrupt departure. Griphook because he could see that the young witch was hurt and in shock. It would take her some time to recover sufficiently to even react to his words at all. He was also shocked with the way Harry Potter disapparated from the Bank. No wizards could do it because the bank's anti-apparition wards were superior to those of wizards. It should not have been possible unless... No, Harold Peverell could not be one of them. The thought itself filled him with fright. But then Harold Peverell had come with one of them during the summer. While it was another issue altogether, what needed his attention at the moment was the young witch in front of him. Susan had hid her face in her hands and with the shaking of her body, it was clear that she was crying.

He called for a goblin and sent him to fetch some hot chocolate from one of the bakeries down Knockturn Alley to elevate Susan's mood. He knew that wizards and muggles equally preferred the dark brew. This one which he had sent to be fetched would also be laced with calming draught meaning it would help her calm down.

After waiting for 5 minutes, he asked her, "Heiress Bones, would you like us to contact Madam Bones at the ministry and inform her of your whereabouts?"

She shook her head and said hoarsely, "No. I think I will manage. Can you get me a port-key to Hogwarts? That will be all".

"I will get a portkey to you in 20 minutes. Is there any other way I can serve you?"

"No, Account Manager Griphook. That will be all. Thank you for your services".

He nodded curtly, "Gringotts at your service".

30 minutes later after the hot chocolate had been consumed, Susan returned to the school by the portkey. It was just about time for dinner and she walked towards the Great Hall to talk with Harry and to mend their differences. She had made a mistake and she was witch enough to accept it.

**Hogwarts**

In the Great Hall, with a wavering gaze, she saw her friends sitting at the Gryffindor Table as usual but Harry was conspicuous by his absence. Her eyes were still blotchy, her charming smile was absent and she did not want to face any questions, so she skipped dinner in the Great Hall and went to the kitchens where the elves served her with relish.

She returned to her dormitory and went to sleep before Hannah returned. Good thing that she was a Prefect because that meant Susan could use the excuse of being so tired that she straight away went to sleep.

The next morning, Harry was not there to greet her at the entrance to the Badger's Hole. Rather she was met by an agitated looking party composed of Hermione, Ron, Neville and Hannah. As she emerged, Hermione asked her, "Susan, Harry did not return to the school yesterday. You two went to the village together. Where is he?"

She tried to look indifferent and snapped, "Do I look like his keeper to you, Granger? He is a free man who can do as he wishes. He abandoned me in London and I have not heard from him since".

Ron ferociously asked her, "London? What were you doing in London? What did you do with Harry? He does not abandon people".

After being brought up by her Auntie, Susan was not intimidated by him but she had been hurt by the way Harry disappeared without saying a word or hearing her side of the story. She morosely said, "He found out about the marriage contract".

Hermione kindly asked her, "Do you mean to say that you had not told him of the contract yet? This is really bad. He's going to think you were keeping secrets from him. What's more is none of us told him either because it was your secret to tell. He's going to think that we are all in it together".

This time it was Ron who interceded, "Give her a break, Hermione. She was just a child like us when she came to know about it. She tried many times to get close to him before telling him but my idiocy impeded that. What is more important right now is to find where Harry is. Also it is equally important to keep this news away from others that he is missing. We will have to talk to the headmaster though. He should be able to come up with some suitable excuse. He must be informed anyway because he is the only one who can find him". The decision was made to go see the Head Master in his office right away, before breakfast, before the entire school noticed that Harry was missing.

Since no one's heart was in it, practices were abandoned. The students were told that Harry was away from the castle and therefore the sessions would not be happening that day however if any of them wanted they could do their exercises as they had been doing. Daphne had guessed that something was not right and waited for the right moment to grab hold of one of them to know where Harold Peverell was.

**Head Master's office**

Albus Dumbledore was in his office tending to some paperwork when the Gargoyle alerted him to the arrival of some visitors. As the sound of the staircase ascending stopped, he opened the door with a flick of his wand. Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Susan Bones, Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott stood on the threshold. He waved all of them inside his office and offered seats to them. After they had been seated, he asked them, "What brings you all here at this hour of the morning?"

Hermione started, "Professor, it's about Harry. Harry is missing".

Dumbledore was confused, "What do you mean Harry is missing? Please tell me what you know".

Susan started telling him everything that had happened the previous day and how they had gone to Gringotts where he had come to know about the contract and had left without sparing a glance at her. Her entire narration was coherent but she had to stop many times during her narration to calm her breath or control her emotions.

After she ended her narration, Dumbledore said calmly, "Miss Bones, I would say that you should have told him of the contract when you got the opportunity but that is water under the bridge now. Harry does not easily trust people and does not open up to them. It takes a lot to make him trust anyone and when he does, he would do anything for them. He is hurt because he thinks you deceived him but I believe he will come around eventually. I have no idea where he is but I believe that he is safe wherever he is. Now you all go to your classes and other routines as if everything is normal. I will try to find where he is. If anyone asks you where Harry is, tell them that he is suffering from Spattergroit and is admitted at St. Mungo's".

As the students were dismissed, he sent a patronus to Vikram who arrived promptly, "What is the matter, Albus?"

Albus Dumbledore was agitated now. He had tried to remain calm before the students because he did not want them to worry but he had come to love Harry as the grandson he would never have and was worried for him, even if he knew that Harry was powerful. The mere thought of Harry coming to harm ate at his conscience. He agitatedly said, "Harry is missing. He was last seen at Gringotts going inside with Miss Bones but no one saw them leaving the bank".

Vikram gave him a smirk, "I know where he is, Albus. We can find him whenever we want. He is perfectly safe but in emotional turmoil. He needs to come to terms with his emotions and that his life has changed in a second. In a few days, he would be fine. However you would do well to inform others in your Order that he has taken a leave of absence and that they should not worry".

**Weasley Manor, Unknown location**

On the day of the Hogsmeade weekend Molly Weasley was in the kitchen preparing dinner for her and Arthur. While the children were at school, usually only she and Arthur were at home and they always had their dinner together. Bill was living in Wizarding Britain now but he seldom stayed at the manor house and preferred The Burrow. She knew the real reason for his insistence on staying at the Burrow though. He was seeing the French girl who was part Veela. Something about the girl grated on Molly's nerves.

There was no denying that the girl was attractive, but she was snobby and fussy. She constantly complained about how 'eavy Molly's cooking was and no matter how lovely or good things were, the girl constantly compared them to everything in her life that was better. Molly was worried that her Bill was getting involved with a girl that was shallow, self-centred and that she would end up breaking his heart. Billy did not want any problems between Fleur and his family so he generally avoided the manor. And that, was the real reason he continued to live at the Burrow.

Charlie was also in Wizarding Britain but he chose to live in a cottage in Wales near the Dragon Reserve because it made it easy for him to commute to work every day or so he said. Molly had asked him to take residence in the Prewett Manor but he claimed that it was too big for him alone and may be when he was married, he would raise his family in the manor.

Molly also missed the Burrow because it had always given her the aura of home. The manor was too bloody big. It had so many rooms that she could not clean them all. The kitchen was twice the size of the one at the Burrow and the counters were made of some precious stone. She knew that the manor was one of many which belonged to the Rosier Family in the past and it looked like they had a taste for extravagance. While Molly could work as she wished at The Burrow, here she unconsciously tried not to dirty the floors, the counters and devoted much time to cleaning the house. She wished that she had a house elf because that would have been useful where she was the only one to work.

She felt the wards flare, signalling an apparition in the manor and she immediately pulled her wand out and carefully went towards the entrance chamber. What had made her cautious was the fact that she was the only one in the house at this moment and the Manor had anti-apparition wards which were up all the time.

She stood in a dark corner facing the door of the entrance hall and pointing her wand outwards she said, "Who are you, identify yourself".

The voice which answered her was one that she had heard many times and the owner of the said voice was as dear as any of her sons. However she knew of the duplicity and deception that the death eaters could resort to and anyway Harry was supposed to be at the Hogwarts castle. She did not lower her wand and shouted, "How did Harry Potter arrive at my house in his first year of Hogwarts education?"

Harry answered as if amused by the question, "It was not first year Mrs. Weasley but the summer before second year and Ron, Fred and George had rescued me from the Dursley's in the flying car".

Molly's fear vanished and she stepped in light and hugged the teen, "What are you doing here, Harry? How are you away from school like this?"

She could see in his eyes that he had cried recently and was feeling hurt. Someone had hurt her boy and she decided that she would make that person pay for it. No one messed with her son and escaped without consequences.

Harry guessed her thoughts and mollified her, "I was out of the school because it is a Hogsmeade Weekend today. No one has hurt me Mrs. Weasley but I feel like I have been deceived by someone who I thought was a good friend to me. They kept something from me for many years and acted as my friend".

She kissed his forehead and asked him kindly, "What happened, Harry dear? Please tell me".

Harry started, "Since it was Hogsmeade weekend today, I was in Diagon Alley with Susan and we decided to go to Gringotts to see my Account Manager for some business and..."

Before he could finish his words, she asked him, "And you found that there was a marriage contract for both of you written by your parents?"

He tensed, "You knew about it? Why did you not tell me?"

"We just came to know about it at the end of last year. It was her secret to tell so we left it up to her. When you returned from your journey and she started to visit the Townhouse, we assumed she had told you about it".

Harry slumped in a chair, "She did not, Mrs. Weasley. She was pretending to be my friend but told me nothing about it".

Mrs. Weasley said kindly, "No, Harry dear. She was trying to get to know you and let you become comfortable with her before she told you. She is not one to deceive anyone especially you".

Harry waved her aside, "I am not in any condition to be rational at this time, Mrs. Weasley. Would you mind if I stayed here for a few days? I do not want to see anyone right now because there are a lot of people who owe me answers for keeping things from me".

She said to him kindly, "You do not need to ask, Harry. You know you always have a place at our hearth being an honorary son to us. Would you mind if I told Arthur about you though because he lives here, you know? He can keep a secret if he needs to".

She had said the last lines in such a way that made him laugh despite his grim mood. She sent him away to the one of the rooms on the first floor of the Manor which was vacant because they had more space than they needed right now.

Harry took up residence in that room and summoned Dobby asking him to bring him some clothes from the Townhouse and not to tell anyone about him at the present and also to watch his mail and any letter from Gringotts was to be brought to him directly.

When he came downstairs after an hour, Arthur had arrived home and was sitting at the dining table. He greeted Harry jovially before they started on dinner and during dinner Molly filled him in on everything that had happened during the day.

As dinner was winding up, Harry asked Molly, "Mrs. Weasley how do you manage to keep the place clean and tend to your awesome cooking?"

She sighed, "I manage as best as I can. This manor is too big to be managed by myself alone. I could do with an elf though they are hard to come by".

Harry asked her, "Would you mind if I procured one for you?"

She gave him a reluctant smile, "If that does not cause you any trouble, Harry dear".

Harry summoned Dobby who arrived with a faint pop, "Did master call for Dobby?"

"Yes Dobby. I want you to find a house elf who would be interested in serving the Ancient and Noble House of Weasley".

"Dobby be bringing you an elf, Master. There is one be willing to be bonded to a family". With that, Dobby popped away.

Dobby returned a few minutes later with a female elf that was considerably younger, had big brown eyes and her ears flapped back and forth as she spoke, "I's be Roxxy. Will master be wanting me as house-elf?"

Harry addressed her, "Roxxy, Lord Weasley is in need of the services of a house-elf to tend to his household and would happily bond you with his family. Do you agree to it?"

She eagerly agreed.

With that, Mr. Weasley bonded her to his house. Molly showed her to her quarters. The Rosiers had constructed living quarters for their elves. They were simply little rooms sufficient for them complete with small beds and quilts upon them. Since she was the chief elf and the only elf to the Weasley Family, she needed no instructions but knew of her duties by virtue of her position.

**A Few Days later**

The last few days had been hard for Harry's friends. The morning sessions were not as intense and cheery as they were when Harry was around. The students still ran. Neville and Ronald cast at them but the two of them were entirely predictable and the students could dodge them easily. They had been plagued with requests from other students to know where Harry was but they kept their lips sealed.

The only one who was not affected by the predicament was Luna. A day after his disappearance, Luna joined his friends at the Gryffindor table. Most of them were getting used to having Luna around but this was the first time that she sat with them for dinner. They kept quiet and only answered when necessary as many students inundated them with requests to know Harry's whereabouts. After the 30th student had asked about him and was turned away, Luna spoke up, "Do not worry. Harry is safe where he is. The current predicament came as a shock to him. When he is comfortable with it, he will be back. Just be honest with him and you will have his trust again. If you try to make excuses, you will lose him".

Hermione asked her, "How do you know about it? You did not even know Harry before this year. How can you know him better than us?"

Parvati, who was sitting nearby snapped at her, "Leave her be, Hermione. She knows things about him which you do not and I would not go poking a sleeping dragon, if I were you".

That had shut her up and Luna had drifted away too.

**Serpent's Pit**

Daphne was having a tough week. The other Slytherins kept on asking her about Harry. She got tired of coming up with answers that made it sound like she knew anything but wasn't telling. She got so frustrated with them that she gave serious thought to hexing each one of them. She hated not knowing things about Harold Peverell being missing. She hated even worse admitting it to anyone. She had been able to obtain a little information.

She had cornered Hermione Granger after Arithmancy classes on Monday after the other students were gone. "Granger, I want to have a word with you".

Hermione was surprised to say the least, "What is it, Daphne?"

Daphne realized her mistake. She had called her Granger as if she were addressing a stranger while Hermione called her by her name as she would address a friend.

"Hermione, where is Harry?"

Hermione fretted a little, biting her lip before she answered. "He is suffering from Spattergroit and is recuperating at St. Mungo's".

Daphne scowled, "Pull the other one. It has bells on it and everything, Hermione. I know he is not in St. Mungo's. I checked. Nor is it likely that he is suffering from Spattergroit".

Hermione tensed, "What do you mean?"

Daphne smirked, "You see, being in Slytherin we learn many things. One of those is to tell if someone is lying. I must say that you can't lie to save your life. You have all the tell-tale signs that you are lying to me- Nervousness, no eye-contact, fretting".

Hermione sighed. Daphne was too perceptive. "This is Harry's secret to tell so I will not sell him out but what I can tell you is that he is currently inaccessible and no one knows where he is. The head master is confident that he will return soon. The Spattergroit story has been created as a cover for him".

She refused to say more and Daphne had to be content with that. She had parried off the serpents who questioned her about it. She also missed Tracy's company who spent most of her time beside Fred Weasley now who according to her, was a charming bloke, always made her laugh and tried to keep her priorities above his own. She had gone to the village with him and otherwise was busy in researching charms for the contraption that Harry wanted them to make while the twins worked on different metals. She still made time for Daphne but not as much as she would have liked.

Tracy had also asked her if Harry was alright because she thought she could smell a rat. Daphne had confided in her what Hermione had told her though forbade her from telling it to anyone else.

Sometime during the last week, she had been approached by Astoria when she was returning to her dorms from the library. She had heard someone calling her and turned to find Astoria who looked scared of her and hesitantly asked, "Can you spare a minute for your sister, Daph?"

Daphne was horrified. She had not realized how much her sister had been affected by her cold attitude in the last week. She had also been told by Harry about how she was scared of Daphne and wanted to apologize to her. She loved her sister more than anything and to think she had caused her troubles made her heart ache. She hugged her sister gently, "Come here, you trouble maker. I am not angry with you at all. I was just a bit irritated that you told him about my feelings when I wanted it to happen in its own time. Next time, please talk to me before you get up to any such antics again".

Astoria had smiled and hugged her sister even tighter. After a moment she let go and asked, "Where is Harry? I have not seen him for 3 days in the castle".

Daphne shrugged, "As far as I know, strapped to a bed in St. Mungo's suffering with Spattergroit. It was a mild case which was discovered before it got too bad. He will be as good as new in a few days".

Daphne could see that Astoria did not buy her story but chose to let go in favor of the new found peace with her sister.

Other than that, the week had been agonizing. The members of the Order still had met for their weekly session and this time, their training had been taken over by Neville Longbottom who was very good and showed them the ropes of Selvio Hexa. He had followed the pattern laid down by Harry and did not divert from it.

She just wished that Harold Peverell would return from wherever he had disappeared to. Since he had come into her life, she had buried the ice-queen that she was called prior to this year and now it was hard to stay aloof when almost half of the serpents wanted to be in her good graces. Since she was the only one seen with any real power in the Serpent's pit, it was hard to pretend to be above them. That would be detrimental to their plans. The only other person who could have been a serious contender was Malfoy. Since he had returned to the Serpent's pit after the duel, he had stopped straying out of the dormitories unless he was going to classes or Quidditch practice. Everyone knew that he had bought his place on the team but it was also true that he was the best seeker that Slytherin had to offer. They were not ready to give up on him. Besides as they said, everything was fair in Quidditch and war.

**Lion's den**

Life was not the same without Harold Peverell in the common room. While they may not have professed their undying loyalty to him, it was clear that the House always stood behind him. He was their champion, the embodiment of a true Gryffindor and the one who had won them renown as they had not seen for years before he arrived. Sure the house had produced its share of brilliant wizards and witches but the limelight had shifted to Slytherin in the years following the war. Harold Peverell with his friends had changed all that by winning them the house cup in his first year and on the side had defeated Voldemort, repeated the feat in his second year with killing a Basilisk, in third year he had won the Quidditch cup from the snakes and chased away a hundred dementors, and the last year he had won the tournament and escaped Voldemort again. This year, he was everywhere from the Wizengamot to the pages of magazines and news papers, not to mention, he was reckoned by some as one of the moving forces in the Wizarding World.

Hermione was frustrated with not having answers. Since Harry had returned from wherever he had gone during the summer, he had turned elusive. He kept information away from her and when he chose to answer, he would answer cryptically. Now he was missing and there was nothing that she could do to find him. She was also a bit angry with him. He obviously had forgot or was oblivious to how Ronald had kept Susan away from approaching him all these years or that Susan stayed by him when no one else did. She was determined to give him an earful when he returned.

Ronald was also worried but not as much as anyone else. He knew about his best mate. The bloke had been hit with the killing curse twice and lived to tell the tale and with all the skills that he had been demonstrating lately, there was no one except Tom Riddle who could hurt his friend. And there was some question about even that.

Neville was worried about his god-brother but there was no one who could give him answers. He had asked Dumbledore and the old wizard told him that they were looking but could not find him. The Head Master also confided to him that Harry's friends knew where he was and were keeping an eye on him and not telling anyone. As far as Neville was concerned, he did not care about his friends but Harry and wanted his god-brother to return.

Ginny Weasley had seen people around her worried for Harry and was a bit baffled. Spattergroit was a nasty disease but it was not as if it could not be cured anymore. In fact Harry had discovered his ailment in the early stages meaning he could get well quickly. Why then, were others so worried? The healers would have him as good as new in no time. But there was something that she sensed was not right. Something about Harry that no one was telling her. To find peace for her inner turmoil, she had caught up with Hermione one day in the Common Room.

"Hermione" she called and Hermione perhaps did not hear her or purposefully ignored her. She sped up until she was beside Hermione and caught her by the shoulder, "Hermione, I have been calling you for a few minutes now".

Hermione looked like she just woke up from a trance, "Oh sorry, Ginny. I did not hear you".

"Of course you didn't. What is it that has been troubling you all? I know that Harry is ill but he will get better in no time. Why are you all acting like you are waiting for an explosion?"

Hermione sighed, "Because I fear that is what will happen when Harry comes back".

"Please don't talk to me in riddles. Save those for your own red-head and give me a straight answer".

Hermione decided that it was time that she shared her concerns with her best friend, "Ginny, what do you know about Susan?"

Ginny thought for a few seconds, gathering everything that she knew about the strawberry blond before she started speaking, "She is the model of how a Hufflepuff should be- loyal and hard-working. Other than that, she seems to follow Harry more than anyone else does in my opinion. While I would not brand her as a fangirl, she seems to be very possessive of him. I have heard over the years how she defended him in his absence before others. Even last year, she defied her house mates for him. What I don't understand is why she would do so much for Harry who before this year, didn't even know that she existed?"

Hermione gave her a sad smile, "What I am about to tell you can go no further. Last year when Harry was in the hospital wing, Madam Bones had visited him there when he was in magical coma".

_**-Flash Back-**_

_Madam Bones entered the hospital wing behind Dumbledore and Mr. Weasley and took a seat on one of the chairs arranged around Harry's bed. After everyone was seated and Dumbledore had informed Madam Pomphrey that they would not be long, she retired to her office. _

_Albus addressed Hermione and Mrs. Weasley, who were in the hospital wing, "What I am going to say here should not be known outside this room. There are things of a sensitive nature which need to be kept secret for the time being"._

_Hermione was alert now, curious about anything that the Head Master was willing to tell them. "Molly.", he said to Mrs. Weasley, "You may not like this, but I feel it is best if this does not find its way to Harry's ears for now"._

_When Mrs. Weasley acquiesced, he started speaking again, "Shortly before James and Lily died in the first war, they had met Edgar and Ellie Bones, who had been blessed with a daughter only a few months before. Since both sets of parents were very active in the war and fighting for the Order, they did not know if they would survive the war and see their children grow up to be the fine wizard and witch that they are. They also had concerns about the future of their children if something were to happen to them. You must remember that Charlus and Dorea Potter were dead and James had no other family who could take Harry in if something were to happen to him. Lily had her muggle sister and her husband, but they were not their choice of Guardians. Likewise Edgar had Amelia who was an Auror and no one knew if she would survive to see the end of the war either. To ensure that their children would at least have someone to call family and to protect them they decided to enter into a marriage contract"._

_"Marriage Contract?" Hermione blurted, "Are they still a thing? The muggles don't do them anymore"._

_Dumbledore replied to her, "Miss Granger, please be quiet till I am done. Just to answer your question, marriage contracts have not been common practice in the wizarding world for over a century now, but they are still done under extraordinary circumstances. In place of the Marriage Contracts, they now do the pre-nuptial agreements mostly. Something which I think is also done by the muggles"._

_After Hermione was sufficiently chastised by his words, he started speaking again, "Soon after the marriage contract was written, both sets of parents perished. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, copies of the agreements which existed outside of Gringotts were also destroyed. The only copy which existed was the one with the Contracts and Agreements department of the Bank which was also the original copy. I was not in the know about it, so I had no option other than to take Harry to the muggles after the Potters were killed. Madam Bones decided not to let him know about it before he and Susan could become good friends but that has not been possible due to young Ronald's interference all these years. If you all could rein in young Ronald, it would be helpful to everyone"._

_**-Flash back ends-**_

Ginny was shocked and it took quite a long time before she started to speak, "Do you mean to say he is betrothed to her? He is all hers- signed, sealed and delivered?"

Hermione snorted, "You did not have to be so crude about it. But, yes, the crux is that he is hers. Until last Saturday, he just didn't know yet".

"And did you tell anyone about it after that day?"

Hermione shook her head, "No. I didn't. Shortly before Ron and I started dating this summer, he told me this secret saying he wanted to unload it to someone and I am the one he could trust. Your father had some tough words with him. He had chewed Ron out for making trouble for the family by interfering and stopping others from befriending Harry Potter. That is one of the reasons that Susan has been around him so much more this year".

Ginny smiled ruefully, "Oh! I never had a chance with him then".

Hermione arched an eye-brow, "Are you still interested in him? I thought you were over him by your own admission".

Ginny smiled, "Oh yes, I got over my teenage crush on him. I had realized that I could not stand to see him getting mortally injured so often when all my life I had thought that he was invulnerable. Once I was over my crush, I did some honest soul searching and I found that I was never after the boy Harry but the legend of the boy-who-lived".

Hermione asked her, "When did you get so wise?"

Ginny stuck out her tongue showing her maturity and asked, "While I am sure I enjoyed this little secret but that does not explain how this is connected to Harry's illness?"

"You know how he went to the village with Susan last weekend?"

"Yes, I saw them in the Three Broom Sticks with Sirius and Emmeline, why?"

"Turns out that they got bored of Hogsmeade and flooed to Diagon Alley. One thing lead to another and the two of them ended up visiting Gringotts together. His Account Manager assumed that Harry knew about the marriage contract and asked Harry if they had come to view a copy of it. The goblin also told him that Susan has known about it for the last 4 years. Harry ordered the goblin to arrange a port-key for Susan back to Hogwarts and disappeared. Nobody has seen him since".

**Badger's Den**

Life was hard for Susan. She had sent a letter to Amelia who had sympathized with her but had also chewed her out for going to Gringotts in the first place. She told her that Harry would eventually come around and she just had to be patient for a time. She told her niece that Harold Peverell was crazily in love with her and just didn't know it yet. Amelia had also failed to locate him. She was relying on the information that she had received from the Order of the Phoenix that he was well.

People asked her how Harry was or if she had visited him at the hospital and she had given them the excuse of it being a contagious disease which shut them up.

Hannah was also worried. She knew that there was a marriage contract between Susan and Harry. She also knew that Susan had not told him about it. She had hoped that the way Susan had stood by him all these years and defended him, going as far as to risk the wrath of her house mates, would say a lot about Susan's loyalty and her dedication to Harold Peverell and he would think everything through.

Since he had disappeared, Susan had lost her drive to do anything. She was monotonously following the daily routines like going to classes, or the practice sessions in the Room of Requirement or sparring with Neville with a sword. It was like someone had taken her will away. She was also angry with Harry and wanted to give him a dressing down for his treatment of her friend. She had heard her friend crying in the dead of night when others were sleeping and almost every day of the past week, she had seemed fatigued as if she was not sleeping properly. She had tried to talk to her about it but every time Susan just said that she should have told him about the contract sooner. It was not right for her to keep it to herself when he was going to be equally affected by it.

She would have words with Harold Peverell once he returned from wherever he was. There was no way that he could hurt her friend and get away with it.

**Black Townhouse**

Dumbledore was presiding over a meeting of the Order. In the last week, this was the second meeting that he had to hold. The Order members were worried for Harry and his safety and he had assuaged their concerns as best as he could but each time one of them would bring in some news which would have them clamoring for him to address those concerns again.

The marauders were inexplicably calm despite Harry's absence. Sure they were worried but they did not show it. Sirius still went about his job and so did Remus who had so many things on his hands that it was a wonder that he could find time for the Order meetings. Remus had already helped Dumbledore as much as he could with making 70 werewolves agree to stay neutral in the war and giving them respectable jobs. Remus might not have known it but Dumbledore had gathered from his sources that there were at least 40 more werewolves who were working for other Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot and making a decent living all due to the fact that Harold Peverell had employed so many of them. Perhaps after this war, life would be better for the werewolves in general with the hatred against them diminishing. That was however in the future and for now, he wanted Harold Peverell back.

Vikram Rana had also taken his leave a day after Harry had disappeared and had returned the next morning. When he had enquired as to where he had gone, Vikram told him that he had gone to meet one person whose advice could help Harry out of his broodiness. He had given a sealed letter to Albus to be delivered to Harry whenever his position was known and said that it was important that Harry read this letter.

**Weasley Manor**

Molly Weasley was worried. Harry had been living in the manor for three days now and she had seen very little of him. Since she had more time on her hands after the Weasley family had acquired an elf, Molly tried to spend every spare minute with Harry. She had been baffled when she could not get past the threshold of his room because Harry had put some wards on the door. However after she had told him that he was not going to be attacked in this manor, he had stopped using them. As it was, he rarely came out of his room and almost spent the entire day in there. She knew that he was communicating with people as she had seen Hedwig fly in and out of the manor but she did not know with whom.

He would come out of the room for an hour or so, take food with them and then return to his room. He would sit by her sometimes making small talk but talking nothing of significance.

One evening she had stopped him and made him sit at the dining table. She asked him, "Harry, dear. You have had three days to think things over. I would like to know what you have decided".

"I have not yet decided anything Mrs. Weasley. I still cannot understand why she did not tell me about it. I mean that way Madam Bones could have taken me in and raised me as her own ward. I would have been able to get away from the Dursley's years ago. I don't even know if I can trust her again".

She patted his hand and said, "Harry, I want you to consider this. She was only 11 when she learned about the marriage contract. Think what a surprise that must have been to her. Instead of blurting it out the moment she saw you, four years ago, she tried to get to know you, the boy instead of the legend in the books. She approached you several times, but our Ronald kept chasing her away. She has been nothing but loyal and kind to you. Now, I can't say that I know why she put off telling you, but I'm sure that she is a good girl and would not intentionally do anything to hurt you. On the contrary, she would stand between you and You-Know-Who if it came down to it. I would only advise you to please listen to her before you make any decision".

Harry stood up from the table to go to his room, "Mrs. Weasley, I will think about what you have said".

That had been 4 days ago and since then Harry had not broached the topic again. In fact the most he did was to come to the dining table and then retire to his room again. She did not know what to do to bring him out of his funk because there was nothing she could say that would appeal to his sense of righteousness. That was when she decided to send a letter to those she thought could help him- Alice Longbottom and Amelia Bones. Alice because she was his god mother and Amelia because she owed him some answers. The letters had been delivered to them by Arthur with the Fidelius secret to the manor and right now, she was waiting in the entrance hall for them to arrive.

There was a copse of trees outside the manor at some distance where the apparition point had been set and Amelia and Alice appeared in that copse from where Roxxy took them inside to Molly.

When they entered, the first thing Alice wanted was to see Harry. Molly dutifully pointed her to the room on the first floor.

Alice pounded on the door, "Harold Peverell, open this door now".

There was no answer from inside and Alice shouted again, "I know you are inside and if you do not open this door right now, I swear by Merlin that I will blast it out of the way".

To show that she was serious about what she said, she whipped out her wand and pointed it at the door, "I will wait for 10 seconds and at the eleventh second, I am storming this room".

However, the door had opened before 10 seconds had passed and Harry stood there his face looking gaunt, his hair uncombed and his expression was like he was carrying an unbearable burden. It looked like Harry Potter had returned in place of Harold Peverell.

Alice wrinkled her nose, "What have you done to yourself? I came here expecting to see the teen Lord and not some street urchin. Tidy up and come down to the dining table".

Harry arrived after about 10 minutes and took a seat at the table. Amelia and Alice had forbidden him from ever bowing to them so there was no need to show his manners.

Amelia opened the conversation, "Before we say anything or you ask your questions, I want you to read this letter. Dumbledore gave this letter to me this morning to hand it over to you telling me that it has come from some special person".

Harry took the envelope from her and gave a cursory glance to the seal on the letter. It was a Snidget! In anticipation, he tore the envelope open. As he had expected, the letter was from Rachael.

_"Dear Lord Peverell,_

_Firstly I must offer my heartfelt thanks to you for making the offer of sanctuary to Terrence and saving him from being branded by that abomination. I am grateful that you granted me the boon I asked of you._

_Secondly I have been informed that you found there was a marriage contract between yourself and Heiress Bones written during the last war by your parents and that you left that poor girl stranded in Goblin territory when your emotions got the better of you. _

_I must confess that I am ashamed of your conduct and feel that all the training I imparted to you was in vain. It is easy to maintain your manners when you are in charge of things but the real test is to maintain them when you are not feeling like it._

_Harry, I cannot make your decisions for you but remember that she is as affected by this contract as much as you are. She might have had different plans for her life but with the contract, that may have changed. I beseech you to please hear her side and ask all your questions before you decide upon your next course of action. I am waiting to hear from you as to how you will conduct yourself in this situation which will be a test of your character._

_Love _

_Rachael" _

Harry read the letter carefully and then slipped it into his robes. He had yearned for some advice from her for days and now he had it. What she was advising him was not too far from what he had been thinking anyway. He knew that others would be going spare with worry without him or any news of him and he could not stay here while everyone was worried. He had sent letters to Moony and Padfoot telling them that he was fine but had not disclosed his location. He had also not expected to find Alice and Amelia before him.

Amelia started, "Now I know you have a lot of questions for me, Harry. I will try to answer all of them. First, you must promise me that you will listen to me with an open mind and will not jump to conclusions before I have finished speaking".

Alice who had not yet stowed her wand back into her wand holster and was twirling it between her fingers, said, "Oh, he would not dare to interrupt when you are speaking. He is a very good boy. Aren't you, Harry?" She finished showing a very toothy grin.

With the menacing expression that Alice had on her face, Harry knew what was good for him. "I promise I will not interrupt her but why are you here?"

Alice sighed, "My godson goes missing for a week without a word about his whereabouts and when I find him he asks why I am here. Of course I am here to keep my wayward son on track so that he doesn't do something stupid. Lily had told me once that if she was not around and I was to raise you, then I was at liberty to use any means necessary to make you tow the line".

Molly smiled inwardly. She loved Harry so much that she could not even take the demeanor as Alice had done and he looked like he was quaking with fear before her. Perhaps it was a good decision to let these witches know about his whereabouts.

Amelia was saying, "We are digressing here. Please ask your questions, Harry".

Harry asked the first thing that was on his mind, "Why? Why didn't you or Susan tell me that she was my betrothed? I don't know how long she has known it but she could have let me know about it as soon as she came to know. Why did my parents have this contract written?"

"I came to know of the contract on the day Susie turned 11. Your parents and her parents had made the contract sometime after Sybill had made that wretched prophecy and your parents were going into hiding. I think they wanted to ensure that you would have a family to go to in case something happened to them. Before Susie's 11th birthday, I did not know about the existence of the contract because it was done a week before Edgar and Ellie were killed by Voldemort. Their copy of the contract was with their solicitors who coincidentally were the same as the Potters- Tonks and Vaughan and their copies were destroyed in the office fire. In the wake of their death, I was occupied with arranging for their funerals and other details so I could not contact them or the bank. Your parents had gone into hiding to protect you and James had briefly appeared to attend the funeral but had to leave so he was not caught by the death eaters. He perhaps assumed that I knew about the contract and since I was alive, Susan was my ward so there was no reason for him to say anything. In the next decade, I seldom visited my account manager. Most of my business with the Bank was when I had to draw out some Galleons. Not once did I take Susan to the bank with me. Since it concerned her, the goblins did not tell me without her being present".

"The day Susan turned 11 I took her to Gringotts to get her trust vault opened which had been set up by Edgar before he died in the war. It was then that the goblins informed me that a marriage contract had been registered in their 'Contracts and Agreements' department in the name of Susan Bones and Harry Potter. I did not know your whereabouts and there was only one person who did but I knew he would not let me take your guardianship so easily. Susie was a child then and she did not understand the full implications of the contract except that she was to marry you when you both had reached the age of 18. I knew that dropping the news on you like that would be catastrophic and may ruin any chance of a happy life that you both could have. So, I asked her to befriend you first. Your friend Ronald stopped her at every step and even made her cry a few times with his behaviour. Your friends were over-protective of you and did not let anyone else near you. She stayed dedicated to you though. Every year she begged me to approach Dumbledore and make a move to make you my ward but I hesitated thinking it was too early to let you know about the contract. I had decided that if she failed to befriend you by your fifth year, I would take matters into my own hands and tell you myself. You know what happened afterwards".

Harry was silent for a few moments before he started speaking again, "Auntie, do you know how different my life could have been if you had taken my guardianship in my first year? I would not have been forced to return to the muggles every year. They treated me worse than a house-elf. I could have had happiness under your roof. I spent 12 years thinking that I was truly an orphan with no one to call my own till Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban and Remus Lupin told me that they were my father's best mates. There were moments when I could have done with a guardian around but there was no one".

It was Alice who spoke this time, "Harry, I know your complaints are just and valid but is there any reason to cry over spilt milk? Things could have been different in many ways but it cannot be changed now. If we could get something by brooding over missed opportunity, I would have brooded over the time that I had to spend away from Neville because I was stuck in my mindscape and had no way to return to consciousness. I know that you feel that people have let you down but we are humans. We all make mistakes. I know that you are more miffed that your parents wrote a contract for you thereby taking away your right to choose. But instead of telling you that, Susan chose to try and show you what an amazing person she is so that you could choose her for yourself. If it is any consolation to you, Frank and I had thought about writing a contract between Neville and Fay Dunbar but mother had convinced us otherwise saying that we had sufficient people in our family to take care of him if something were to happen to me and Frank. Would you estrange someone for making an honest mistake with no deceit or ill will in their heart? Can you look me in the eye and say that Susan is not someone you would like to spend your entire life with?"

Harry's jaw hung open. He had grown up without knowing the love of his mother and here were three witches, any one of which would have been proud to call him son and loved him as much as any mother could. The words of his God-Mother struck home. She was right, of course, Susan was an amazing person. He closed his mouth and began to pull himself together. When he thought about the time he had spent chasing Cho around, it felt like it wasn't even his own memories. This wasn't hard. He realized that he had been throwing a week-long tantrum and it was high time he grew up. If Rachel had seen him acting like this, she would have made him stand under the glacier melt-off the entire night to smarten him up. She had been right in her letter that he had disappointed her. Also, he had felt that Susan was the kind of person he needed in his life to keep him grounded and to make him happy. Amelia was taking the responsibility for her actions which had nothing to do with Susan. If she had her way, she would have tried to tell him in the first year itself despite what Ronald did to stop her.

Molly who had been sitting silently hearing everything that was said finally opened her mouth to speak, "Harry dear, I know it is not my place or anyone else's to tell you what to do but I would say that Amelia and Alice are right. Maybe they should have told you sooner that you are betrothed to Susan but at the same time, may be then you would have seen it as a burden and not tried at all to get to know Susan as you do now. I have seen you with that girl and she brings happiness to you, you smile more often in her presence and she can always calm you down no matter whatever has worked you up. And I swear that I will have words with Ronald Weasley when he is home during the winter vacation".

Harry hung his head. "I know and I apologize for my conduct. I know that I should have talked with her but my emotions got the better of me. I will return to the school tomorrow and apologize to her".

Molly whipped her wand out and shot a stinging hex at him, "Not tomorrow but today. Be gone with you and I want a letter as soon as you can manage detailing everything that has happened between you two after she is done giving you an earful about your stupidity".

Hastily saying his good-byes Harry scrambled out of the manor and apparated to Black Townhouse. He had no wish to return to the Gryffindor tower and face an inquisition squad just yet.

**Black Townhouse**

Harry entered the Townhouse to find it empty except for Tonks who was sitting in the kitchen, sipping tea and looking as if she was lost in thought. He tapped her on the shoulder, "Nymphadora".

She bared her teeth at him, "Do not call me Nymphadora". After she was done baring her teeth at him, she did a double take when she realized that it was Harry who had addressed her. "Where have you been? Do you know how much trouble you have caused? The minister has deployed a team of 10 Aurors to search for you. Dumbledore is going spare with worry. Mother has been morose for the last week since she heard that you were missing. You are so irresponsible and in so much trouble. You will pay for this, Harry. I am going to line up the firing squad and enjoy it while they take shots at you".

Harry raised his hands in surrender, "Calm down Nymphadora. I did not do it on purpose. Why has the minister launched a manhunt? Am I a wanted criminal? Sirius knew I was safe wherever I was. I had sent him and Moony a letter a day after I disappeared. Why did you tell Aunt Andromeda? I'll bet that she is part worried and part angry with me waiting for some news so that she can hex me out of existence the moment she learns that I have been found".

Tonks smirked, "Oh yes. She has vowed to curse you so bad that you will never ever do anything like that again. I must send a message to her before I forget".

Gleefully Nymphadora sent a patronus to Andromeda while Harry mirror called the Marauders to come to the Townhouse as soon as they could manage it.

In 10 minutes, there were many Order members in the Townhouse which included Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, Bill, Amelia, Frank, Augusta, Arthur, Moody, Andromeda, Ted and to his surprise Fleur Delacour among others. After Harry had assured every one that he was fine, most of them left except for those who wanted to get their hands on him to teach him a lesson.

Dumbledore opened the inquisition, "Where were you Harry and why did you disappear like that?"

"Head Master, I had just learned that day that I have a marriage contract with Susan Bones and that she never sought to let me know despite knowing about it since she turned 11".

Moody barked, "So you left without any message to anyone about your whereabouts and made us all comb through the wizarding world, employing the ministry's resources to search for you? Is that what your friends taught you? To run away from your problems thinking they would disappear?"

"Master Auror, I had sent a letter to Sirius and Remus that I was fine wherever I was. I was in no mood to talk to any of you. Everyone at this table knew about the existence of the contract but not one of you saw fit to tell me about it did you". It was not a question but an accusation.

Sirius said, "You know pup, it was not our secret to tell. It was for her to tell and if she did not choose to let you know then she had her reasons no matter how ridiculous they may sound to you. I just wish that you had listened to her side of the story".

Andromeda growled, "Pull anything like that again Harold and I will let you know why Blacks are feared. Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

Ted put his two knuts in, "Lad, she has not been her usual charming self even for one moment in the last week. At times, I thought that someone else had replaced her. I urge you to never do anything like that again at least for my sake, if not yours".

Everyone chuckled while Tonks pouted, "You got off very easily Harry. If I had done something like that I would have been grounded for a week no matter that I am an Auror".

Frank said to him, "Harry you know I thought that you would have stood your ground but you chose to abandon a lady who was with you? That was not chivalry. However that is water under the bridge now". He turned to Dumbledore, "Head Master, can I call off the manhunt now?"

Dumbledore nodded, "Of course Minister. There is no need for it to continue".

After everyone had told him what they thought of his antics and Harry was feeling suitably chastised, the elves produced dinner for everyone. Most of the order members took their leave including Dumbledore saying their own tables were waiting for them leaving behind just those he considered family.

He sat at the position of the head of table with Remus on his left and Sirius on his right. Andromeda sat beside Sirius with Nymphadora beside her and Ted sat with Remus. Harry had persuaded Bill and Fleur to stay because he wanted to talk to them.

He asked Fleur, "What are you doing here, Fleur?"

"I 'ad 'eard that you had disappeared and I was worried. This evening after Bill was told by Dumbledore that you are back to your 'ome, I chose to tag along".

"That is all good, Fleur but what I meant is what are you doing with Bill?"

Sirius snorted, "Miss Bones is right about you, Harry. You are dense. It is clear to everyone else in the room that these two are dating".

Tonks who was eyeing Remus, said, "Speaking of dense, Harry is not the only one".

Harry asked her, "What do you mean?"

She shook her head and refused to say anything more.

**Hogwarts**

Harry arrived at the school through a portkey given by Dumbledore which deposited him in the entrance hall. He tiptoed to the Gryffindor Tower and crept into his dormitory to find it empty. He realized that they must be in the dungeons at their morning practices. He wanted to go down and mix with them but hesitated. He was afraid of facing Susan because he was ashamed of his conduct in the bank. He knew that he would have to talk to her eventually but he wanted to avoid that for now.

He picked up a book to read occupying a seat in front of the fire in the common room while he waited for his friends to return. After about an hour, the lions started coming in. Most of them cheerfully hailed him and asked how his health was now. While he was confused as to why they asked this question, he told everyone who would ask that he was fit as a bull.

His friends came into the tower and he stood to greet them happily but they all ignored him as if he was not present. He followed the boys to their dorm all the while calling their names but none of them paid any attention to him. After a long time, Neville asked Ron, "Ron, can you hear some mosquitoes buzzing around?"

Ron guffawed, "could have sworn that I heard something like that too. Aren't there wards around the place to keep them out?"

Other than that, none of them said a word to him. When he arrived at the Hufflepuff dorm to escort Susan to the Great Hall, she was not there. On the Marauder's map, he found her in the great hall already. He was surprised at the hostile reaction of his friends towards him. They were all behaving as if he didn't exist.

In the great hall, Susan was sitting with Hermione, Neville, Hannah, Ron and some others but they had not kept a place vacant among them for him. He was flabbergasted at their conduct. They were treating him as if he did not exist at all.

He sat alone at the Gryffindor table with no one around him until Daphne came and slipped into a seat across from him, "So, recovered from Spattergroit, Peverell?"

"Who is suffering from Spattergroit?", he asked her, baffled.

She raised her eye-brow, "Didn't your friends tell you? This is the cover story that they thought up for your absence for the last week. They told everyone that you were diagnosed with Spattergroit and were recovering at St. Mungo's".

"I'll keep that in mind, Daphne. Can you tell me why they are giving me the cold shoulder and treating me as if I do not exist?"

"Oh they have decided to give you the silent treatment", she said gleefully.

"What?" he sputtered. "Why would they do that to me?"

"Because word is that you left abruptly without letting anyone know your whereabouts and your friends have decided to have a reckoning from you for your behavior. I am the neutral one so they sent me as a messenger that they want to see you on the fourth floor after class sans me".

With that, she took off to sit at the Slytherin table leaving him frowning at the behavior of his friends.

* * *

**A/N- **Hi, guys. I cannot even begin to tell you all how elated I am with all the lovely reviews that I received for the last chapter. I was over-whelmed that people think so kindly of this fic.

I have decided to not to redo the starting chapters because as many of you pointed out, it shows my evolution from amateur writer that I was to someone who makes a little sense now. I hope this fic will keep entertaining you all the way it has been doing.

This chapter was in my mind for a long time and I wanted to find a suitable time to make the big reveal. I know some of you may not like the way I handled this. I hope you would express your pleasure or dissatisfaction with your awesome reviews.


	36. Chapter 36

**4th floor**

On the fourth floor, Harry waited for his friends in the space behind the mirror. The classes had been tense with none of his friends talking to him. The teachers too were miffed with him and Professor Flitwick in an undertone told him that his disappearance from the school for a week during the term without any reason had put them off because this year he had started to show his true potential and he always had been a favorite of most of the teachers since he had come to the school.

His friends were a different matter. He had asked something of Hermione and she had said nothing but gave him a look that said "We'll talk about this later". Hannah gave him a look which said that she wanted to talk to him peacefully on the one hand and smack him up-side the head on the other. At least he could understand her anger because she was Susan's friend first. His own friends' behaviour was what baffled him. It was he who should be angry with them for keeping secrets from him. True they themselves had not known about the marriage contract for long but they were his friends and he thought that they at least should have persuaded Susan to tell him much sooner or tell him directly.

Harry knew that the adults at the Black Townhouse were surprised when he did not vent his anger on them like they had expected but he had been talking to Sirius and Remus on the mirror and had some very harsh words with them. He told them what he thought of their choice to keep the secret from him and their failure to advise Susan to tell him the moment they knew about it. Sirius and Remus had literally pleaded for him to forgive them. Anyway, Harry could not remain angry with them for long.

His friends started trickling into the space behind the mirror and with his musings interrupted. He noticed that it did not include everyone who was present at the last meeting but only Hermione, Ron, Hannah, and Neville.

Harry started to say, "I just want to..."

But Neville cut him off abruptly mid-sentence, "No, you listen to us Harry. Whatever happened last week between you and Susan should remain between you and Susan and we will try to keep our noses out of it. Our only issue with you is the way you took off and disappeared without a word. We didn't know what happened to you and we were worried. If you think that sort of thing is Okay, you have a lot of curses coming your way. Having said that, I am your god-brother and I am sorry that I did not tell you anything about the marriage contract. If you needed some time to yourself to think things over, I get that. Just don't ever disappear without a word again or I will hunt you down and make you regret it".

As Neville finished, Hannah started speaking, "You know Harry, for the last four years, all Susan ever talks about is you. From the moment that she learned about the contract, she has been your friend and has been trying to figure out how to help you. We had planned to befriend you the first day of school. During the sorting, when she first saw you, she noticed how you looked underfed and malnourished; she insisted that the Hufflepuff prefect take her to the Owlery to send a letter to Auntie telling her everything. She was worried and wanted Auntie to become your guardian as soon as possible. Auntie had her reasons which I don't remember her ever telling us about but from the first day that we have known you she has been loyal to you. When you went off the last week, even then she was worried about you but last night, Auntie sent her a message through an Owl that you had been found and we asked your friends if you were in the Gryffindor tower and you weren't there. That was when she lost it and got really angry at you. She wanted to apologize to you that very same day when she returned from the Hogsmeade weekend but you were not here. Do you even have any idea what she has been through the past week? She has spent every night crying and trying to pretend as if she is okay. She still will not say a word to you because that's the way she is", Hannah said ruefully, "you know Harry, you might become the most powerful wizard in the world but if you cannot understand other's emotions, their feelings then it will all be useless. Every single day for the last four years, she has been loyal to you, helping you when she could, defending you when you weren't there and I wanted to hex you when you forgot all of that in one go. Is that how you reward those who are loyal to you?"

Hermione started speaking, "You know Harry, I had assumed that with all the skills that you have acquired you would have become more understanding of other's emotions and feelings. When Susan told me that you left her alone in Gringotts, though not without instructions to ensure her safe passage back to school, I was disappointed. I thought that you were better than that. What you did was completely out of character for you. It took me a few days before I began to understand why you did it. Since we have known you, you have been doing feats which no one our age can do and live to tell about it. With everything you did, your legend grew and we started to forget you are still a boy our age. You have done things that most adult wizards can't accomplish. Beneath the mysterious and hard exterior of the wizard that you have become, still beats the heart of a 15 year old boy who can feel emotions as we do. During the last week, we all wanted to find you to give you an earful, but someone asked us to reconsider, telling us that we should try to think about what we would have done in your place. To be fair, I have to say that I likely would have done worse. I am not ashamed to admit that we should have at least pestered Susan to let you know of the contract sooner. For what good it may do, I apologize for my part in keeping a secret from you".

"Since I have known Susan, she has been lively and cheerful. But this last week, she has not been the girl I spent the summer with. You know Harry that she defended you from other puffs during that fiasco with the heir of Slytherin rubbish during the second year. And you didn't even know she existed. Last year, it was her who gave Dobby the idea to steal Gillyweed from Snape's personal stores and bring it to you. She is the reason that you had such an expansive repertoire of spells at the end of the last year. She joined the training program we took this summer because she would not stay behind even if Madam Bones tried to stop her. She was not trying to deceive you, she was only trying to give you a chance to know her and accept her before telling you about the contract. She did it because she wanted you to have a chance at a happy life with her instead of feeling chained by obligation and resenting her".

Ronald put his two knuts in, "Mate, I had thought that I was the one with the emotional range of a tea spoon but what you did show was that you can act the same way sometimes but it is normal, now that I think about it. As Hermione said, perhaps we would have acted the same way if it had been any of us. Besides we don't have any reason to complain because as everyone already said, we should have at least pestered her to tell about it sooner. But one thing that I will say is that it was not proper for you to leave her like that".

Harry sighed. He had not realized that his friends had so many complaints against him. He took a few deep breaths before he started saying, "I know for a fact that every one of you knew about the contract and you chose not to tell me. If anyone has cause to complain, I do. I was ready to rip your heads off but you all have apologized for that which is a good start. Don't ever keep secrets like that from me again and we'll be fine. I know that I should not have left Susan like that in Gringotts but in that moment I could not think of what else to do. In one moment, not only had I learned about the marriage contract, I also learned that she knew about it for over four years and was deliberately hiding it from me. I felt surprised, shocked, betrayed, and angry. It was all too much for me and I needed to get away to think.

"During the last week, I have spoken with Sirius and Remus twice. I gave them both hell for their part in keeping things from me. They accepted that they should have said something but they hadn't, partly because they wanted Susan to do the right thing on her own and more because they wanted us to be happy together rather than feeling forced to put up with each other. I asked them why my parents had written this contract but they could not tell me. I also wanted to know how they could do such a thing when they had married for love. I wished I could talk to them about it but there is no way that I could talk to them and ask why they had done it. What I don't understand yet is why you are giving me the silent treatment? I mean that you have all accepted that you made a mistake. Then why would you do this to me when I am the injured party?"

Neville said, "Mate, two nights ago, Luna said something to us which resonates in our consciences. We were ready to apologize to you the moment you showed up".

Before Neville could finish his sentence, Harry asked curiously, "What did she say?"

"Two nights ago, we were at the Hufflepuff table for dinner because Susan did not want to join us at the Gryffindor table. Luna shoved Ernie away who had been sitting with us and slipped into his seat".

_**-Flash Back-**_

"_What have you all decided to do when Harry returns?", she asked them._

_Since talking to Luna made Hermione uncomfortable, Neville answered her, "We all know what happened and we feel that he should have at least heard her out. It was not right for him to go off like that. We know we should apologize to him for keeping a secret from him. And we will apologize but he is answerable for his conduct"._

"_No, he is not, not to any of you", Luna said somewhat sternly, "The blubbering humdinger has told me that you cannot make him answerable"._

"_Why not?" Hermione seethed, "He is our friend and we are worried about him. We will apologize to him for keeping it from him but he should apologize for his conduct"._

"_Because you are not the aggrieved party, Hermione. You are his best friend. You may have felt honour-bound to keep Susan's secret, but you could have insisted that Susan tell him herself and do it sooner. It is you who should apologize to him and if you don't, you will end up losing your friend"._

_They all sat for a moment in stunned silence while they considered her words. Blubbering humdinger aside, they realized that they were all just thinking of themselves and nobody was sparing a thought for how Harry might be feeling._

_Susan broke the silence, "What you said makes sense, Luna. I will not allow anyone present here at the table to speak to him on my behalf. If you want, you can talk to him privately about apologizing to him for your part in it. But none of you are to interfere and ask him to apologize to me. This is a private affair and it will be resolved between me and him. I will apologize to him, when the time is right, for my part, because I owe it to him"._

_**-Flash back ends-**_

"What happened then?", Harry asked bringing Neville out of his reverie.

"She made it clear that we are not to intercede on her behalf and she was ready to apologize to you. Then we received a message from Madam Bones yesterday that you had been found and you were on your way back to the castle. Well, mate, that was yesterday and you still didn't show up. After dinner, she was miserable at first and then she decided that if you don't want to do anything with her and were going to ignore her then she would do the same to you. She has hardly talked to any of us since then, even when she is sitting with us. What we are angry with you about is that you did not return to the Tower yesterday and you knew how worried we were about you".

Harry took some time to reply, "I understand your reasons and I know why you are behaving this way towards me. I will talk with Susan and mend my differences with her".

Hannah grumbled, "That will not be easy. She is set upon not talking to you at all".

Neville said, "As you heard everything we had to say, we again apologize to you for keeping it from you. We do not want to be drawn into this conflict on one side or the other. So, until you and Susan make up, we won't be talking to either of you. You both need to move on from everything that has happened and mend your differences. It is no fun at all to see you both grumpy".

Harry kept looking at his friends in wonder while they all filed out.

"Wow!" Harry thought. He had never imagined that all of his friends would do anything like that to him. They all had their part in this. None of them saw fit to tell him about the marriage contract because it was not their secret to share but they could have at least convinced her to tell him sooner and Ron had been a much bigger git for far less reason but they never treated him like that. He however was content that they had accepted their mistake and apologized to him. They were all children and could not expect anything better than that. He waited a while to make sure that they all had a chance to get well clear of the corridor before he made his exit.

**The Chamber of Secrets**

Harry decided to put in a hard session of practice rather than taking his frustration out on his friends and hexing them out of existence. He had been obliterating practice dummies for over an hour with high powered versions of every hex and jinx he knew. The smoldering ruins of more than a hundred practice dummies and the thick cloud of dust and smoke testified to his efforts. He had resorted to using the Bubble-Head charm so that he didn't choke on the flying dust, smoke and debris. The sweat, smoke and dust clung to him everywhere and he was only just beginning to feel fatigue. Destroying the dummies was making him tired, but it wasn't bringing him any peace.

His friends joint decision to not talk with him altogether was grating on him. He had not expected them to do something like that to him. More than that, Susan's silence was unbearable. He had tried to stop her at dinner but she had ignored him and walked away. She had even threatened to hex him if he tried to talk to her.

"Looks like something has irked you too much, Harry", Vikram's voice jolted him out of his musings. The defense professor had entered sometime during his practice and Harry had not noticed him coming.

"What happened, Harry? Why are you troubled?" he asked. "You have destroyed 50 dummies in an hour".

Harry used both wands to clear and purify the air before he began, "Considerably more than 50, professor. What you see is the remains of the ones that left any trace. I'm glad you are here. My friends are not speaking to me and I need to unload". Harry gestured to the table and asked Vikram to take a seat while he summoned Dobby to bring refreshments. A few minutes later, Harry had told the mystic all about what had happened over the last week and a half.

Vikram nodded gravely, "So the main problem is that you don't know what to do?"

Harry nodded. "I like Susan but I am not sure if I am in love with her. I don't even know what love is like".

The mystic smiled, "Harry, the way Sirius Black escaped Azkaban just because he thought your life was in danger at Hogwarts that is love. The way your friends stood before someone they thought was a mass murderer challenging him that he would have to go through them to reach you that is love. The way James Potter stood before Voldemort, ready to face him so that his wife and son could escape, that is love. If someone is ready to stand before death to save you, that is love. Someone is loyal to you even at the cost of their own life that is love. Love is the most powerful moving force in this world and the most powerful of magics to ever exist. A person in love for another can do feats considered impossible. As to whether you are in love with them, it is an answer for you to find".

He hesitantly asked, "Have you ever loved someone? I am not trying to pry but maybe you can help me understand".

The professor wistfully smiled, "I am a mystic Harry. For us, there is nothing other than the cloak and the wand. In other life which I hardly remember, I loved someone but that is past".

"What happened?"

"I don't remember Harry. That was different man, different life. What matters is what I am now. What you need to remember is that you have to find for yourself if you love someone. No one else can decide that for you. Rachael told me to convey to you that she is angry that you lost control when it mattered most. She feels like you have let her down. She also asked me to ensure that you are doing everything that you can to mend your differences with Miss Bones".

After Vikram left, Harry pulled out a pouch from the inner pocket of his robes. He emptied the pouch into his hand and the Resurrection Stone tumbled out. It was still cracked in the middle from the blow of Gryffindor's sword and Harry was longingly caressing the stone. He had once thought about using the stone in Weasley Manor to summon his parents' spirits to talk to him but there was something that Harsh had said about the stone and the way that it worked which had stopped his hand.

_**-Flash Back-**_

_It was the day when he had told Harry that Dumbledore had the stone and the wand and Harry could not contain his curiosity and asked hopefully, "Guruji, does this stone bring people back from the dead?"_

_Harsh shook his head, "No, Harry. This stone cannot bring back the dead. In fact dead does not live second chance. No magic except the darkest of them can do so and you have seen what it can do to a person. The stone actually summons the spirit of the dead and let you communicate with them. But remember Harry, it lures those weak of mind and have been doom of many a persons. The original holder of the stone, Antioch Peverell himself died thinking of his long lost love who had visited him that day when death gave this stone to him. She was a spirit which was summoned and this astral plane is too painful for them to exist for long period of time. Existing on this astral plane is too painful for them. Summoning them is destroying their peace which they may have attained in afterlife. Spirit summoned with the stone returns eventually to where they came from and would drag those of weak of mind with them. The stone is dangerous and should not be used unless you know you would not be lured by it. It is never wise to go raising spirits of the dead"._

_**-Flash back ends-**_

Harry slipped the stone back into the pouch and tucked it into his robes. He could not use the stone to disturb his parents again not after he had seen that they were at peace again. He remembered that they had hinted at the existence of the contract in limbo when grandmother made a cryptic and vague allusion to a charming lady waiting for him to wake up.

**The next day**

Harry was early to the morning session and the students welcomed him enthusiastically except for his closest friends. He had not made up with Susan yet and they were keeping their word. When it came time to assign practice to the gathered students, Neville and Ron got down to business. He tried to talk to Susan but she ignored him not willing to listen to him. It was all getting too wearisome for him.

After the morning session, Angelina cornered him, "Where were you, Harry? You missed a week of practice. Are you sure you want to play in the next match which is only 10 days away? Since there was no sign of you, I had to use Ginny Weasley as substitute seeker. She may not be quite as talented as you, but at least she was there!"

After she was done with her tirade, he said, "Angelina, I have had a difficult week that is all. I promise that I will be there for practice next time. You will not miss your seeker".

In fact the next quidditch match was not far away. October had already blown past mid-way and their first match would be the first Saturday of November against Slytherin. There were less than 2 weeks left until that match.

The drills and formations during practices had been going well. Harry knew that the rest of the team was more definitely on form than they had ever been. He also knew that with his improved eye-sight and reflexes that he could find and capture the Golden Snitch any time he wanted to. They should be able to secure a Gryffindor victory in their next match. However there were moves he wanted to try at the match and he had not practiced them yet. Perhaps tonight, he would try a few of them.

During breakfast, he again was dutifully standing outside the Hufflepuff Common Room waiting for Susan to emerge. When she did, she ignored him and went to the Great Hall Pretending to be oblivious to his presence. Harry was angry at her while at the same time he could not vent his anger on her. A little part of him felt that he deserved it. Breakfast that day was an irritating affair.

As he was exiting the Great Hall, he ran into Zacharias who sneered, "Watch where you're going, Peverell. You clumsy git!"

Harry glared at the puff who glared in return. Normally, Harry would have brushed him off. But, today, he was ready to trade hexes with him. He felt angry, irritated and Zacharias was the perfect target for him to vent his frustration.

"Move Peverell, why are you blocking the way?" Zacharias attempted to shove him out of the way, but Harry had adopted the immovable stance and it was like trying to push a stone wall.

Harry's magic was oozing out of him and enveloping him, ready to strike down anyone who dared to defy him. Harry saw red and swung his arm towards the other boy who was mortified and had frozen in fear. However at the last moment, a solid block of stone materialized between the boy and Harry's fist. With a resounding crack, the stone shattered but it saved Zacharias Smith from getting his face broken.

Harry turned to find Vikram with wand drawn, his eyes fierce and his tone authoritative, "Mr. Peverell, control your emotions".

Harry clamped down hard on his occlumency shield to rein in on his anger and turned to Vikram, "As you say, Professor".

Vikram checked Harry's hand which was bloodied from the impact with the stone and with a wave of his wand, the wound mended itself and the pain vanished.

Vikram took him by his shoulder, "Come with me, Mr. Peverell. We need to talk".

"Not before Peverell is punished for this act", McGonagall's voice came from the entrance of the Great Hall. "Mr. Peverell behaved like a savage and engaged in a fight for which I take 10 points off Gryffindor and detention this evening in my office, eight o'clock".

"The same for you Mr. Smith", said Professor Sprout who had followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall. "You must remember that you are representing your house through your conduct and you should be punished for any act which besmirches the reputation of your house".

"Mr. Peverell, let's go. I have to talk to you", said Vikram and steered Harry out of the castle and out to the grounds.

They took a leisurely stroll around the grounds. Vikram started saying, "I know you might be thinking why I saved him from you but there is very good reason for that. Did you see how hostile your magic was at that moment? Ordinarily person like you would not be able to crack a block into pieces with a blow of his fist but your magic was assisting you and if your fist had connected with his face, what do you think would have happened?"

Harry shuddered thinking he might have killed the other boy without meaning to. While Smith was no friend to him, he was just a student. He did not want to kill anyone who was innocent. If he killed anyone innocent, there would be no difference between him and Voldemort.

Vikram dismissed him to go to classes for the day. As it turned out, it was a really bad day for Harry.

The first class that day was Potions; something he had started to love but this morning, his mind was conflicted. His emotions were getting the better of him and he did not give his full attention to what he was doing as he sat to brew the potions set by Snape. Today's assignment was to brew the invigoration draught. The draught was used to energize the drinker and was an excellent cure for fatigue. Harry had not experimented with this potion, nor, apparently, had Snape. This time, it was straight out of the book. Harry was only brewing one potion and it should have been easy. But his thoughts were stuck on Susan. Unfortunately, thoughts of how to get a pretty, strawberry-blond girl, who is furious with you, to talk to you and the exact art of potion brewing don't mix.

Harry was absent-mindedly working on his potion while Snape was hovering nearby watching him. When he made a mistake, Snape's lips curled in a sneer but he did not immediately comment upon it. He had also realized that Harry was lost in thought and only absent-mindedly working on brewing his potion. The Invigoration draught required 3 hours to brew and he waited for things to play out. It had been a long time since he had got to embarrass Peverell in his class. Today would be the perfect opportunity for payback. When finally the brewing time was over, Harry was frowning over his potion. He could not understand why his potion was not the orange colour that it was supposed to be.

Before he could think of something to save his potion Snape descended upon him, "What have you got for me, Peverell?"

Harry dully showed him the cauldron, where the potion was looking slightly reddish in colour. He sneered, "What is this supposed to be?".

"The Invigoration Draught, Professor".

"Tell me Potter, did I say that the potion would be reddish in appearance? I clearly said it would be orange in colour. Looks like all the luck you had with potions has finally run out (Many Slytherins snickered). Where did you go wrong?"

By now, Harry had mentally recalled every step of the potion brewing that he had taken. "I forgot to crush the nettles before adding them".

Snape pulled his wand out and vanished his potion sneering, "That will be zero for this lesson and detention tomorrow evening at eight o'clock, my office".

Harry shrugged. He had not expected any better from the Dungeon Bat if he made a mistake. At least he did not deduct any points from Gryffindor this time.

As he left the class, Daphne said, "That was unfair of him to give you detention like that. It was one mistake and not that grave".

Harry shrugged, "I honestly did not expect any better treatment from him. He has been this way since forever".

During lunch, Angelina cornered him, "I told you to join the team practice this evening and you have gone and landed yourself in detention. What's more, you have given up tomorrow evening too".

Harry, grieved responded, "Angelina, my detentions don't even start until eight o'clock. Were you planning to have team practice in the dark?"

She almost shrieked, "I don't care. You have to be there when the team needs you".

"What is happening here?", asked Professor McGonagall, who had just come up.

"Professor, Harry has not been to a team practice in the last week and he is going to miss practice today and tomorrow also. The first match is just two weeks away". Angelina was near hysterical.

The Professor's mouth formed the thinnest of thin lines while Angelina ranted. Then she spoke, "Miss Johnson, I will thank you not to take that tone with me or you shall find yourself in detention as well. As for Mr. Peverell, his detention does not begin until eight. I trust you can get your practice time in before it gets too dark to see the goal posts? He violated rules and he must be punished. Just make sure he arrives at my office by eight or you may just have to do without him for the next game. Do I make myself clear?"

**McGonagall's office**

At 7:59, Harry arrived at the Deputy Headmistress's office door, out of breath, carrying his broom and still in his Quidditch robes. Angelina, with her usual exuberance, had not let him go until the last possible minute. He used his broom to fly to the main doors of the castle and without even slowing down, dismounted and ran through the castle to her office.

When he entered, she pointed him to a cupboard, "The cupboard is dirty. Clean it and arrange the books neatly. You may use magic for this task".

Harry summoned all the books from the cupboard and arranged them neatly on the floor. After he finished emptying the cupboard, he cast a wide area Scourgify and the cupboard was cleaned in a trice. After it was done, he cleaned the dust from the books with magic and sent them back to the cupboard, organized first by category, then by title. For a finishing touch, he cleaned the glass on the doors and polished the wood. Within 10 minutes, he was done.

"It is done, Professor. Is there anything else you would like me to do?"

Looking up from a book she was reading, the professor remarked, "That is lovely". Then gesturing at a seat to one side of her desk she said "Have a seat, Potter".

As he took a seat, she proffered him a tartan tin and said, "Have a biscuit, Potter".

To be polite, Harry took one and began to nibble on it.

She started again, "Harry, this is no detention at all. I wanted you here to talk with you. I have noticed how your friends have been avoiding you and how Miss Bones is giving you the cold shoulder. You two have been inseparable since you returned from your voyage. Is there trouble between you?"

He thought about lying to her at first but then realized that lying would get him nowhere. "Yes Professor. This year, I had started to get to know Susan. I mean she was my friend and we were having a great time when we were together. She has the ability to make me smile when no one else can and she is the one who can boss me around better than anyone. She also can make me see reason when I can't do it on my own (McGonagall was trying to suppress her smile at his rant). But last week, I discovered that not only is there a marriage contract between me and her but that she has also known about it for over four years and never told me. Telling me right away may not have been the best thing to do, but it would have at least been honest. I was angry with her for keeping secrets, assuming that she meant to deceive me and I took the last week to think things over. The thing is that I met Madam Bones and God mother Alice the other day. They made me see reason while answering my questions. I came back here, ready to apologize to Susan. But she has been ignoring me since I came back. To make matters worse, my closest friends have decided that they won't talk to either of us until we mend our differences. I feel awful. Now that she is not talking to me, I realize how much I enjoy being with her and how much she really means to me".

McGonagall's lips started to curl upwards in a smile but she again suppressed it, "You remind me of another lion who was hopelessly in love with a girl. While the boy was head over heels crazy for her and would often show off for her, she never paid him any heed. He would do everything that he could think of so that she would agree to go on a date with him but she refused all his advances. She thought very little of him because of his reputation for rule- breaking, pranking and someone who thought he was above all reproach. In fact, she went so far as to dub him arrogant little toe-rag".

"You are talking about my parents, aren't you?"

"Yes. Your father was one of my favourite students apart from being my godson. He would often come to me asking how he could impress Lily and I would tell him to be honest with her and not to show-off when she was around. But he often made a fool of himself trying to do exactly that. It was only in his 6th year when he started to grow up that she started paying attention to him. He had a complete change of personality in his 7th year when he became the Head Boy. He was still a miscreant and often engaged in pranking but he was more serious about the war which was brewing outside the walls of the castle. He often said that he would join the Aurors to bring down you-know-who and true to his word, he and Sirius joined the Aurors as soon as they graduated. Sometimes, I do miss them".

"Thank you for the story Professor but I don't understand how it would help me?"

She smirked, "You are the son of James Potter and adopted son of Sirius Black. Even though he never settled down, he could always charm the ladies when he set his mind to it. I am sure that you can find a way to charm Susan again. Be honest with her. That is all I can say. Now you may go".

Profusely thanking the Professor, Harry was leaving her office, when she called him from behind, "And Harry, if Gryffindor loses the first match of the season, I swear by Merlin that you will spend the rest of the year in detention cleaning the dungeons without magic".

**Quidditch pitch**

Harry ran down the stairs two at a time, leaping the last five steps of each flight. He was back out the front door of the castle and mounted on his broom before another half a minute had passed. The sun had long-since set and the stars were out, but Angelina just might still be practicing with the team.

Harry flew over the outer wall of the Quidditch pitch in a streak of gold and crimson robes, but it was empty. There was not another person in sight. Looking around, Harry realized that it was only thanks to his enhanced sight that he could see anything at all. The rest of the team must have gone back inside some time ago. He started to fly around the stadium, trying to perform every manoeuvre that he remembered.

For now his concern was to ensure that his speed and agility were the same as they had been at the end of the third year. For the next hour, he accelerated around the pitch performing everything he knew of.

He was determined to win the first match of the season at any cost. He could not afford a mistake. After he had pulled the Wronski Feint perfectly for the third time in a row, pulling out just in time for his feet to brush the grass at a terrible speed, he thought that would do for tonight. Flying always made him feel better and he grinned at the thought of what was going to happen to Malfoy when he tried this manoeuvre at their next match.

**The next day**

The next day was the same more or less. Classes had been normal and he made small talk with those who talked with him. Daphne had made small talk with him but not like she talked with him often. Fred and George were talking to him though. Although they had quite the reputation as pranksters, they seemed to be very good listeners when it came to Harry's present troubles with Susan. Harry figured there was little that would faze the two of them.

That evening, Harry knew better than to arrive at Snape's office flustered, out of breath and still wearing his Quidditch robes. He left the pitch a good 15 minutes early to put his broom away and change out of his quidditch robes before descending to the dungeons.

At eight o'clock sharp, Harry rapped on the Professor's door. He was prepared with his dragon-hide gloves, quills, ink, parchment and wand; although he had little hope that he would be allowed to use dragon-hide gloves or magic of any sort. His experience with detentions with Snape had always been unpleasant. As he entered the Dungeon Bat's office, the door swung shut behind him with an awful finality. Then Professor Snape pointed him to a chair.

As Harry sat, the professor asked, "What is bothering you? I could not help but notice that you have not been yourself since you returned from wherever you were. If there is something that I can help with, please tell me. I wanted to talk to you so I had to use this ruse of detention or word would have made its way to the Dark Lord. If that happened, it would have been catastrophic. Also, it has been the first time this year that you bungled brewing a potion. What is it that has been troubling you?"

Harry could not believe it. He was having a heart to heart conversation with the Dungeon Bat of all people. He thought there was no reason that he could not talk to him. "Professor, what do you know about me and Susan?"

It looked like Snape was trying to give a small smile (Harry thought he was going mad), "Yes. I have noticed how often she is latched to your arm. I was surprised because I hardly ever saw you with her before this year. But I must say that you have been more cheerful when she is with you. I also know that she has been loyal to you through the last 4 years without having any apparent reason. I must say that she is a person who would be good for you. She makes you happy. Have things soured between you and her?"

Harry decided to say as little as he could, "We had some disagreement and I left her alone outside the school. Since then she has not talked to me".

Snape sobered up. "You know Harry, when I was a student your mother was my best friend. She was the one who often saved me from the Marauders and their pranks. Once during our owl exams, she saved me again from your father but I was so angry with everyone that I called her an awful word in anger and rage. Something which has eaten at my conscience all these years, something for which I could never forgive myself until you told me that she has forgiven me. At that time, I was scared that I had lost my only friend and wanted to apologize to her but she refused to listen to me at all. With the way she was ignoring me, I decided to go ask for her forgiveness outside the Gryffindor tower. I sat there waiting for her to come out. I was even prepared to sleep there but one of her friends took pity on me and called her out. I asked for her forgiveness but she refused to forgive me. That was the last time that your mother ever talked to me".

Harry asked him, "I ask your pardon Professor but what was the point of this story?"

"The point is that sometimes we have to do extraordinary things to get forgiveness. I was ready to stay outside the common room until she came out to meet me. She came. You have to do something like that to mend your differences with her".

Harry's eyes gleamed with hope. He knew what he was going to do.

**Badger's Hole**

Harry had stopped Sally Anne-Perks as she was going in. "Sally, do you have a moment?".

"Only a few witches in this castle would be foolish enough to say no to making a few moments for you though I would think they would like more than a moment, more like hours", she said to him suggestively. "Anyway, how can I help you, Harry?"

"Would you please let Susan know that I want to talk to her and I am waiting for her out here?"

She immediately refused, "Harry, what you are asking is rather hard for me. She is generally as sweet as the sweetest Honeydukes candy but furious when her anger is aroused. Right now she doesn't even want to see your face".

"Sally please it is important for me to talk to her. Just let her know that I want to talk to her and if she refuses to come out then I will sleep outside here".

She snorted, "When Filch finds you out after curfew he will gleefully put you in detention. Alright I will convey your words to her but that is all I am doing. Don't expect me to plead on your behalf".

Ten minutes later, Hannah came out with Susan in tow. Hannah asked him, "Harry, she is very angry with you. She was not going to come out. When Sally told us that you were planning to sleep here if she did not come out, I had to drag her out here".

Harry turned to Susan, "Sue, I know I was a prat that day to have left you in the Bank. It was not right for me and I let my emotions cloud my judgment. I apologize for being an inconsiderate moron that day. I know words cannot compensate for what I have done but I seek to make amends anyway you want".

Susan turned to Hannah, "Tell him that I don't care for any words he might have to say. I am not going to talk to him. He thinks he is beyond reproach and infallible but he is not".

With that she returned to the Badger's hole and Hannah helplessly looked at Harry for a moment before shrugging and following her friend inside.

That night, many of the fifth years stayed up late discussing what was happening.

Justin was saying, 'Harry is still camped outside the fake barrels waiting for a word from her".

Megan asked, "I don't get it. What exactly is the deal? She was crazy for him a week before and now she is completely cold towards him. What brought this change on?"

Sally Smith replied, "I don't know. I suspect that a few of their closest friends do, but they aren't talking. We have seen how close those two have been since the year started but she is behaving like he does not exist at all now".

One of the older puffs, Margaret who had joined the conversation said, "If Bones does not want him, does it mean that we have a chance with him?"

While others around them chuckled, Oliver said, "Only if you don't love your limbs. Susan is very possessive and even if she is behaving like he doesn't exist for her, she will hex you into oblivion if she thinks that you are trying to claim what she sees as hers".

**Next day**

When the badgers were coming out before dawn the next morning for the training session, they were astonished to find Harold Peverell still outside the Badger's Hole sitting in meditation. By the looks of it, he had been there all night outside the entrance. Many of them tried to call him but it appeared as if he didn't hear them. It took a few minutes for Ernie to wake him from his meditation.

When Susan finally came out of the Badger's hole, there were a large number of students already standing outside the entrance crowding around something she could not see. Curious she and Hannah worked their way to the front of the crowd and they were astonished to see Harold Peverell sitting on the floor and talking in a low voice to Ernie. The Lions who were regulars in her group were there too in the crowd trying to listen.

"She is angry with you Harry. We have tried to make her see reason but she just simply will not".

"Then please tell her Ernie that I will remain sitting here if she does not come out and talk to me. It is getting tiring that she is ignoring me and to be honest about it, it hurts a lot".

It was too much for her to take in. She had been ignoring him but every second of it had been very hard for her too. When she heard him say that it hurt that she was not talking to him, she lost it. She knew she could not stay angry at him anymore but she still had an appearance to maintain. She growled at him, "Get up Peverell. We are going to have a talk".

Harry beamed at her and immediately stood. She caught him by his wrist and started dragging him out of the castle. As they disappeared from sight, Ronald who looked baffled, asked, "Bloody hell. What just happened?"

Hannah grinned, "I believe we have just cancelled the morning session for today". She took Neville by the arm and walked off to one side. The crowd dispersed as the others went their own ways.

Susan and Harry walked out to the grounds on the far side of the lake. All the while Susan said nothing to him nor did he try to break the silence. After they had reached the other side, Harry conjured two chairs and pulled one up for her.

5 minutes passed and nobody said anything. Finally Susan spoke harshly, "Will you speak now or are we here to just sit and enjoy the scenic beauty of the lake in the pre-dawn light with the damp, chilly breeze?"

Harry earnestly said to her, "Sue I am sorry".

She arched an eye-brow, "And what are you sorry about?"

"For everything that happened in the last two weeks. For leaving you alone in Gringotts with Griphook. For not giving you a chance to speak in your defense. For not trying to understand that you might not have wanted me to be betrothed to you but you tried to make the best of the situation. For being a git and acting like I was the only one affected by this. Would you please forgive me?"

She took a deep breath before she started speaking, "You know Harry, I was 11 years old when I came to know of the contract. I was just a child when I learned that I am set to marry the boy-who-lived. I was too young to understand the gravity of it and I asked Auntie. She told me that the least I would get out of this is a new friend. I was excited that the boy-who-lived was going to be my friend. My head was filled with idiotic ideas from those books that we have all read when we were children. I wanted to meet you and become your friend. When I finally saw you at Hogwarts, I wrote a letter to Auntie that very night telling her that you looked malnourished and abused. I watched you every year and I asked her to make you her ward. I have always been fascinated with you since I can remember. But what you did that day hurt me. Was it so hard to control your emotions and hear me out first? I even tried to send you letters that very same night but the owl just would not take off. Your Owl Hedwig was missing from the Owlery so I could not contact you either way. Then you did not contact me for a week and I was worried. I thought that you might never talk to me again or end up hating me. I apologize to you for keeping it away from you all these years and not telling it to you sooner. I should have let you know about it because you are as affected by it as I am. I was ready to apologize the moment you returned and I expected that you would make your appearance here before you told others about your return but Auntie messaged me the day before you came back that you had been found and yet you did not return to the castle. That is what had angered me. Having said this, I apologise to you for keeping it from you and I hope you can forgive me".

Harry softly said, "Sue, I am sorry for hurting you. I met Auntie the other day with god-mother Alice. She made me see reason but wisdom had been coming to me for a few days before that. I had talked with Sirius and Remus and made them feel miserable for keeping a secret from me but they were able to make it clear to me that while you were wrong to keep it to yourself, my own conduct was not beyond reproach. Mother Weasley had also talked to me about it. She told me in no uncertain terms that you have been a good friend to me and always thought about my best interests and there is no reason for me to get angry with you".

"When did you meet all these people?" she asked him.

He gave her his best lop-sided grin, "Oh right. I have not told you. Leaving Gringotts, I went to the Weasley Manor where she talked to me for sometime before she agreed to let me stay there. I remained there sending an occasional letter to Sirius and Remus or talking with them on the communication mirror I have. She tried to talk to me and make me see reason that I was an idiot to be avoiding you. When she realized she could not get to me no matter what she said, she sent a letter to Auntie and god mother who both had me at wand-point and talked to me. God mother said something that I agree with".

"What did she say?". Susan asked curiously.

"She asked me if I could put a hand over my heart and honestly say that that you are not a fantastic person that I could spend my life pleasantly with. I have to say I agree with her. The last two months since I have known you I have felt livelier, have smiled more and have been happier than ever in my life despite Voldemort's shadow hanging over me the entire time. I don't yet know if I love you but I can certainly say that you are one person I would trust with my life".

Susan's demeanor fell slightly but she was content. Things were on the mend between them. True that he said he was not sure if he was in love with her yet but they will get there. For now, having him beside her was sufficient. "I think we had our first major spat and we are over it now, Harry. I hope things are better between us now".

He smiled, "Of course Sue".

At breakfast, the two of them were sitting closer and their hands often touched but at the same time, they kept some distance between them. Their friends breathed a sigh of relief to find that they had reconciled their differences. It had become over-whelming on their nerves to see the two of them so distant. In the minds of most of them, Susan and Harry were perfect together and to see them smiling again was pleasant.

Apart from the two, two more people were happy to see those two smiling- Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. After all, they had given those detentions to Harry for this. To tell him that if he wanted something he should act to get it.

In fact, Dumbledore had leaned in close to Minerva that morning and asked her, "was that the reason you gave him a detention, Minerva?".

She smirked, "Oh no. the real reason was that I wanted to win the betting pool which is running quite high now. Last I checked the Weasley twins were offering 10 to 1 odds for anyone that was willing to bet that Harry and Susan would mend their differences by lunch today and I am one of those who have won. With the 20G I put in, I am now at 200, rather a nice sum for a betting pool".

"I made 100 Galleons myself", said Professor Sprout from far end of the table and Albus asked Severus, "My boy, what about you? Did you also make a bet?"

Snape tried to grin (Something nobody had yet seen him do), "Indeed Head Master. I won 50 Galleons and a couple of fake wands".

Everyone chuckled at his proclamation. It was so out of character for Severus Snape.

Flitwick grumbled from her other side, "I don't think that's fair, Minerva. Due to your intervention, I lost this pool".

**A week later**

The last week had been eventful and brought October nearly to its end. The final trials for the new Werewolf Potion would be starting in a couple of days. The first match of the Quidditch season, Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw was in a week and the anticipation was building. The Ravenclaw team's practice had gone up a notch more than usual.

Harry had scheduled a session on Tuesday in the Room of Requirement but had to postpone after Ernie told him that the Puffs had practice that evening. Harry was happy to reschedule it despite some grumblings from his friends in general and Hermione in particular that not all of them were members of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.

The next reschedule was on Thursday and on that day Michael Corner had requested him to reschedule practice. Harry had done that too without questions asked or without expressing any discontent over it.

When Michael had left after the session had been rescheduled, Hermione grumbled, "It looks like they don't care about training at all. Requesting to reschedule just for a stupid game practice".

Harry gave her a look of incredulity mingled with disgust, "Hermione, this is Quidditch you are talking about, the best sport there is".

She snapped, "It is just a stupid sport. What is so special about it?"

It was Ron who spoke, "Are you barking mad, Hermione? Quidditch is better than anything. It is about glory".

Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust at them, "Boys only care about quidditch and brooms".

Nobody bothered to point out to her that all of Gryffindor's chasers, their back-up seeker, the Ravenclaw's seeker and a few other players were all girls. When no one tried to answer her or engage in a debate with her over this, she just huffed and left for the library.

As it was, there was no evening session that week. Harry knew there would be none until the first match of the season for Gryffindor happened on the first Saturday of November because Angelina would insist on more and more practice. As it was, she was already pushing them hard. Their sessions had gone for two hours each for three sessions in the last week alone. For one of her training sessions he had to break a date that he was planning with Susan to the village.

He however had to make time for an unfulfilled promise with Daphne Greengrass. She had in fact insisted upon it telling him that he had promised to make up for the lost opportunity when he had to return to the castle after receiving a talking patronus.

Harry was not sure if it was a good idea to go to the village with her but a promise was a promise. They took the secret passage from the ground floor this time and came to the Three Broom Sticks. This time too, they were under Glamour charms and took a seat at the back where no one coming in could see them at once but they would notice anyone else coming in or going out.

After they were seated, their food delivered and Harry had put wards around the table, Daphne asked him, "Harry, what is your greatest wish?"

He thought for a few moments before he started replying, "Family. That is what I want more than anything in the world. With the muggles, I was nothing more than a freak and they never considered me a part of their family. I yearned to have a family all these years. I am starting to have a semblance of a family now, though".

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Oh, as you know Sirius Black blood adopted me this summer so he is my father and he was already named my god-father at the time of my birth. I don't know if someone ever told you but Alice Longbottom is my godmother so Neville is a brother to me. Hermione even though she is often an over-bearing, know-it-all, she is really sweet beneath her persona. She is like the sister that I never had. Augusta Longbottom insists that I call her grandmother when I visit her. Minister Longbottom is like the cool uncle that you could wish for. Remus Lupin who was our teacher in third year is one of my father's best friends and uncle to me. There are the Weasleys who have always loved me as one of their own. Then there is Aunt Amelia who is like the strict yet loving aunt in the family who would discipline you on the one hand while loving you on the other".

"And what do you think your life will be like 10 years from now provided you survive you-know-who".

"Call him Tom Riddle, Daphne. That is his real name. His father was a muggle and his mother was a squib. In answer to your question, about 10 years from now I see myself surrounded by family living in a manor since I inherited so many of them (she snorted) doing nothing but flying for one of those Quidditch clubs if any of them find me good enough to recruit for their team. Or maybe I would establish a Potions Business. Many people from my family were potioneers and discovered some important potions. In fact, Sleak-eazy quadrupled my family's fortune which was already substantial".

Her eyes were opened wide in surprise, "He is a half-blood?"

"Yes just barely. On top of that, his mother was a squib. Imagine what would happen if the death eaters knew that their master is a half-blood and that too, descended from a Muggle".

"May be if they knew about him, not so many people would have followed him".

"That is something to think about, Daphne however I think most of them would follow him anyway because he really is a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. The patriarchal line died out centuries ago and the Slytherin name with it, but he was the only son of Merope Gaunt. The Gaunts were the badly inbred, last of the Slytherin line through one of the daughters. That is why he was a Parselmouth. That is why he was able to open the Chamber of Secrets 53 years ago. That is what he lords over his followers, without being specific about who his parents are or that he is a half-blood. The other reason that I think they follow him is because while not all of them would agree to his vision of the world or share his dreams of world domination, there are certain things that they can do in the name of their service to him. For the more cunning of them, Voldemort is just a means to an end rather than someone they would follow. We have seen how people wormed their way out of punishment after he was vanquished the last time".

While she was out of topics to talk about Harry asked her, "Tell me something about your family".

She eagerly started telling, "As you know we are one of the families to have descended from Morgana Le Fay, in fact we are the last of the three families which descended from her. We have always been known neutrals throughout history except when someone committed an offense against us. My father is Cyrus Greengrass. He runs a potion business which he inherited from his father and invests in many ventures. My mother does not need to work but she has a job at the ministry in the department of Family Records. Then there is Astoria whom you have met".

"And what about your friends?"

"While growing up, I never had many friends. You should know of the politics in pureblood circles. Malfoy's father would often bring him to parties asking us to be friends and play together but I never liked the arrogant, entitled little ponce. Not even when we were very little and I avoided him. My father left it up to me who I chose as friends. So, I've never been a bargaining chip for their stupid power games. I have lots of acquaintances. I practically know everyone of any importance at all. But, through all these years, the only one I really consider a friend is Tracy Davis whom I have known since I was 4. Tracy's mother and my mother were best friends in school and it is the same with us. When I came to Hogwarts, I saw all the same kids I have known since I could walk. I did not know Pansy before Hogwarts though because the Ancient House of Parkinson has never been considered to be of the same social standing as House Greengrass and her father was not entitled to roam the same social circles as us. I loathed her from the start for her condescending attitude and it is no secret that we are not friends at all. Then there is Lilith Moon whose father is like the wind which blows aimlessly and she was much the same until this year. Then there is Millicent who looks dangerous and brutal but is quite harmless. The only thing she does is follow Malfoy around because her father shadows the elder Malfoy. Among the boys, Nott lives by himself, Blaise is a ladies' man, Malfoy is a ponce and Crabbe and Goyle are his lackeys. They called me the Ice Queen because I didn't want to have anything to do with any of them. This year, things are different. Thanks to you, There are many that I consider to be friends now, You, Hermione, Longbottom, the Twins, Abbott, Macmillan, Mandy, Morag and a couple more whose name elude me at the moment. Now what about your friends?"

"While growing up, I had no friends at all. Whenever anyone tried to be my friend, Dudley, the Muggle's son, and his goons scared them away. When I came to Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione became my friends while we were still on the train. I was content with having two best friends. Little did I know how many of them Ron was blocking from talking to me? I guess Neville, Dean and Seamus were also my friends but they were not so close. Now I have more friends than I can even count".

Before she could ask him more, the door opened to the inn and the trio of Sirius Black with Emmeline and Remus walked through the door. Harry mentally groaned. When Daphne asked him what was wrong, he pointed out the newcomers to her, "Looks like my father is keeping tabs on me. We will have to go now".

He was able to escape the inn unnoticed and when they were at a sufficient distance from the inn, he asked her, "So Miss Greengrass, I am sorry that we had to leave the inn on such short notice but may I consider us square now? Nothing owed anymore, I hope?"

She looked at him with incredulity, "Are you abandoning a lady on her own? No dropping her at her door step? Is that the vaunted Gryffindor chivalry?"

Harry looked horrified, "Of course I will escort you to the school. What mode of transportation would you prefer - broom, secret passage or hippogriff?"

She thought for a second, "Brooms have become overrated and dangerous especially if it's you who is flying them. Secret Passages are dark and musty and not to my liking. Also, word is that you have a beautiful hippogriff, the likes of which are a rare sight to see. Care to offer me a ride?"

Harry willingly agreed however a small part of him wondered if he was doing the right thing by agreeing to Daphne's demands. Wasn't that equivalent to encouraging her in her pursuit? Now that he knew Susan was his betrothed, all other girls were practically out of bounds for him. Would she tolerate it if he was seen getting close with another girl, perhaps not and for good reason. Harry mentally resolved to maintain some distance between him and Daphne to gently nudge her away from him. She was a wonderful witch who deserved a wizard who would be worthy of her.

While he had been mulling over everything, he had been unconsciously tugging at his familiar connection with the Hippogriff because the beast came flying to him a minute later. He gave Black Storm a bow then introduced the beast to Daphne, "Daphne this is Blackstorm, my familiar and many consider him a king of his kind".

Daphne was looking at the hippogriff in awe, "He is magnificent Harry. I have seen my fair share of hippogriffs but none so regal looking".

Harry helped her mount up without tack (he did not think he needed it for such a short flight) and climbed up behind her holding her in his arms. While he wanted to keep some distance between them there was not that much space on the hippogriff's back.

For Daphne, it was like a dream come true. She was no wall flower and rarely dreamt of things like most other girls did but a small part of her had wished for something like this. She was happy to feel his arms around her, ensconcing her and her heart was beating at twice the normal speed. Due to lack of space, they were sitting close together and she could feel his breath on her neck making her squirm. As the hippogriff took to the skies, she was lost in the feeling of being airborne. Harry had clutched her protectively as if she would fall off if he let go and she had to smile. He was nothing if not thoughtful. She was content with the pace of things for now but she was getting a little frustrated. She had hoped things would escalate even if just a little. Perhaps she could try what Tracy had always suggested and drag him to a broom cupboard. May be then things would get easier between them.

Things were better in classes though. With his demeanor returning to normal, Harry was again performing to the best of his abilities. The teachers were content. They all had been miffed when his performance had fallen in the last week. Even though he was far ahead of the others in practical, they could see when his mind was not on his assignment, especially those who had an eye for detail.

History of Magic was one of the most interesting subjects and Martha Hughes rewarded those who answered her questions correctly while punishing those who created a ruckus in her classes. She often encouraged them to read ahead and when she asked questions, she expected every student to be ready, willing and able to answer her.

Defense was easy because practical training was more exciting and gratifying for the students but the lack of emphasis on theory put off some of the students like Hermione who adhered to the books more and prided themselves on sound theoretical knowledge. His homework often meant a lot of research and he did not suggest any particular text to them. As a result almost every student had to look for books by themselves to find the answers. He was above giving detention to students except those who copied assignments from others. He graded everyone's work and if he found that someone had cheated or borrowed an idea from someone else, he had started to give detention to them. He had once given a thorough lecture to the students about the importance of being original. He often said that he expected the same level of commitment as he was showing to them.

Snape was more bearable for students now. While he still maintained a condescending demeanor towards Harry and his group of friends, he behaved more friendly to others and often would correct students rather than reproaching them. Rumours were that if he gave detention to a student then he was teaching them to brew correctly rather than making them do meaningless chores without magic. While the rumours were unconfirmed, this certainly made people see the Dungeon Bat in a new light. Hermione had even thought that maybe people would stop calling him a dungeon bat now that he had changed his ways but the twins dismissed the idea, saying that the name had been around for so long that it was not likely that others would forget it.

**Serpent's Pit**

Daphne had been in a sort of trance when she returned from her date. She was so lost in her thoughts that she had not even notice Tracy and Astoria sitting on her bed waiting for her.

Tracy whispered to Astoria, "See there, Astoria. She did not even react to our presence; in fact, I can bet all the Galleons in my trust vault that she hasn't even noticed us at all. I tell you that Harold Peverell has made her bereft of her senses. She does not behave like the ice-queen anymore and at times, I have even seen her smiling to herself".

Daphne had taken a seat but still had not heard them. Tracy shook her head and leaning right up to Daphne's ear shouted, "Snap out of it, Daph. You are day-dreaming".

Daphne's eyes came into focus to notice her friend and her sister. "Why did you have to shout Tracy? I am not hard of hearing".

Tracy smirked, "No, you are not but you are losing yourself in the emerald orbs of the raven haired lion".

Daphne scowled, "You're the one to talk when you spend all your time with Weasley who by the admission of his own friends and twin is a stupid redheaded git".

Tracy mock-scowled, "He makes me laugh and we have been out a number of times enjoying the village and each other's company. Can you say the same for yourself?"

Daphne gave them a victorious smirk, "Well I would not go so far as to say that he makes me laugh much but he sure has ways to thrill me. Like Hippogriff riding for instance".

Tracy leaned forward, "Hippogriff ride? When did you...? You are keeping secrets from your best mate, Daph? Please tell me more." She gave Daphne the big eyes.

Daphne laughed, "Won't work on me Davis. I know how cunning you are".

Astoria piped up, "you would not tell me either? I'm your little sister, Daph".

"Especially not you. Not after your last fiasco, Tori. I don't want you running to him again".

Both the girls tried hard to make Daphne reveal her secrets but she did not budge.

**Headmaster's office**

Vikram was sitting in the Headmaster's office looking grave. "Albus, have you found where the last abomination can be?".

"No. I have tried many times but I don't even know what it is. I have been looking through pages of history to find what other artefacts can be out there. I have noticed that Tom had a fascination with the founder's artefacts. The recovery of Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket prove that. In addition to that, there are things which I don't know if they exist anymore or not. Gryffindor's staff and gauntlet for instance. I have read accounts of them but never found them or met anyone who can claim to know their whereabouts. Similarly there is Ravenclaw's diadem which I know existed but was lost hundreds of years ago. If Tom somehow found it, he might have made it into one of his horcruxes but we are in the dark about its existence. Rowena Ravenclaw never explained about what might have happened to it".

"Of the things that you mentioned, I have heard of Gryffindor's staff and the gauntlet. The staff was broken in a battle by another wizard with the killing curse when he was in the dusk of his life. The Gauntlet was gifted by him to a disciple of his who took it for safekeeping outside of Avalon and since then, apparently nobody knows about it however it was delivered to the ICW about 300 years ago and they have kept it in the archives of Alexandria ever since. It is supposed to contain powerful magics and they don't want another Grindelwald to arise".

"Archives of Alexandria, you say", Dumbledore said eagerly, "May be I can persuade them to return it to Wizarding Britain after this war is over. It should be here where it belongs".

"No, Albus. It was given with the promise that it would never return to Wizarding Britain. Godric never wanted that to happen. Besides can you imagine the chaos if such an artefact were to ever surface again after being absent for so long?"

"I understand, my friend. I was carried away by emotions that is all", Albus said wistfully. Then he focused on the mystic, "Nevertheless, just in case, could you arrange for one of your associates to check it and make sure that Tom has not corrupted it?"

Vikram thought for a moment before replying, "I am thinking that it is most unlikely that Tom has ever been able to lay hands on it, never mind corrupting it, but for a matter of such importance, we can have it checked.".

Dumbledore nodded, "That leaves only the diadem".

**The Mermaid's Sanctuary**

Neville was waiting for the Headmaster in the Mermaid's sanctuary on the third floor. He had learned enough mind magic to be able to practice on his own however Dumbledore had warned him against trying to surprise masters of Mind Magic such as Severus Snape and Harold Peverell with it. They would interpret such an attempt as an attack and their defenses would prove fatal to him.

Snape would not be forgiving of someone who tried to pry into his mind. His mental defenses were solid and short of an open confrontation and a show of power, there was no way that one could win a battle of wills with him.

Harry was vicious towards anyone who tried to enter his mind. The outer defenses of his mind were carefully crafted to lure people in and trap them. If someone got past the outer defenses, his mindscape was scary enough. If enraged, Harry could also destroy someone's mind. In other words, one who tried mind magic against him would be a fool. Dumbledore also warned him against trying it on a werewolf. If he did, the wolf within would likely tear him to shreds before he could withdraw.

Today, Dumbledore had promised to teach him Dueling. Neville was of course excited. The way he had been making progress under the Headmaster's tutelage was enough to boost his self-esteem and the respect that other students showed him when he was conducting the session in the Room of Requirement in Harry's absence only added to his reputation.

"Neville, my boy", Dumbledore's voice cut into his thoughts, "are you ready?"

Neville nodded, "Yes Headmaster".

Dumbledore raised his wand, "Then let us begin".

Dumbledore started with a disarming hex. By now, Neville had enough experience to know the tricks that people get up to if he tossed his wand in the air when someone used a disarming hex on him. He sent his wand into the wand holster on his arm. His reflexes had become better for this sort of thing or his wand would have been flying to Dumbledore at that moment. As the disarming hex passed through him, he jumped aside to avoid the stunner coming at him and summoned his wand to his hand.

He started firing bone breakers, bone crushers, reductors, blasting hexes at the headmaster who had no trouble with batting aside his curses. At times, he would raise a shield rather than dodging. Neville was casting at his top speed and Dumbledore did not counter attack him but kept defending as if he was testing Neville's endurance. With the tricks that Croaker had taught him, Neville could go for a long time without tiring himself out but he wanted to see what the end game of the Headmaster was. He feigned a lull in his casting and Dumbledore seized that moment to start moving his wand in a baton like motion, creating a symphony of curses and hexes so vivid that Neville was hard pressed to keep himself safe. He conjured the sturdiest shield he could and hid behind it, taking the battering from Dumbledore. Dumbledore sent almost every curse at him that he knew and Neville was thoroughly tired from the beating that he took. At last, when he started to waver on his feet, Dumbledore stopped casting, "Are you all right, Neville? Did I overdo it?"

"No, Headmaster. You just showed me what I need to do if I am to stand against better trained wizards".

"No my boy. Most of the wizards that you would meet are not as powerful as I am and they would not fight with you the way I am doing. Their strategy would be to kill you and be gone, so things would be decided in a matter of moments under those conditions".

"What are my instructions, Headmaster?"

"Do you know about a mage-shield?"

Neville grinned widely. Mage shield was something that Croaker refused to teach him saying that he could not conjure one and maintain it for long periods of time so he would have to persuade Dumbledore to teach him about it.

**Great Hall**

The students were very chipper this morning and the chatter was great. The morning practice session had been cancelled today because it was the day for the first quidditch match of the season- Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw. The students did not even have to ask Harry to cancel the session. He himself had sent a message to all of them through the wand holsters telling them that there would be no practice this morning.

The anticipation in the air was high and everyone was eagerly waiting for the match to start. The weather had started to turn and it was getting colder outside. So much so that Harry had decided to not take them on runs around the lake. Snow fall was expected to begin in a few days and the weather would be getting colder.

This morning surprisingly there was no inter-mingling among students. Students of each house sat at their own house tables. Even couples which had started to form were keeping their distance from each other. There was tension in the air so thick that one could cut it with a knife. Even Susan had abandoned Harry this morning in favour of her teammates and was sitting at the Hufflepuff table, Hermione had declared it to be insane that friends were behaving like strangers and rivals for the sake of a game but nobody was listening to her. There had been a general consensus in the Lion's Den by now that Hermione Granger knew nothing when it came to Quidditch or the feelings associated with it.

The teams entered to the general applause of the Great Hall and almost the entire school was divided. It was not that they were divided by House but students were individually cheering for one team or another.

Luna came skipping up to their table and slipped into a seat beside Harry, "You know Harold, your friend will come back today".

"My friend? Who are you talking about?"

Luna did not answer him. Instead she turned to Hermione and Ron, "Moaning Myrtle was heard telling people that the two of you snuck into the broom cupboard near her bathroom".

The spoon that was in Hermione's hand clattered to her plate and Ron choked on the roasted potato he was eating. Harry patted his back soothingly while being thankful that he had raised privacy wards around him and his friends. Luna skipped away after that while Hermione did not say a word but ate her food with such speed that it gave him vertigo just to watch her eating. As she shovelled the last morsel into her mouth, she left the table avoiding every one's eye.

As they were leaving for the match, Susan came to him, "I hope that you are supporting Hufflepuff today, Harry or there will be trouble between us".

"Of course dear", Harry said sweetly, as if he could have said anything else.

Just to emphasize her point, she tied a Hufflepuff scarf around his neck and said to him, "There. It will remind you that you are rooting for badgers".

* * *

**A/N- The last chapter was something that I knew would evoke most reactions from people and I was not disappointed. So, thank you all. I love you all. Now to personal reviews:**

**God of All and Anarion- Thank you for your review**

**Hypergym- thank you for the review. It was good.**

**Poobear- I won't go hard on anyone without reason and I will not be cruel to one who do not deserve it *Malfoy*.**

**Fritter- Nobody can be perfect all the time, can they?**

**Stacy- Thanks for the review. I know he was right in his place and hope this chapter cleared the air. I hope you will keep liking it.**

**Raymondjay- Thanks for the review. The chapter was written longer than this but I had to divide it into two so people wont get bored reading it. I hope this chapter made up for the lameness of the last one.**

**Billbrink- Many thanks for the review. I hope you will keep enjoying the story as it is going on. **

**ObssessedwithHPFanFic- Many thanks for review. Hope the present chapter makes up for the last one.**

**Guest- Thanks for the review. Hope the present chapter makes up for the last one.**

**Hcook- many thanks for the review. Hope the present chapter makes up for the last one. Looking forward to more reviews from you in future.**

**William- What made you think I have made him a bully? Btw thanks for your review. I always love a new perspective.**


	37. Chapter 37

**Hogwarts**

The anticipation for the first match had been building to a fever pitch all week. Game time was almost here as the students and staff made their way into the stadium. The seats to one side of the pitch filled with the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw while the seats opposite them filled with the Canary yellow and black of Hufflepuff. Everywhere else in the stadium, the house colors of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were mixed together as individual students and teachers cheered for their favorite team. The support for each team was fairly even, unlike the matches between Slytherin and Gryffindor where one fourth of the school was green and silver while everyone else showed scarlet and gold. Harry and most of his friends were for the badgers. As was the norm, Lee Jordan was on the mike.

"Welcome to the Quidditch Inter-House Competition. The teams have been practicing hard and I have never seen them more fit or on-form than they are this season. For the first match of the year, please welcome, in blue and bronze, Ravenclaw!"

A mighty cheer erupted from the throats of all the students sporting the team colors and most of the other students as well. Distinct, even with all the other cheering could be heard the cry of an eagle coming from the animated, life-sized eagle on Luna's hat.

Lee continued after the cheering began to die down, "And wearing yellow and black, please give it up for Hufflepuff!"

The crowd went wild as the Yellow and black clad players pumped their fists in the air.

When the cheering began to settle down again, Madame Hooch, with the ball crate sitting next to her, gave a blast on her whistle for quiet and began to address the players, "Alright folks. You know the rules, but I'm going to go over a few of them. A double blast on the whistle means that play is stopped. A single blast to resume play. Failure to heed the whistle will result in a suspension. There will be no direct physical contact between players. That is a foul and will result in a penalty shot. Arguing with the referee will get you ejected from the game as will" she glared at the Beaters, "using those bats on anything other than the Bludgers. Are there any questions?" She looked at each of the 14 players in turn. They returned her gaze with a faint shake of the head. "Very well then. Captains, shake hands".

The two captains stepped forward and grinned fiercely as they pumped each other's hands twice and let go

Madame Hooch roared out, "Mount your brooms!"

The crowd went wild as 14 broomsticks rose into the air and the players took up their positions. She released the Snitch as the Seekers watched it fly off and disappear around the Hufflepuff goal posts. A moment later, she released the Bludgers, then rising into the air on her own broom; she gave a blast on her whistle and threw the Quaffle into the air at center field.

Lee began his commentary, "Davies and Smith dive for the Quaffle. And it's Davies for Ravenclaw leading the charge. He dodges the Bludger. Good try, McManus. He's small, but he's fast. Davies takes his shot… Amazing! Caldwell comes up with the ball!

"Now it's Smith for Hufflepuff, charging right up the middle. Ouch! That's got to hurt! He fails to dodge a Bludger from Summers. Chambers comes up with the Quaffle. And its Chambers flanked by Corner and Bradley charging the Hufflepuff hoops. Bludger blocked by Corner. Pass to Bradley and O! Summerby didn't get a hold of that one. It's 10 zero for Ravenclaw!"

Madame Hooch gave a double blast on her whistle then summoned the Quaffle. She flew back out to center field. With a single blast, she threw the Quaffle in the air and play resumed.

Lee continued his commentary, "Smith is with the Quaffle flanked by McMillan and Whitby. McMillan misses the Bludger. Sloth-grip roll by Smith. Pass to Whitby. McManus gets a piece of that Bludger and Chang is going to have to dodge it. Here comes Cadwallader up the outside. The pass is good. He takes his shot and… Page makes the save! Passed back out to Chambers. It's Chambers for Ravenclaw charging up the side with Smith in hot pursuit. Bludger well hit by McManus. Chambers passes to Davies, but interception by Smith and Hufflepuff has the Quaffle. Wow! A reverse Immelman and Smith has the Ravenclaw goal all to himself! He takes his shot and beats Page! It's all tied up at ten all".

Madame Hooch gave a double blast on her whistle and a Bludger hit Smith in the back of the head.

Lee commentated again, "Ouch! Late Bludger. That came off the bat of Ravenclaw Beater, Summers. Penalty shot to Hufflepuff. Don't worry about Smith, folks. His head is a lot harder than any Bludger. He'll be taking the penalty shot for Hufflepuff. Smith has the Quaffle. He feints to the left, deeks to the right and… It's straight through the center hoop! 20 to ten for Hufflepuff!"

A moment after play resumed, Cho dived through the center of the scrum. Lee commented, "It looks like Cho has spotted the Snitch! Summerby is right behind her! They are pushing their Comet 260's to their limit! Chang is in the lead. CanSummerby catch her? And it's, it's… A Wronski Feint! Summerby narrowly avoids getting plowed!"

Cho nearly fell off her broom laughing as she went off to circle the Hufflepuff goal posts. Summerby merely shook his fist at her as he made a lap of the pitch, trying to spot the Snitch.

The game heated up from there. When Cho spotted the Snitch for real, McManus nearly knocked her off her broom with a well-aimed Bludger but Summerby lost sight of the Snitch in the shuffle. As the game pressed on, it became clear that the Bludger to the head that Smith took early on had affected him. He just wasn't as sharp as he ought to be. Ravenclaw out-scored their chasers nearly two to one. After nearly two hours, tempers were getting short and the Beaters were really having a field day.

Lee gave a great commentary, "It's Smith for Hufflepuff with the Quaffle. He dodges Bradly! Pass to Cadwallader. Corner really smacked that Bludger! Cadwallader passes… and it's an interception! Davies for Ravenclaw with the Quaffle charging up the middle with Smith and Whitby on his tail! There's McManus with the Bludger. Pass to Chambers and… He beats Caldwell! It's 100 to 70 for Ravenclaw!"

As the play resumed, Cho made a dive from high over centre-field to the Hufflepuff goal posts at top speed. Lee picked up the commentary, "It Looks like Chang has spotted the Snitch! She's heading for the Hufflepuff end in a hurry! Summerby is on his way. She's making a dive for the goal posts! Summerby is right behind her! Is this another Feint? No, she has seen the real thing. And Cho Chang for Ravenclaw comes up with the Snitch! It's all over! Final score 250 to 70 for Ravenclaw!"

There was a double blast from Madame Hooch's whistle and the charge lead by smith to the Ravenclaw goal came to an abrupt halt. The entire stadioum erupted in an ear-splitting cheer and Luna's hat gave forth with a screech as the animated eagle stretched out its wings.

The sea of blue and bronze left the stadium with Cho, Davies and Page carried on their shoulders. The whole team had performed well and they were heading off to the Great Hall to begin their celebrations. And celebrate they did, well into the night. Even the Hufflepuffs gave them warm congratulations on a game well played. It was, after all, Quidditch.

With the first match of the season over, Harry knew it would be mere hours before tensions would start building up for the most anticipated match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. It was only a week away. He knew how much his team wanted it and he couldn't imagine that the Slytherins wanted it any less. He had seen Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw play today. They were good, better than he had ever seen them play, but he knew that Gryffindor would have the edge over them. The only question mark in his mind was, "Just how good, with their entire team outfitted with Nimbus 2001s, will the Slytherin team be?" One thing for sure, in one week's time, Harry was going to find out.

**Dorset**

The trials were supposed to start the next day and Remus had started to write the article to be sent to Potions Today on Harry's behalf. The article was about the potion, the substituted ingredient and the changes that Harry had made detailing how it worked differently from Wolfsbane Potion. The only thing that they needed was a name to commercialize the product. He knew that the potion would be a game changer more important than the Sleak-eazy potion. Harry had expressed his wishes to sell this as a not for profit product but it would still bring in healthy returns. Harry had a good heart but he did not see the bigger picture so it was Remus's job. If it had been before the anti-werewolf laws were scrapped, he would have seconded Harry's decision to sell it at cost but things had changed since then. He knew that those in Voldemort's employ were given a paycheck for their services to him. Although it was not a lot, it was more than enough to pay for this potion. If Voldemort had anything to say about it, he would rather that they take no potion at all. Mindless monsters spreading terror and lycanthropy everywhere they went fit in with his plans just fine.

As for those werewolves who were staying neutral or actively working on the side of light, they were able to get good paying jobs now. Harry and Remus employed as many of them as they could. Many wizarding families were also beginning to employ them. Under the influence of the new potion and with the anti-werewolf legislation repealed, they turned out to be tireless workers and generally happy to have gainful employment. They were also very difficult to harm with anything other than silver, they could see well in the dark and many of them were beginning to replace trolls in security work. All things considered, there were very few werewolves left in Wizarding Britain who were not employed on one side or the other. It took a bit of convincing, but Remus managed to talk Harry into selling the potion at a modest profit, using the argument that he could plow all the profits back into researching a cure for lycanthropy. Besides, this stuff could be sold at one -seventh of the price of the old stuff and still clear a profit without causing any hardship.

Thanks to Griphook's efforts, Harry's ventures were earning buckets full of galleons every month, but due to long neglect, it was all going back out again for repairs and upgrades. It would be about another year before many of his properties began to show profits again.

There was also the matter of his businesses which were still under stasis. The Weber estates were mostly in Germany and there was no regent managing them. Of course, property under stasis earned nothing at all. He would have to visit Germany to determine what needed to be done and hire agents to manage things there. Griphook assured him that the Weber funds were well invested and growing, but the property would need more of a personal touch.

In fact, Griphook had told him that they would be receiving a letter from the German Ministry of Magic soon. As a lord of one of their Houses, Harry was obligated to show his presence there even if it was just for a few days and he had no intention to settle there.

There was also an issue which he expected would arise after the new potion was available for distribution. The potion was regulated by the Ministry and ICW guidelines. It was not just sold to anybody but only registered lycanthropes. This meant that every werewolf who wanted to obtain the potion legally had to come forward and register and that subsequently, the ministry could track them. It was quite understandable that with the very recently repealed anti-werewolf legislation, many werewolves were reluctant to be registered, tracked and possibly branded. This was the very reason that many werewolves were not registered in the first place. There was sure to be a huge political uproar in the Wizengamot over it. He would need Harold Peverell to deal with it because as a werewolf he had a definite vested interest. He was not against the registry per se but was opposed to the idea of branding them so that the ministry could keep a handle on their lives. It was this aspect which would need to be discussed and a decision would have to be made about it.

**Hogwarts**

The eagles were very exuberant that day having won the first match of the season and by such a wide margin. It had put them in the first place for the House Cup since they rarely lost any points during the year. Gryffindor was a close second, tailing them by only 50 points. Hufflepuff was not too far behind because even their loss had netted them 70 points toward the house championship. The Slytherins were in last place this year because Professor Hughes was very liberal with deducting points from students who failed to show appropriate respect in her class.

Harry had also lost some points this year but not as many as he did in previous years. He had hardly lost 50 points but had earned a lot. Gryffindor would have been in the lead but the twins who indulged in pranks as a matter of course, were still getting caught far too often and had points deducted off them. Sirius had asked Harry if he was ever caught pranking someone and when Harry said he was too clever for that, Sirius chortled that if there was no proof left, nobody would believe his claims. He and James still made the teachers shudder with fright because their pranks were phenomenal and they had been implicitly named in the act. Boxes full of detention slips in Filch's office with their deeds were a testament to their brilliance. The way Sirius had talked about his reputation as a prankster, he almost made Harry feel ashamed because he did not even have one detention for pranking this year so far and he had pulled some of the most spectacular pranks. Hell, he did not even know if there was a record about his and Ron's arrival at the school in the flying car at the start of second year. This could not stand. Sirius would never let him live in peace for a moment if there was no one to sing of his brilliance as a prankster.

He decided to enlist help from some of his classmates for what he had thought namely Susan and Neville because Hannah, Ron and Hermione were prefects and Hermione was a stickler for rules. Ronald would by default be included in the group. That left Neville and Susan. However that sort of prank would need more time. He could start small. It was really simple to get caught though. Just a flash of wand and a priori incantatem would be enough to get him a detention. He also knew the first victims- poor Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle and the perfect person to catch him- Professor Cassandra Lester. The Wizarding Ethics professor, from what he heard, was a very soft spoken person but adhered to rules and most of the Weasley Twin's detentions were given by her.

That was a thing for later because right now, Susan was sitting with him at the Gryffindor table and he was talking to her telling her that losing one match did not mean that they were out of the running for the title though he knew Hufflepuff had very faint hopes to win against Gryffindor. Mandy Brocklehurst slipped in beside him and it was a first. As far as he knew, none of the eagles had ventured to the Lion's table yet.

She was addressing the twins, "You two, cough up".

They pressed a handful of Galleons into her open palm which she pocketed and Harry asked her, "Did you bet on the match?"

She grinned, "Oh yes, it was a good bet. I put in 5 Galleons and got twenty five, not to mention, I won 70 in the last betting pool".

Harry asked her curiously, "How many betting pools are actually running in the school?"

She said grinning, "Right now, there are none however the last one ended the day you patched up with Bones here. Next is the Gryffindor-Slytherin match where these two are offering 10 to 1 for a Slytherin win over Gryffindor, not that there are many takers for that one. Another bet is that you will catch the snitch this time too. They are offering 20 to 1 that Malfoy will catch the snitch and almost nothing if you catch the Snitch. Since I started at Hogwarts, I have participated in at least 20 pools out of which, 15 were about you".

The twins had been frantically making hand gestures to Mandy to stop talking but it looked like the Ravenclaw had not noticed. When she finished telling, they quickly left the table.

Harry's mouth was open in surprise, "Betting pool? On me? Who participates in them?"

"Oh, all of us do. Even the teachers bet heavily in your favour. The first task of the tournament was the biggest one yet where I was getting 20 to 1 that you would survive the task. House of Slytherin had bet heavily against you and lost a bunch of money. Rumour has it that Malfoy had paid for those bets".

While others were snickering and teetering on the edge of laughter, Harry was almost livid. "Did anyone among my friends bet on any of those betting pools?"

"Oh yes. Granger had bet on the second task that you will make the highest score and won the most out of that. She didn't tell you?"

Harry looked towards Hermione who had hidden her face behind a book. Harry wondered at all sorts of secrets coming to him now that he had more friends. "What was the last pool about?"

"Oh it was that you would mend your differences with Bones by lunch that day".

"And who won?"

"Professor McGonagall won 200G, Professor Sprout won 100G and the greasy haired Dungeon Bat made 50G out of it, if you can believe it".

Harry was absolutely mortified. So many things happened behind his back and he thought he was the master of the cloak and dagger stuff all these years. So many things he did not know about- the Harry Potter Fan Club, betting pools and what not.

He smiled at Mandy, "Thank you, Mandy. You have been most helpful to me".

"Harry what do you say about betting in the next pool? Would I gain from it?"

"Oh yeah. In fact, I would ask you to make bets on the fact that Malfoy would catch the snitch this year and encourage others to do that. I intend to make the twins bankrupt this year".

Mandy left happily while his friends were looking at him like he had grown two-heads. "What? Did I grow two heads or do I have horns on my head?"

"Blimey, mate. Would you really lose the snitch to the ferret?" Ron asked.

"Not in a million years, Ron but those who would bet against me do not need to know that".

Harry decided at that moment that he would terrorize the school with pranks in the days to come. Things were getting too monotonous anyway.

Harry noticed that his first two victims were getting up from the table and he stood up asking Susan to stay. She raised her eye brows at him but he gestured her to remain seated and pleaded with his eyes. Reluctantly, she stayed in her place.

He made a rather noisy exit out of the Great Hall and stood outside of the great hall at such an angle that he knew Cassandra Lester would be able to see him directly. As Crabbe and Goyle exited, he charmed their clothes to levitate and in the next moment, Crabbe and Goyle were hovering in the air, yelling and flailing their limbs. This got the attention of everyone in the Great Hall and he was sure that Cassandra Lester noticed him stowing his wand on the wand holster on his wrist after he had hit those two with the arresto momentum charm as they started to come down.

Cassandra Lester was the first one to come running out of the Great Hall followed by other teachers and students. Harry made a show of trying to walk towards the great stair case but she stopped him, "Mr. Peverell, stop there".

"Yes Professor, is something the matter?"

"Mr. Peverell, may I have your wand please?"

With a show of great reluctance, Harry handed his wand to her which she gave to Vikram, "Professor, if you would be so kind as to check the last spells cast by Mr. Peverell?"

Harry gave a cursory glance to the crowd around him and found that most of his friends were looking at him in confusion perhaps wondering how he could get caught in a prank. So far, he had done some very brilliant pranks and none of them were pinned on him. Professor McGonagall was looking disappointed with her mouth stretched in a line so thin that it looked like she had no lips at all.

Vikram, who was trying to suppress a smile, had cast the priori incantatem and turned to Cassandra, "The last two spells cast by this wand are the arresto momentum and wingardium leviosa".

Professor Lester addressed him, "That will be 10 points from Gryffindor, Mr. Peverell and detention tomorrow with Professor Sprout at 6:00".

After 15 minutes, he was sitting in the space behind the mirror on the fourth floor. Without saying anything, most of the members of what he would call the inner circle of his order had followed him. Everyone wanted to know the answer to the question of how he could get caught. Hermione decided to address the elephant in the room. "Harry, how could you get caught? You have performed pranks bigger than those and nobody could pin them on you".

He asked her incredulously, "Hermione, tell me that you don't really think that she caught me unaware".

"What do you mean, mate?" Ron asked.

Susan answered, "It is simple. He wanted to be caught, Ron. He could have pranked them anywhere, anytime but only did it where she could see him with his wand out and put him in detention. What I do not understand is why he would want to get caught?"

Hermione shrieked, "Harold James Peverell, tell me you did not do that intentionally!"

"I solemnly swear Hermione that I did that intentionally. I wanted to be put into detention for pranks".

Hannah asked dumb-founded, "But why?"

"Sirius is always going on about how he and my father have boxes full of detention slips for pranks. I want to break their record, of course".

Hermione sighed, "Harry, you do know that if I catch you in rule-breaking then I will have to put you in detention, right?"

"I would not expect anything less of you Hermione however I would love to see you try".

The prefects present there shuddered. It was something that they had not thought about and certainly would be changing the course of things and bring a lot of action to their otherwise boring night patrols. May be it would bring some excitement to things.

Later that night, Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room with his friends while it bustled with activity around them. Some were playing gobstones, some were playing exploding snap, Ron was sitting with Hermione at chess, the twins were testing their products out of her sight and Neville was bent at the fireplace talking to Frank and Alice. Harry was busy finishing the homework which had been given to the students the week he was absent from school. He had a lot piled up and was diligently working to get through it all. A little part of him scoffed at why the teachers had to be so tough and give so much homework before he banished the thought from his mind.

After he had finished the Potions essay about the proper use of nettles in potions, he stood to stretch his legs and to get his weary joints in action when he happened to look out of the window of the common room and whooped at the top of his voice. He knew which friend Luna had talked about. Hermione who was startled asked him, "Harry, what happened?"

Harry grinned, "Hagrid is back and I am going to see him".

Hermione tersely said, "Harry, this is after curfew hours. You cannot go down right now. I also want to meet Hagrid but we cannot break rules".

Ron grumbled, "Come on Hermione, it's Hagrid".

Hermione glared at him and he slipped down in his chair, withering under her glare. She turned to Harry and found he was gone. She gave a questioning look to Neville who shrugged his shoulders, "He went to the dormitories".

Harry really had gone to the dormitories but he had jumped down from one of the windows and flew down to the ground. The grounds were empty and there was no one out there so he knew he would not be seen.

A few minutes later, he was knocking on the door of Hagrid's hut.

The giant bellowed over Fang's howling and barking, "Don't break down the door. I am coming".

He opened the door and Harry had trouble recognizing his friend. Hagrid was still as tall as he used to be but he was sporting two black eyes and his hair and beard were matted with blood. His untamed hair looked even wilder than usual and there were wood-chips tangled in his bloody beard. He was moving with some difficulty. If Harry was any judge, his healing training told him that Hagrid had some busted ribs.

When Harry took it all in, he asked, "Hagrid what happened? What attacked you?" he asked with concern.

Hagrid levelled his cross-bow at him, "Who are you?"

Harry said, "Hagrid, it is me. Harry".

Hagrid said menacingly, "No, yer not Harry. I know him personally".

"Hagrid, four months have passed since you last saw me. It is me Harry, really".

"If yer Harry tell me something that only he would know".

Harry smirked, "let's recount then. You were the one to take me from the ruins of the cottage in Godric's Hollow. You put me at the doorstep of the muggles. You were the one who rescued me from the rock in the sea. You gave Dudley a pig's tail. You tied Vernon's rifle in knots. You told me, 'yer a wizard, Harry.'. You gifted me my owl. Your wand is concealed in your umbrella. You took me to Gringotts for my first time. You gave Fluffy to Dumbledore to help guard the Philosopher's Stone. Will that do?"

Hagrid pulled him into a bone-crushing hug making him yelp "Oww! my bones!"

"Blimey, you have grown up Harry. Last time I saw you, you looked peaky and small and you were in a magical coma. Dumbledore had given me work to do so I could not stay around to watch you".

"What happened to you, Hagrid?" he asked.

He waved his enormous hands, 'Nothing. Had a little accident is all".

"You must see Madam Pomfrey, Hagrid. She can mend you in a trice".

"No Harry, it is no bother. I will be fine".

After Harry gave up knowing the half-giant would not cede to his demands, Hagrid called him inside where Fang the boarhound put his massive head in his lap and started to drool while Harry scratched him behind his ears. Harry was concerned for his friend who had fresh blood starting to trickle down and asked, "Hagrid, did the giants do this to you?"

Hagrid who was putting a kettle on the fire, dropped it, "What was that? Who said I was on a mission to the Giants?"

Harry grinned, "I know about it Hagrid. The giants did not agree to come with you, did they?"

Hagrid said gruffly, "I do not know how but nothing escapes you and those two. You can find out about anything that is happening but I am not telling anymore".

"Come on Hagrid, tell me about your summer and I will tell you about mine", he pleaded.

Before Hagrid could reply or Harry could say anything, a soft knock was heard on the door and Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak from under his robes and covered himself with it. Hagrid opened the door and standing on the threshold was Albus Dumbledore with an amused looking Vikram Rana.

Hagrid welcome them, "Professor, please come in". He asked Vikram, 'Who are you?"

Albus replied, "Hagrid, meet Vikram Rana. He is the new defense professor. Professor Rana, this is Rubeus Hagrid, our Care of Magical Creatures Professor".

Vikram warmly shook hands with him, "It is a pleasure to meet one so blessed by Mother Magic".

Harry was hiding under the cloak not even daring to breathe hoping that he would not be found when Dumbledore said to no one in particular, "Harry, come out from under the cloak please".

Harry knew he could not fool Dumbledore anyway. When he emerged, Dumbledore looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze for some time while his eyes twinkled before he turned to Vikram, "He is yours professor. Take him back and make sure he is punished for being out after curfew".

Hagrid looked on morosely while Harry left with Vikram. He decided to meet the half- giant the next day to assure him that he was okay.

Vikram took him into the castle while they talked, "Really Harry? You have turned so careless all of a sudden. Miss Granger did not want you to come down today and you did anyway. And you chose to exit through the window in the dormitory? What exactly were you planning to do?"

"Professor, who told Professor Dumbledore?"

"I was on patrol of the school around the 5th floor when Miss Granger came running almost hysterical saying that you had been abducted. I calmed her down and would have sent her back but then Dumbledore came out of nowhere, perhaps alerted by one of the portraits".

"So, are you going to give me detention?"

"I did not want to but now that Albus knows of your misdemeanor, I have to. That will be 10 points from Gryffindor and you will serve detention with Professor Sprout on 1st November at 6:00. Now off you go and do not let me catch you out of bounds again".

When Harry returned to the common room, it was in an uproar.

Hermione was shouting at Ron, "Why won't you come with me to put him in detention?" Everyone else around was watching them with interest.

Harry had heard the last part of what he supposed was a very long rant. "Because he has already been found and put in detention, Hermione", he said and every one noticed him.

Hermione turned on him, "Harold James Peverell, how did you leave the tower?"

"I flew", he said simply.

"You what?", she spluttered.

Harry pulled out his shrunken broom from under his robes, "I flew down, Hermione. I am the best flier at the school for a reason".

Everyone around chuckled. As she turned to glare at the other students, Harry climbed the stairs to the dormitories. He quickly erected a ward, preventing her from entering his dorm, knowing that he would not have a peaceful night of sleep nor would any of his dorm mates if she was allowed inside.

Hermione tried in vain to enter for sometime before she realized that it was futile and left for her own dorms.

Neville asked him, "Mate, how did you get caught?"

"She ran into teachers just outside of the common room. Professor Dumbledore sent her back and found me at Hagrid's, hiding under the cloak".

**The next day **

The first thing that Harry's friends noticed the next morning at breakfast was that Hagrid was back and most of them hailed him. Hagrid responded with enthusiasm but Harry also caught a few looks which said that they were not over-joyed to see the gamekeeper return. Harry supposed it was because many of them had started to like Grubbly-Plank's lessons. However Harry could not care less. His friend was back and that was what he cared about.

The first dark spot this morning had been Angelina who was angry at him for obvious reasons. As she saw him, she almost shrieked, "Harry why do you have to get so many detentions with just a week to go until the match? Are you trying to miss all the practices?"

Harry gave her a grin, "Angelina, I did not intend to do that but it feels like I have some bad luck these days. Why don't you book the pitch in the early mornings because I believe that the serpents would also try to book the pitch at our practice time and clash with us over it? In fact, Oliver used to host practices in the early mornings. That way, we can all be present. Including the reserves, there are 11 of us and we can do without a few morning runs. Flying is also exercise and helps build endurance".

Angelina reluctantly agreed, "Ok, I agree but if you are absent at morning practices then I will hex you into tomorrow".

Classes were easy. There was nothing that could faze him anymore and with Susan talking to him there was nothing more that could disturb him. He decided to give his attention to his newest fixation- pranking others. He had been seriously thinking about the next big prank. True that Voldemort was out there, a war was brewing but they still had some time before the war would come to Hogwarts. Their preparations for the war were in full swing. There was little more they could do anyway. Until then, Harry could prank the hell out of everyone if he so chose.

When he arrived for lunch, he realized that perhaps Hagrid was back to work again. The Halloween decorations were in full swing which was the next day and giant pumpkins were being brought in the Great Hall to be hollowed and enchanted to hover near the ceiling with candles burning in them. It was during lunch when he thought about what he would do for the first thing. This afternoon he was sitting only with Susan at the lunch table because his friends were otherwise occupied. He had been thinking hard and grinned wickedly when a plan had formed in his mind. Susan, who was sitting beside him with their hands touching asked him, "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing much, Sue. I was only thinking about my next trick".

"And what will it be?" she asked him.

Harry debated whether to tell her or not. It was not that it was anything special or top-secret. He decided to take a leap of faith, "Sue, what I am going to tell you is secret and no one, I mean not even a single soul can know about it. Do you know what day it is tomorrow?"

She nonchalantly replied, "Samhain" but then clamped her mouth as she realized how casually she had said it and turned to him, "Sorry Harry, I should have realized what this day means to you".

He said to her kindly, "It's okay Sue. In the last four years, that was the first time that someone has actually realized that this is the day when I lost my parents. Others generally indulge themselves in the feasts but do not think about it. I had never known about this day before I came to Hogwarts. I have been thinking about what you said the other day and realized I should have gone to Godric's Hollow before this year but nobody told me. This year, I am going there".

"Harry, I don't know if anyone has told you this. Until 1981, the school used to hold a Halloween ball but that year it was abruptly cut short by Dumbledore even before the feast had started. Since then the ball has not been held even once. Auntie told me that once or twice some of the Governors tried to raise the issue but he told them that he could not celebrate the death of two of his favorite students. He attends the feast which is the only thing he allowed to happen. I think that they should have told you sooner about it and that you should go there but not alone, I am coming with you".

"No Sue, you cannot come with me. I will be skipping school and would be gone without letting anyone know. When they find me, they will give me detention for it. I do not want you to share the same fate".

She fiercely said, "No, I will not allow you to do that. Either I am coming or you are not going either. I will go to Dumbledore and write a letter to Neville's mother that you are going to act foolishly again".

Harry sighed. He realized she was not about to let go unless he permitted her to come along. "Okay, you can come along but I am not going to take any heat from Auntie when she punishes you for the stunt we are about to pull on everyone".

She grinned, "Don't worry Harry. I may not be a Gryffindor but I am brave enough to face the consequences for my actions. Now what is the plan?"

Harry started telling her and she started smirking.

That evening Harry arrived for his detention with Professor Sprout. She beamed at him, "Welcome Mr. Peverell. You will be collecting bubotuber pus for me".

Harry winced. He knew how nasty bubotuber pus was but also how useful it was for a lot of potions. Putting on his dragon hide gloves, he started dutifully working on extracting pus from the bubotubers when Neville joined him in the detention mid-way, "Hi Harry".

He eyed him, "What are you doing here, Neville?"

"Serving a detention with you, what else do you think I am doing?"

"That has to be some kind of record. Neville Longbottom in detention! You are the Head Master's apprentice, mate and not to mention you are dating a prefect. Who would put you in detention?"

Neville grinned, "Dumbledore has made it clear to me that I should not expect special favors from him".

"What did you do by the way?"

Neville gave him a wicked smile, "Oh, I actually cursed Cornfoot with the bat-bogey hex".

"What did you do that for?"

"Because he was putting the moves on Hannah. I figured I should let him know why the Longbottom name is feared".

Harry snorted, "Who put you into detention?"

"Hannah", Neville said simply.

Harry was immediately suspicious of the other boy, "Hannah put you to detention? Your own girl friend? Or did you purposefully get landed in detention, mate?"

The way Neville avoided answering him, Harry understood something was fishy. He could have tried to read the other boy's mind and find out what it was but he had an aversion to using mind magic without any reason. He had already done it once on Smith and had not enjoyed doing so that was essential to protect many of the students who were part of his little group. It could have been very bad if Smith had turned out to have sympathies towards the death eaters. As it turned out, the boy was just brainwashed to continue a long-standing family feud in which he had no real part. As for Neville, Harry had no doubts as to his loyalties but Harry decided to give him some grief for keeping secrets at sword practice later.

**The Room of Requirement**

Harry had moved sword practice to the Room of Requirement because he did not want Neville's secret to be known to everyone. This would have destroyed the purpose for which the room had been put under the Fidelius Charm.

He directed Hermione to parry with Ron and Susan alternatively while he engaged Neville directly. During the practice, he pummeled Neville to his heart's content.

Their duel had started ordinarily with both circling each other when suddenly Harry had lunged to the other boy and Neville had tried to duck to avoid the blow. Harry however had anticipated this and swung his sword in an arc bringing it downwards and gave a hard blow to Neville making him yelp in pain. As Neville swung his sword, Harry somersaulted over him and landed on the other side. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he started striking at Neville with all the power behind his blows. Neville fended him off for sometime before one extra-powerful blow broke his sword in two. Harry stood back for the few seconds it took Neville to cast Repairo and place an unbreakable charm on his wooden sword before they continued. For the next 30 seconds, Harry showed Neville how useless a sword is when you can't move fast enough to block anything with it. Harry hit him at least another ten times before he stood back again.

Harry grinned, "You are still too slow, mate". Harry had been hard on Neville because he had broken the code of brotherhood. Before the sword practice, Susan had let him know that it was Neville who had put Hermione on his trail when he went off to visit Hagrid. You don't snitch on your brother and live unharmed.

After he finished pummeling Neville, he turned to Ron, "Mate, would you like to give it a try?"

Ron immediately shook his head, "I am not mental, mate".

Hermione however took him up on his offer, "Why don't we practice for some time, Harry?"

Harry looked to Susan who subtly nodded her head. He gave one of his best smiles to Hermione, "You're on, Hermione".

That practice was different. Harry did not swing his sword even once. Hermione swung her sword every way she could think but he was always able to dodge her blows. She kept trying for 20 minutes. Finally, Harry gave a hard tap on her sword hand with his sword making her sword clatter to the floor and put his sword to her throat, "Yield Hermione".

**Badger's Hole**

It was sometime around mid-night when Susan came out of the Badger's Hole to meet Harry who was standing outside. She was dressed in jeans and a form fitting t-shirt with dragon hide boots to go with her dress and a travelling cloak. Harry likewise was in a blue shirt, jeans and Dragon Hide boots with a woolen cloak (which Harsh had transfigured for him once). As she came out, he pulled out a second invisibility cloak (one he had borrowed from Vikram) and put it on both of them. They softly treaded to the front doors of the castle to find them locked. Harry knew the double doors were imbued with enchantments which obeyed the Head Master and since he had ordered them to close for the night they would not open until the next morning. It was disappointing but he had ways around it. Slowly they trudged up to the top of the Astronomy tower and Harry pulled on his familiar connection. Blackstorm came flying up in a few minutes. After the formalities were done, Susan started fussing over the beast and Harry could have sworn that he was enjoying the attention. Meanwhile Harry was left with putting the tack on. They were not going too far on the Hippogriff in such a chilly night but still had a substantial distance to cover.

After he was done putting the tack on, he helped Susan mount and then mounted after her. It was then he noticed that she was shivering from cold and inwardly cursed himself for this oversight. He dug into the pocket of his cloak and pulled out some leaves.

He handed two of them to her, "Eat these, Sue".

"Harry, I am not a grass grazing creature. Why would you offer me leaves?"

"Trust me for this, Sue. I assure you that you will not regret it".

Susan put the leaves in her mouth and in a few seconds, she had stopped shivering and he asked her, "Shall we go now?"

"What were those leaves?"

"Later Sue, but we need to move if we are to get away from the Castle", he told her. "Giddy up", he commanded Black Storm who took to the skies at once. In a few minutes they were soaring through the skies.

**Somewhere in Scotland**

The hippogriff landed after about an hour outside a desolate cottage situated somewhere in Scotland where there was not a soul in sight for miles. They had landed in what appeared to be the courtyard and after taking off the tack, Harry led the Hippogriff to the stable and left him there after ensuring that he had sufficient food and would be warm in the harsh weather.

He led Susan inside the cottage and she could not help asking, "Harry, where are we?"

Harry smiled, "Could you not wait for refreshments before asking questions, Sue? This cottage came with the Rosier inheritance and was a hunting lodge in the past. Since no one expects us to be here, we are safe here. Now about those leaves, they are from a plant which grows in the Himalayas. They can keep you warm in the harshest cold. I brought samples of the plant from India and they are being grown in one of the Potter estates. I chose not to share it with everyone so I would appreciate if you would not tell anyone about it".

In response, Susan yawned widely and Harry chuckled, "Looks like you are tired. Do not worry I have a bedroom ready for you upstairs".

He called "Dobby" and the elf arrived with a faint pop giving a bow. "What Dobby bes doing for master?"

"Dobby, please show Susan to her room and see to it that the warming charms are working properly ".

Dobby bowed to Susan, "You be follow Dobby, Mistress".

Susan blushed a little but followed Dobby upstairs. It was only when Harry was in bed that he realized Dobby had not called her Miss as he used to but Mistress. The implications of the term made him blush too.

**Diagon Alley**

Harry woke in a few hours and went to wake up Susan. He hesitated for a moment debating whether he should go in or not. He however realized that he had no other option than to go and wake her if they were to go anywhere on time.

Susan was sleeping peacefully and looked so innocent in that moment that Harry almost gave up the idea of waking her up but they had a busy day ahead.

He gently nudged her shoulder, "Sue, get up. It is getting late".

She sleepily grunted, "Go away Hannah. I do not want to get up right now".

Harry chuckled and more firmly nudged her shoulder, "Sue, get up. It's me, Harry and you are not in the Badger's hole".

Susan woke up instantly but it took her a few moments to get her bearings.

Harry left saying, "Come down soon. Dobby has cooked a mouth watering breakfast".

When she came down 10 minutes later, Dobby served them a heavy breakfast. When they were done, Harry announced that they were taking a trip to Diagon Alley.

She arched an eye-brow, "I thought we were going to Godric's Hollow".

"We are Sue but neither of us brought a change of clothes and I do not want you to meet my parents the first time without looking your best. Bbeing your betrothed, it is my duty to ensure that your wardrobe is not lacking".

She smiled coyly, "Keep being so considerate and I might keep you".

Harry just rolled his eyes.

Harry released Black Storm telling him to go back to Hogwarts. After sending him on his way, they worked their glamor charms to disguise themselves, then flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. They arrived early in the morning, before most of the shops in the alley opened and walked towards the bank. Susan asked him in surprise, "Why are we going to Gringotts?"

"Because Susan I still have to ask Griphook if I can lift the stasis charms off the manor at least. Samhain is the day to honour your ancestors and I would rather that we do this in the Potter Manor. I remember that you mentioned that you wanted to see my home, so I thought I should bring you along".

Harry entered the bank and went to the same teller who had offended him last time and flashed his ring before him, "Hello there Ironjaw, I see you still have your head upon your shoulders".

The goblin jumped down from his seat and bowed to them, "For which I have to thank you, Lord Peverell. Follow me".

Susan poked him in the ribs and asked him, 'what was that all about?' with gestures.

Harry told her in an undertone, "I sent a letter to Lord Ragnok telling him that he should not be executing someone for following orders".

Susan smiled inwardly at his thoughtfulness.

Ironjaw left them in Griphook's office. The Goblin asked him, "How can Gringotts serve you today, Lord Peverell?"

"I have come to talk about the Potter manor", Harry replied.

"Of course, as you have been told, you are considered to be of age in the eyes of magic therefore the stipulation of you being of age to lift the stasis charm is fulfilled. To get to the manor, you only need to twist your Lord Ring in the right direction and it will act as a portkey. To lift the stasis charms, you will have to offer blood to the Potter Crest at the gate so that it can identify that you are who you claim to be. The manor, as per my information, is in fine shape and you have 4 elves who work as caretakers. Can I help you any other way?"

"No Griphook. That will be all".

They left the bank to go to Twilfit and Tattings. It was one of the expensive shops and mostly those in the elite class came there to buy clothes. The proprietor one Mr. Brown welcomed them in, "Welcome to Twilfit and Tattings. How may I serve you?"

Susan immediately started to list off things that she wanted to buy and Harry decided to let her be at it. He was no good at shopping anyway and Rachael had taught him that if he loved his limbs, he should never interrupt a lady in her shopping.

However, Susan did not leave him alone to his own devices and for an hour, he was attacked by shears, pins, and needles and had tried at least a dozen robes. After Susan was done with her spree, they had a small trunk packed with 3 robes for him, 2 for her, a pair of dragon hide boots and a pair of sandals for her. He shrunk the purchases and made the payments. When they came out, he caught hold of her by her waist and with a twist of his ring, they were gone.

**Somewhere in Great Britain**

They had appeared in what appeared to be a sparsely populated area with hills at the back of the manor and there was nothing visible beyond the two large gates with the Potter Crest on them. Harry knew what to expect. When a property was under stasis, it would look just like Potter Manor looked like right now. There was the gate visible but there was nothing beyond it except ruins. Susan nudged him and he drew a short knife from his hand and sliced his palm deftly to allow some blood to fall on the crest. A minute later, the gates swung open without a sound and a manor was visible beyond the gates. It looked like a palace or maybe a small version of one. As they crossed the threshold, Harry could feel the wards around the property humming.

As he stepped inside the gates, six elves appeared before them. One who was apparently the leader, joyfully squealed, "Master Harry is home!" The other elves joined him in merriment and Harry addressed the chief, "What are your names and what do you do at the manor?"

The chief said, "My name is Sunny. I am the caretaker, master. Master James gave me the duty to maintain the manor". Then he adopted a grim visage, "I know they are dead or they would have returned sooner".

The second elf which was a female, said, "I am Kitty, master. I am the chief elf for the lady of the house and look after the household".

The third stepped up, "I am Happy, Master. I look after the animals being bred at the manor".

The fourth which was also a female said, "I am Twinky, master. I am the chef. If you want anything to eat or have any preference in food, let me know".

Harry was visibly impressed. These elves felt different from other elves in that they did not speak the way others did and they had specific assignments".

Harry asked them, "What about the chief elf for Lord of the house?"

The elves fell silent until Kitty spoke up, "His name was Tilvar, master. He wasted away in sorrow of Master James".

Harry was overwhelmed with emotions which the elf had shown for his father. However he had work to do. "So, do any of you want to take the position or do I have to find someone?"

Sunny spoke up, "Master, this is your prerogative and if you have an elf already, you can give him those responsibilities".

Harry nodded and called, "Dobby.". Dobby arrived with a pop. "What can Dobby be doing for you, master?"

"Dobby, I have been told the position of the chief elf is vacant and I want you to take it".

Susan who had been quiet all this while spoke, "Harry, he is your personal elf meaning he is already your chief elf. Now would you introduce me to them?"

"Right, I will make the introductions.". He gestured to the elves, "This is Susan Bones my betrothed. Sue, these are my elves- Sunny, Kitty, Happy and Twinky. You have already met Dobby".

Kitty hugged Susan squealing, "Kitty has a mistress again".

Harry did not know what to do in that situation so he turned to Dobby, "Dobby, your next work is to find what work there is to be done in the manor, what are the duties of the chief elf and to ensure that the household is never lacking in anything".

As Dobby disappeared with a pop, Harry turned to Sunny, "Would you like to give me a tour of the manor?"

The manor was four stories. The first floor had a reception room where there was a floo so big that anybody over 6" could easily pass through. The reception room was done in the same red stone while the floor was marble. Beyond the entrance room was a sitting room which could easily sit 40. There were a couple of sofas and chairs spread throughout the room that gave the aura of comfort, no doubt the sofas and chairs were laid with charms to make them feel comfortable.

After the sitting room was a big hall. Harry asked Sunny, "Sunny what is this room?"

"This is the ball room, Master. There were a many balls held in this manor in the years past".

Harry surveyed the room carefully. It was big enough to accommodate 300 and the decorations were pleasant. The ceiling was decorated with murals, there were portraits on the walls, and he spotted some paintings. Susan was looking at the ball room in awe and whispered to him, "The Ball Room at Bones Manor does not even begin to compare with this".

Harry smiled, "I am glad that you like this".

Before they could go any further, a phoenix patronus came soaring to him and spoke in the voice of Dumbledore, "Where are you, Harry? Return to Hogwarts, we are worried about you".

Susan raised her eye-brows at him and he shrugged, "Wild hippogriffs cannot drag me away today. He should have done this for me sooner. Let them worry".

Harry had talked with Sirius in the morning on the mirrors and told him that he had snuck out and was planning to visit his parents today and Susan was with him. What he had not told was his location. Remembering some of the threats he had received from the adults last time, he asked him to make sure that he had sent a letter to Andromeda.

Sunny continued the tour. There were a couple of rooms on the ground floor which were mostly for guests. After the guestrooms was the kitchen which was big and Twinky was working hard on producing some excellent food for him and Susan. The dining room was next which had a table that could easily sit about 50 at once but Sunny told him that this was used when there was a gathering and there was a smaller dining room for the family which could sit 20. There was a small broom cupboard full of some old brooms (Harry decided to explore them later) and there was a basement which had a dueling room, a potions laboratory and a wine cellar stocked with old wine bottles. Harry immediately knew that Sirius should not be allowed in there or he would never leave. As it was, the former Azkaban inmate drowned his nightmares too often in firewhisky. After the wine cellar, there was a cellar which contained the ward stones. The ward stones were huge boulders and he resolved to recharge the wards before he left for Hogwarts.

The second floor was where the bed-rooms were. There were at least 8 bed-rooms on that floor which Harry counted not including the Master Bedroom and the Lord's study which was locked and opened after he offered a few drops of blood. The Lord's study was a big room and there was an Oak table in the middle of the room with a Potter Crest engraved on it. There was a big chair behind the table that looked very comfortable. Portraits of is ancestors adorned the walls and had curtains drawn over them. He decided to unveil them some other day.

At the end of the corridor on the second floor were massive double doors. Harry opened the door and was overwhelmed. He and Susan gasped in surprise with the library in front of them. It looked bigger than the Black library and was two stories high with a small staircase at the side leading up.

On the third floor were more guestrooms and a few rooms which had been made for the elves. On the side were little rooms meant for the elves complete with bed and quilts. The top floor had nothing but an owlery where Harry could see a parliament of owls with every owl imaginable being present.

As they came down, Harry called Twinky, "Twinky, Susan here is my betrothed so it is clear that she will be your mistress in a few years therefore you are to serve her and do as she commands whenever she is here".

Twinky gave a radiant smile, "Yes Master. I will take care of Mistress's needs".

30 minutes later, after Harry and Susan were ready, he summoned the elves, "As you all know, today is Samhain and the Potters have celebrated the festival with all the customs. I was not brought up in this and therefore I want you all to assist me in the celebrations. Susan and I are going to Godric's hollow. In the meantime I want you to make preparations for tonight".

After a light lunch, Harry decided to recharge the ward stones and to put the manor under Fidelius Charm. It was imperative so that no one could find them. After he had recharged the ward stones, he cast the Fidelius and asked Dobby to become the secret keeper. The charm required the secret to be entrusted to a living being and it could be a house-elf as well. Nobody would expect an elf to be the secret-keeper.

Afterwards, he commanded Dobby, "Dobby, I want you to take us to Godric's Hollow to the graveyard there. I have to pay respects to my parents".

Susan asked him, "I remember you telling me that you can apparate yet you are asking Dobby. Why?"

"Sue, I can only apparate to a place which I have seen before or if I know where I have to go. If I do not know my destination, I may end up going nowhere at all or being splinched".

Dobby took their hands and disappeared.

**Hogwarts**

When Ron woke up this morning, he was surprised to find Harry still sleeping. The curtains around his four poster bed were drawn shut and there was not a sound coming from him.

Shrugging, he went to the bathroom to freshen up. When he came out 10 minutes later, Harry was still sleeping. He wanted to wake up Neville too but could not because he knew that Harry and Neville slept with wards around their beds and despite his knowledge in Runes, he was not yet accomplished enough to try to break wards.

He found Seamus and Dean were also gone though that was understandable because the Irish boy used to conduct practices with his group on those catapults which Ron was yet to see. Neville woke up when dawn was just breaking and asked Ron, "What has got you worried, Ron?"

"Neville, Harry is still sleeping?"

"Huh! How could this happen? Usually he starts peppering us with stingers if we are late getting up".

They both decided that the matter merited mentioning to their friends.

When they got down to the Common Room, Hermione asked them, "Where is Harry? And why are you both late coming down today?"

"Hermione, Harry is still sleeping. We will have to make do without him".

"Ron, he does not sleep this late. Did you try to wake him up?"

Neville answered, "Hermione, we do not wish to end up dangling from the ceiling or looking like a clown or to be petrified in our places".

"What do you mean, Neville?"

"Harry erects wards around his bed so none of us can actually approach him. There are all sorts of wards around his bed and none of us can counter them".

Hermione climbed up to the dormitories, easily crossed to Harry's bed and turned to glare at the boys who had followed her up. "Honestly boys, can't you come up with better excuses?"

They did not respond to her retort because they knew it would result in a full length tirade. Meanwhile, she yanked open the curtains on one side of the four poster bed and was gaping in wonder. The bed was empty with no sign of Harold Peverell.

They left the dormitories to go find the Head Master. It was early in the morning but it was urgent. They met Hannah on the second floor on the way to Dumbledore's office. As soon as she saw them, she wailed, "Neville, Susan is missing".

Hermione who by now had started to understand what was happening said, "Looks like Harry and Susan have snuck out of the school".

Hannah said incredulously, "Susan would not do that".

Neville snorted, "Han, she is with Harry and I do not know if you have noticed but since they mended their differences, she is sticking to him like his shadow, never letting him out of her eye-sight".

Ron grumbled, "We are digressing. Let's go see Dumbledore and have a talk with Harry when he returns. He doesn't even include his friends in his adventures anymore".

**Head Master's office**

Dumbledore had just come into his office and was sitting in his chair. He had a hard night remembering everyone who had died in the last war. Halloween always opened his wounds and made him relive every heart breaking moment from the last war. Almost everyone who had died in the last war had studied under his tutelage at the school and to see the young die while the old lingered hurt him.

He heard the staircase ascending and a few moments later, Harry's friends tumbled into his room. Before he could ask anything Hermione started, "Professor, Harry and Susan are gone. We checked Harry's bed and it looked like it was not slept in. No one knows where is and we are very worried. Do you know where he is?"

Dumbledore calmly said, "Miss Granger, please take deep breaths before you start telling me what has happened". He turned to Neville, "Mr. Longbottom, can you tell me what has happened?"

Neville calmly told everything that had happened and when he was done, Dumbledore looked worried however he controlled his emotions in a second. "I will try to find out what I can however you would do well not to mention this to anyone else. I will inform the Order and the Ministry and ask them to find him but there is little chance of success, if he himself does not want to be found. You all go through your routines as usual and do not answer any questions about Harry. Since there are no classes today, we can think of a suitable excuse".

After Dumbledore told them to go through their routines as usual, Neville and Hannah were dispatched to inform the students that there would be no sessions that day.

As the students had left, Dumbledore called up Vikram to know if the mystic knew where Harry was but Vikram told him that he had been out of the castle last night on the errand to meet some of his tribe to check Godric's gauntlet in the Archives of Alexandria. When he returned, Harry was not in the school. His mystics were trying to locate the boy.

After Vikram left, Dumbledore sent patroni to Severus and Minerva and flooed to Black Town House.

**Black Town House**

Dumbledore had called a meeting of a few members of the Order to inform them but Sirius calmly told him that Harry had contacted him to let him know he was okay and Susan was with him. He told Dumbledore that Harry had told him that he would return to the school by morning the next day.

Amelia who was present in the meeting grumbled, "He is a bad influence on Susie. I swear I had told her to respect the rules and she has broken them with impunity since they have started to know each other".

Frank snorted, "Amelia, he is James's kid and Sirius's godson. I remember these two had the most detentions for rule-breaking and pranking. Besides as I recall, Edgar was not a saint either or Ellie for that matter. The number of detentions they got was some kind of record for a Hufflepuff. What else can you expect?"

Alice added, "It is likely that they both snuck out together, you know. It may not entirely be Harry's fault. But I swear that when he returns to the school tomorrow, he and my wand are going to have a long talk".

Alastor grumbled, "Good luck with that. That lad dodges bone breakers like he is dancing in front of them, stingers won't even touch him".

Alice grumbled, "I won't exactly use stingers on him, will I?"

Andromeda, who was present, was scowling. "I told him not to pull something like that again and not a week has passed and he has done it again".

Remus snorted, "So, you want to do what? Duel him? Or chastise him? Or plead with him not to do this again?"

Dumbledore replied, "They will be put in detention, obviously. May be, a week's worth of detentions with Severus will etch the message in their minds".

Snape refused immediately, "Absolutely not. I can hardly handle the brat for a class a week and a full week with him will be a bit too much. I have other obligations too, you know". His lips curled upwards in a sneer, "However if we stop him from playing the first match..."

McGonagall who had come to this meeting spoke before he finished his words, "You want to keep him out of the match, Severus? I will not let that happen. Besides once the students know, there will be a riot on our hands".

"My dear Minerva, how do you think we can curtail his brashness then?"

Alice piped up, "Why don't we take away their Hogsmeade privileges?"

Everyone at the table laughed. When she scowled, Sirius said, "Alice, he knows 7 ways out of Hogwarts and he knows his way around the grounds. He also has the world's fastest broom and he flies on it like a bird in the air".

Alice stamped her feet in anger, "Would you all stop tearing holes in every one's logic? If there is no way we can keep him in the castle then what sort of punishment would be sufficient for him?"

At last, it was decided that Harry and Susan would not be allowed to go on any Hogsmeade weekends until the New Year and teachers will be in the village on the remaining weekends to ensure that he had not come despite being banned. Sirius and Remus were requested to aid in the effort because they knew about the ways out of Hogwarts. The Marauders were more than happy to oblige.

**Godric's Hollow**

Harry and Susan arrived in a deserted alley in the village. The graveyard was not very far from there. Under glamour charms, they walked up to the Graveyard which did not look eerie in the daylight. However it had a feeling to it which made them shudder despite nothing being there.

Susan started speaking, "This is a very old graveyard and wizards have been buried here for centuries. A lot of families had settled in the village and this was a wizarding village before the Statute of Secrecy came into existence and they all scattered. However they had started scattering even before the Statute of Secrecy".

Harry asked her, "How do we enter?"

"What do you mean, Harry?"

"Sue, the gate is locked and there are charms upon it".

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. You have to touch the tip of your wand to the gate and it will open but we will have to make haste".

"Why? What is the problem?"

"I don't know if you forgot, Harry but today is Samhain and many wizards have ancestors buried here. They will come to pay their respects. As a rule, a great many witches and wizards come to pay their respects to your parents too".

Harry contemplated her words in silence before he started speaking, "So, where are they buried?"

"I do not know Harry. I have never been here before".

"Then I guess we have to look in every row".

They started with the oldest of graves and Harry was amazed when he came upon a grave which looked very ancient with a black head stone. The name had mostly faded but from what remained, they could make out "IGNOTUS PEVERELL.".

"Blimey! I hadn't expected to find him buried here".

Susan had a look of surprise on her face, "Is he one of the three brothers from 'A Tale of Three Brothers'".

Harry meanwhile had bowed at the gravestone and was putting pink carnation flowers at the grave of the long dead Peverell ancestor. He had to find why the last lord of Peverells was buried here and not interred in the crypts in the Peverell Castle. After spending sometime by the graves, he and Susan resumed their search. Soon they came upon two graves with headstones of white marble. The names stopped them short- "KENDRA DUMBLEDORE" and "ARIANNA DUMBLEDORE".

He turned to Susan, "Are they Dumbledore's relatives? Did you know that they are buried here?"

"I think they may have been related to him and no, I did not know about them. I suppose not many people know about it. However, it is the head master's personal matter".

They kept looking for the Potters and came across many other graves with names like Abbotts, Stevens, Ainsworth and many more. Finally in the last row, there was a grave with a single gravestone which was marked:

**IN LOVING MEMORY OF**

**JAMES POTTER LILY POTTER**

**Born- 27th March 1959 Born- 30th January 1959**

**DATE OF DEATH- 31st October 1981.**

There was a message engraved at the base of the gravestone, _"The last enemy that shall be defeated is death"._

Harry stumbled as he walked towards the grave but Susan was there and she held him firm and gently nudged him to walk forward. He sat at the foot of the graves and started mumbling, "Hey Mom and Dad, I am here. I made it this far and I have brought Sue along. I know I should have come sooner but I could not. I just want to say that I sometimes crave your presence..."

He could not say more because unbidden tears had started to fall. Susan had obviously noticed this and gently cupped his face and wiped away those tears. "Harry, they are always there for you. They love you as much as you them and I am sure they want to see you happy. It is normal to cry but do not think that they are away. They are always with you in your heart".

It was quite some time before he controlled the tears and conjured a bouquet of Oriental Lilies, Gladioli, Red Tulip and Orchids and laid it on the graves. He left when Susan pointed out to him that it was after noon already and soon people will start coming in. He left promising his parents that he will visit them again when he had vanquished Voldemort for good. They also briefly discussed about visiting the cottage before Harry changed his mind and told her that the cottage could wait for another day. He had exhausted his energy for the day.

When they were exiting the graveyard, Harry was lost in grief and Susan was busy consoling him, so neither of them notice the 'finite' which dispelled their glamours. It was only when Susan noticed that Harry's hair had turned to Raven black again, she gasped, "Harry, your hair!"

Harry had his wand out in a second and they found the Marauders before them. Sirius was grinning, "It sure feels great to get the drop on you, son".

Susan asked him, "How did you find us? Have you told Auntie? Are you going to take us back?"

Harry had no intention to duel with the Marauder's just then and he knew without glamour, it was just a matter of time before people would start to notice him. They had to get away and do it fast. He embraced Susan in a hug from behind and was holding her tenderly while he had clasped his hands together with her in the embrace.

Sirius was saying, "Harry told me this morning that you would be here, so I had Kreacher watch this place. He alerted me when you came and here we are. I would have interrupted you both a while ago if you both were not looking so cute together when you were consoling him. We have not yet told Amelia. And sorry Susan, but we are to take you both back. Dumbledore's orders, you know".

Remus grinned and concurred, "As Padfoot said, you two are looking so cute holding each other but sorry, we have to break it up".

Harry grinned, "Not a chance, father and uncle". While he said this, he twisted his Lord Ring to the right and the portkey activated. When Harry hugged Susan, he had been getting his hands in position to be able to use the portkey in his Lord Ring.

Before the Marauders could understand what was happening, Susan and Harry disappeared. Remus grumbled, "Curse you, Padfoot. I told you that we should use stunners on them and not 'finite'".

Sirius responded dourly, "They were looking too cute together Moony. Besides, I do not really want to take him back to Dumbledore. He should have done this for him years ago. What's done is done. Let's go and pay our respects to James and Lily".

They both knew that the day was going to be hard on them with it being their first time since that Halloween night to visit the grave of their friends.

* * *

**A/N- So, I received a lot of reviews for the last chapter. Some of them were very good and I loved them while some of them were full of critique. As always I love the reviews. Nothing gives me higher pleasure than to know that people are reading this fanfic. **

**Thank you everyone for the lovely reviews as always.**

**I also wanted to discuss a trifle matter with you all. I have noticed in other fics that they have modest size chapters hardly of 7K words maximum but I consciously try to keep it up to 10K words a chapter. While it helps me to write more and in detail, I wish to know if you people would prefer short chapters.**

**Another little request- Suggest a name for the new Wolfsbane Potion for I am bad at naming things. **

**This chapter has been reviewed by Hypergym.**


	38. Chapter 38

**Potter Manor**

When Harry and Susan returned to Potter Manor, the elves had finished preparations for the Samhain celebration. Samhain for wizards was the day when the veil between the astral planes was so thin that the dead could walk on this plane among the living. This was a day when they celebrated the dead.

Dobby reported to Harry, "Master, the altar be set in the woods and the bonfire is be made there. There are stones stacked beside the fire and kindling to go into it".

"Thank you Dobby".

Harry took Susan by her hand and they walked to the woods on the estate. There was an ancient altar in the woods which was a heap of stones, suffused with ambient magic. The elves had hung up lamps filled with bluebell flames with the traditional decorations of skeletons and ghosts around the bonfire giving it other-worldly appearance. It was believed that those who departed visit their descendants on this day and the decorations were mainly done to help them to blend in.

When Harry arrived, he found some incense sticks by the altar which Dobby had found somewhere and lit them. This was not part of the traditional wizarding celebrations but Rachael had taught him that the incense was welcoming to the spirits of those who had left us but never truly left. They remained in our hearts even after having been gone from this world. Susan followed his cue even if she had no idea what he was doing. After he lit the incense, he sat on his knees, feeling the magic in the air seeping into his bones.

After sometime, they stood up and walked around the edges of the woods until they found the bonfire which Dobby had gathered. He lit it with an incendio and when the fire was roaring, they went by the stack of stones which had been set. Dobby had laid down some mats for them to sit on. Harry took out a couple of pens which were used for carving runes and handed one of them to Susan. She of course knew this part and picking one of the stones, she wrote a name on it- Edgar Bones. The name on the second stone was Ellie Bones. A few more names went on different stones. Harry meanwhile had written names of James, Lily, Charlus, Dorea and a few more whose names he had learned from the family tree including Vincent Rosier and Emilia Weber. He might not have known them but they were his family.

After they were done writing, they carried the stones and dropped them into the fire. After doing that, they chose another stone on which they wrote their own names and dropped them in the middle of the fire. As they did that, they stood inhaling in the whiff emanating from the bonfire. After about a minute, they resumed sitting near the bonfire and watched it burn.

While they were keeping vigil over the fire, Fairies came drifting to the fire and danced around it in merriment which was very picturesque. Harry kept watching them and suddenly, he started crying. Perhaps it was his yearning for family or the fairies dance or dropping his name in the fire but he cried for 5 minutes without restraint. When he stopped crying he felt lighter than he had in a long time. Susan was no different from him and had been crying hard too. Her eyes were blotchy and she made no move to wipe her tears.

After the vigil was over and the fire was dying, Dobby popped in to tell them that food was ready and Harry asked him to serve them here, in the woods. He wanted to watch the last ember of the fire die out.

After they had dinner and were sitting comfortably, Susan said, "Harry, thank you for this. I have not celebrated Samhain for a long time since Auntie never had much time away from work. I never felt more alive than I do in this moment, sitting in this clearing with you and feeling at ease with the rest of the world. I do not have any memories of my parents so I never really realised what their loss meant to me. Auntie never let me feel that I am not her own and I was content but today, as I tossed those stones into the fire, I realised that I missed them my whole life but I never felt it. It was a burden which remained with me and I stopped feeling it. I have not felt more carefree in all these years than I do now".

Harry smiled lightly. "Sue, I know the feeling. I feel the same way. I have felt their loss acutely and have been burdened with it all these years. Now I feel liberated. I wish that I had been brought up in our traditions since I was a child. However as the muggles say, better late than never so I am glad that I know of our traditions now. What do you say about fishing the stones with our names out of the fire?"

She nodded and he just summoned those stones with the slightest movement of his wand and tossed her stone to her while he looked upon his. His was scorched in the centre but lightly burnt around the edges. Harry knew the stones were supposed to tell how the coming year would go for him but he could not make heads or tails of it. He needed a seer for that.

As they rose, Susan asked him to take a walk with her around the manor. The manor was silent but it was not an eerie silence. When they left the Fairies were still dancing in the clearing.

Sometime during the walk, Susan laced her fingers with him and they walked around hand in hand without saying anything. Sometimes silence can be more comfortable than a whole bunch of words and they were doing just that. Keeping silence and not making a sound. They were content to walk around the manor for a long time until it was nearing mid-night.

Harry escorted her to the room which she had chosen for herself and as she entered her room, she stood on tip-toe, gave him a peck on his cheek and whispered, "Good Night Harry", and was gone before Harry could say anything.

**Hogwarts**

While Harry had a good day with Susan, his friends did not. After sending away the students, Hermione had done what she knew best. She dragged Ron to the library to study however it was clear that her mind was not on it. Some students had asked her where Harry was and she told them that he was called to London last night on some house business which was the best excuse that they could find.

Professor Cassandra Lester had announced over breakfast that the school was hosting Samhain celebrations that night and those who felt like attending them were welcome. Most of the students cheered at her declaration and surprisingly it was not only Purebloods but muggle borns and half bloods as well. In the previous years, Samhain celebrations were more like private celebrations for the students who liked to honour their traditions but this year, things were changing. Most of the students understood why Dumbledore had started Wizarding Etiquette classes at Hogwarts this year. It was to teach the muggle borns the ways of wizards and to prepare them to be able to integrate themselves into wizarding society. The wizarding world would not survive without the muggle borns. As it was, very few muggle borns stayed away from her classes for they wanted to learn more about the Wizarding World.

Daphne had asked Hermione about Harry and was given the same answer with the hope that she would not pry further. Daphne knew a lie when she heard one. It was how she had been trained and Hermione was a terrible liar. Ronald made it worse by saying that she should not be concerned with where Harry was. Daphne had a good idea that none of them knew where he was and she had also not seen Bones this morning. This made her stomach churn even at the thought of them being together but as she saw it, there was no other plausible explanation for their absence at the same time. They were together.

She had asked Tracy for help during breakfast, which for a change they had at the Slytherin Table. Last night, Slytherin Captain Montague had requested that the house mates stay away from Gryffindor students till the next match and argued that if students were too friendly with each other, the element of rivalry will be absent and that would mean that the match would be boring. She had also heard some rumours from the Rumour Mill that Harry had said that he would let Malfoy catch the snitch this time, something which people did not want to believe but a lot of students had put their bets on Malfoy. Daphne knew it was the inner Slytherin of Harold Peverell at work. She had asked Tracy, "Trace, can you ask your red head and tell me where Harry is?"

Tracy shook her head, "he told me this morning that we are not talking until the match is over. He wants to pummel Slytherin in the upcoming match without thinking about how I would be affected. Besides, I do not think he really cares what happens in the castle unless someone wants to keep him in the loop. He already has his hands full with the contraption that Harry wants to be made and the joke shop they are planning to open well before the next school year starts".

Daphne snorted, "Joke shop?"

Tracy asked her indignantly, "And just what is wrong with a joke shop?"

"There is nothing wrong with a joke shop, Trace. What I meant is that they are obviously very gifted at magic and could make it big in the ministry. Why would they want to open a joke shop?"

"I asked him and he said it is their biggest ambition. They have been developing products for ages. Last summer, they found a financer. They have even got premises in a prime location in Diagon Alley".

Daphne shrugged, "Well looks like they devoted a lot of time and energy to it and I have no doubt that they will make it big".

Hermione had spent the major portion of her day in the library, reading about Arithmancy while Ron was working on homework which had piled up knowing this was the last time this week that he would be able to work on it before the match. Hermione however had left the library after about 3 hours because she could not concentrate enough. Ronald had dutifully followed her and they had opted for a walk around the lake. They sat under a tree taking in the scene when Hermione asked him, "Where do you think he is Ron? I did not think that he would just take off like this. He should have at least told us".

Ron snorted, "Hermione, we are prefects and what he did was definitely breaking the rules. Do you really think he would come to you and tell you that he is going to break the rules?"

Hermione sighed, "I liked it better when he involved us in his adventures. We at least knew what was happening. I swear we will have to rein him in".

Ron grumbled, "Have you seen what he can do Hermione? What detention would hold him? That bloke disapparated from Gringotts and nobody can do that. Do you realise what that means? We do not even start to learn apparition till 6th year and he already knows it".

Hermione did a McGonagall and pursed her lips in disappointment.

Angelina was in frenzy and wanted to find Harry so that she could curse him herself. She was livid because he had left them again and disappeared. If there was anyone else who possessed the same talent as he did, she would have replaced the seeker but she knew they were up against Slytherin in the first match and Malfoy was too good for a seeker with limited talents.

Neville was with Hannah in the Mermaid's Sanctuary. There were only two other persons who knew about the existence of the place and both of them were taking a hike so they had no fear of being caught together.

Neville was grumbling, "That Harry does not even stop to ask his friends if they would like to be involved".

Hannah snorted, "Neville, think about it. Of all the people, those that he can really call his friends are you, Susan, me, Hermione, Ron, Ernie, Daphne Greengrass, Padma, Corner, Finnigan and I dare say Luna Lovegood. Of all these people me, Hermione, Ron, Ernie and Padma are prefects which leaves only you, Daphne, Corner, Finnigan, Luna and Susan. I do not think he would share any adventures with Finnigan because Finnigan can blurt out secrets and Corner comes as a package with Padma. You are currently dating me, a prefect so that leaves only Luna and Daphne and I do not think Luna would go somewhere unless she knew there were a chance that she could meet some of her exotic beasts that she keeps talking about. Daphne and Susan, in my mind at least, do not mix well together".

**Great Hall**

The house elves had outdone themselves this year for the Halloween feast and the decorations were amazing giving the Great Hall an eerie feeling. The Great hall was practically empty at dinner time because every student was walking down to the grounds to celebrate Samhain before they indulged in the feast. This was something they all wanted to participate in.

The Wizarding Etiquette teacher was conducting the celebration however there was no altar there but only bonfires in which the students chucked their names and the names of those they celebrated this day. Most of the teachers were also there except the defense professor. Albus had asked him if the mystics celebrated Samhain and Vikram had told him that they did but only tossed a single stone with their name on it. There was no one else in their life but the tribe. Students had seen Snape too, tossing a couple of stones into the fire. The headmaster himself had chucked a handful of stones in the fire. Samhain had not been celebrated in the traditional sense of the word for many years in the castle but Dumbledore had always participated in a celebration in any of the magical households where he was welcome to share their fire.

The bonfire at Hogwarts was different from the fire at Potter Manor. There were no fairies dancing around the bonfire nor were there decorations of ghosts and skeletons. All the Hogwarts ghosts though had attended the bonfire and participated in the celebration. There was nothing better for the celebration than to have real ghosts present there.

After the fire died down and the stones were collected, the feast began. Most of the students had been seen with red puffy eyes and smiles on their faces.

**The next day**

Harry knew that the next day would be hard for both of them because surely there would be consequences for their vanishing act.

He rose early in the morning and did his work-out without bothering to wake up Susan. There was no need to wake her up just yet. After he finished his exercises, he sent Kitty to wake up Susan. She arrived sleepy eyed and grumbling. Harry was seated at the table. She pecked him on the cheek before taking a seat to his left at the dining table.

"What is the plan for today, Harry?" she asked trying to fight her yawn.

"Yes, Sue, my brilliant plan. As soon as we are ready, we are going to floo to the Cottage on the Hill and then fly to Hogwarts to face the firing squad which I am sure has already lined up to take their shots. I can gleefully face all of them and live to tell the tale except Auntie. You will have to handle her yourself".

She gave him a look of mock-incredulity, "This was your idea Harry. Why would I have to face her?"

"Because she will go easy on you but I do not know what she would do to me".

She rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "Coward".

Harry puffed up his chest with mock-indignation, "I will have you know Miss Bones that I am Gryffindor through and through but I draw the line where scary witches are concerned".

After an hour, they were ready to go back to the school.

Harry summoned Dobby, "Dobby, we are leaving for the school. In my absence, you are to stay here and supervise the other elves. I will shortly send my steward to manage this place and to give more instructions to you".

Dobby bobbed his head in agreement and Harry flooed to the Cottage on the Hill right after Susan. As they emerged out of the floo, Harry asked her, "My lady, what would you prefer- A broom or Hippogriff?"

She grinned, "Do you even have to ask? Of course I prefer Blackstorm".

**Hogwarts**

The hippogriff landed near Hagrid's Hut and startled the grounds keeper who was working on his garden. He turned around to find a Hippogriff landing and ran to it. As the hippogriff came to stand-still, he uncertainly asked, "Harry?"

Harry grinned, "Hi, Hagrid. Do you like my familiar?"

When Harry got a good look at Hagrid, he noticed that the half-giant was looking worse. His one eye was swollen shut and there were more injuries on his person. He said, "Hagrid, please go to Madam Pomfrey. She will fix you up in no time".

Hagrid, waved aside his concern, and was eyeing the hippogriff with interest. He had bred a lot of them and was proud of his herd but this one was better than any he had seen. It was taller and stronger than most of his own and exuded an aura which was entirely unfamiliar to Hagrid. Hagrid bowed to the Hippogriff before he approached it and started petting it. As Susan and Harry descended, he started to check the beast from the wingspan of its wings to its hoofs. The beast was magnificent and Hagrid felt that it was certainly a king of its kind and just about to enter adulthood meaning it was going to want to mate soon. That could be a problem if it challenged the dominant stallion for mating rights.

He asked Harry, "What have you named him, Harry?"

"His name is Blackstorm".

"Has he got a mate?"

Harry thought for a moment, "Not really. When I tamed him, he was leading a herd but I do not think he had a mate. Why?"

Hagrid said wistfully, "Do you know anything about mating? He is about the age of an adult and will be rutting soon. I can get him a mate, if you want".

Harry smiled, "You know better than I do, Hagrid. By all means, do as you see fit".

It was then that Hagrid remembered that Harry had been missing for the last day. He asked, "Where were you Harry? Dumbledore was angry. Ron and Hermione also were angry with you".

Harry waved bye to him, "Good thing then that I am going to the head master right away, eh? See you later, Hagrid and take care of Blackstorm".

**Great Hall**

The students were in the Great Hall eating breakfast when the double doors opened without a sound and Harry entered with Susan on his arm, both of them grinning. All conversation in the Great Hall immediately went silent and everyone turned to look at them.

They were dressed in their uniform robes and walking imperiously towards the Gryffindor table when Dumbledore said, "Mr. Peverell and Miss Bones please report to my office immediately".

The head master's eyes were twinkling and a smile was tugging at the corner of his lips but most of the students thought they had imagined it because in the next moment, his expression was impassive and he looked stern. He turned to the teachers, "Pomona and Minerva, since they are from your houses I want you both in my office as soon as breakfast is over".

Harry and Susan obediently followed Dumbledore to his office and when they entered, he locked the door to his office with a locking charm and pointed them to two seats on the other side of the table. As they sat, he turned to the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black, "Inform Sirius that Harold Peverell has been found and is in my office and tell him to inform the order".

He then made a floo call to Green Hues and the office of the Head of DMLE.

Harry was getting nervous, "Uh... Professor what are you doing?"

Dumbledore gave him a grin, "I am of course spreading the news that you have been found. I expect we will have company in a few minutes".

Harry paled, "You mean everyone you floo called will be here?"

"No Harry, not everyone but I suppose Amelia will be here at least. Molly wanted to come but Arthur asked her not to. I suppose Sirius and Remus knew about you though so they will not make an appearance. Andromeda maybe will have words with you when you return home for winter holidays".

As they were talking, Amelia stepped out of the floo and Susan gave a squeak and slid lower into her seat. Dumbledore chuckled, "Amelia, I leave these two to you however I am afraid that I cannot give you more than 10 minutes".

Amelia growled through her gritted teeth, "Oh I won't need even 10 minutes, Albus but thanks for being considerate".

As Albus was leaving, he said to her, "I would appreciate it if you would leave my office the way it is. It is bothersome to try to restore it after someone upends the tomes, destroys the furniture and damages the portraits".

As the door closed behind Dumbledore, Amelia took a seat and turned to Susan, "Explain".

Harry tried to say something but she cut him off, "You will get your chance to speak Harry. Right now I want answers from her".

Susan lowered her eyes and started speaking, "I am sorry Auntie but when he told me of his intention to leave the Castle for Samhain, I could not let him go off by himself. He was feeling very low and I wanted to be there for him. I apologise for this and I will accept any punishment you want to give to me. Harry is entirely blameless in this because I gave him no choice".

She turned to Harry, "What do you have to say about it, Harry?"

"I was feeling downcast and had no intention to participate in the Halloween feast so I decided to take a hike. I wanted to be alone and observe the rituals of Samhain by myself but Susan was insistent upon coming along. I should have refused or put her in a body-bind if she did not agree but a little part of me wanted her to come so I allowed her to. If anyone is responsible for it, it is me".

Amelia gave a small smile, "I can see that the two of you make a good team but both of you are responsible and both of you will be punished. I am furious that neither of you have any regard for rules. However, where have you both been that no one could find you?"

Harry replied, "As you probably already know, we visited my parent's grave in Godric's Hollow. We were going to visit the cottage too, but Remus and Sirius caught up to us there. We spent the rest of the time at one of my properties. Exactly where, I cannot tell you".

She mock-glared at Harry, "I hope you have treated her well but if you have not then I swear".

She could not finish her words because Susan said hastily, "He was the perfect gentleman, Auntie. You do not need to worry about it".

She was walking towards the floor and said above her shoulder, "Well then I will take your leave. For now, I will let the school deal with you as they see fit for being out of bounds without leave. I will deal personally with the both of you when you are home for the holidays. And Harry, Alice asked me to tell you that soon you and her wand are going to have a talk".

Harry cringed at that.

Susan asked him, "What's wrong?"

"It sounded so ominous, almost like a threat except that Godmother never really threatens anyone. She does what she promises".

Amelia left by the floo and at that moment, the door opened and Dumbledore entered followed by McGonagall and Sprout.

Dumbledore took his seat while the teachers took seats on both sides of them. Dumbledore started, "I have no doubt that Amelia made you realise the gravity of your act. I will only say that breaking rules with impunity is not tolerated at the school so you both need to be punished. Suitable punishment has been deliberated upon and your heads of house have agreed upon it. I will leave it up to them to award your punishment to you".

Professor McGonagall started first, "Mr. Peverell, you have been suspected of a lot of rule breaking this year but nothing could be proven so far and you escaped punishment for them. Need was felt to acquaint you with the gravity of your misdemeanours. There were talks of restraining you from the first Quidditch match of the season (Harry started to object but she silenced him with a look) however that punishment was abandoned and it has been agreed upon that your Hogsmeade weekend privileges shall be taken away for the rest of this term. If you continue in this vein, the punishment will extend to the rest of the year".

Harry hung his head in shame but inside he was relieved and was thinking it was not that big of a punishment because he could sneak out on those weekends. Then McGonagall resumed speaking, "And to ensure that you do not enter the village from any secret ways, Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin have agreed to be in the village and keep eyes open for you and Miss Bones".

Harry nodded reluctantly, "I accept the punishment, Professor".

Professor Sprout started then, "Miss Bones, I must say I am surprised that one of my badgers would be involved in such a blatant display of rule breaking. Since you broke the rules, you need to be punished. It should be equal if not more in proportion to the punishment awarded to him. Therefore, you are banned from Hogsmeade weekends for the rest of the term and if you are found involved in similar instances of rule-breaking, it will include every Hogsmeade weekend for the rest of the year".

After their punishments had been awarded, Dumbledore asked them, "Where were you two?"

"Professor, I went to Godric's Hollow to visit my parents. Something that nobody has done for me in the last 14 years. I tried to go alone but Susan insisted. She is entirely blameless in this episode".

Dumbledore sighed, "If I could, I would have cancelled the punishment but other teachers have been informed of your misdemeanours and cancelling your punishment now would bring allegations of favouritism and bias against me. I am glad that you did this, my boy and hope you will forgive me. I have made too many mistakes where you are concerned".

They both were let out before the classes started. Since they had most classes together that day, they sat with each other, ignoring glares from their friends. Harry had a fairly good idea that Hermione was just raring to go on a rant and the way Neville was eyeing them, it was clear that he too would have liked a go. Since there were too many people with too many questions, they decided to skip lunch in the Great Hall.

As they started toward the Great Hall, Harry pointed out to Susan, "Sue, you do realise that that our friends are inside waiting to pounce on us?"

"I know Harry. Why?"

"Because Sue, I do not want to face them right now".

"So what do you propose? Because I am very hungry and I would like to eat".

Harry in all seriousness said to her, "Susan Bones, would you accompany me on a lunch date to the kitchens?"

She eyed him, "Is Hogsmeade too far for you?"

He grinned, "No but I believe I have tested everyone's patience enough for now. Any more indiscretions and they might take me out of the Quidditch match and I wouldn't bet a brass knut on my chances for survival when the team hears about it".

Susan chortled, "The mighty Harold Peverell who has slain a thousand year old basilisk, drove away a hundred dementors, duelled with Tom Riddle and is scared of a Quidditch team?"

Harry grumbled, "Yes. Because I am sure Professor McGonagall would be leading the mob of the Quidditch team and I for one do not want to provoke her". She chuckled at his antics.

He took her arm and they proceeded to the kitchens. As they opened the kitchen door, dozens of elves rushed to them bowing. One of them squeaked, "What can we do you for, Master and Miss?"

"Can you give us a table and some lunch?" Harry asked.

The elf happily led them to a table set up on one side of the kitchen. They took their seats and Harry ordered the elf to bring them something of everything that was being sent to the house tables in the Great Hall.

As lunch was served, Harry started talking, "Susan, what do you think about our life together after the war?"

Susan inwardly smiled. He was talking about them together which made her heart flutter. "It depends on what you want to do, Harry. I mean you have a lot of skills and have so many options and I have some. We will decide it together but as I told you earlier I would like to go to research in the DoM. They work on so many things there. It will lead to me having fixed hours of work and I can be home every day in the evening".

"That is very ambitious, Sue. Are you sure you are not secretly a Slytherin?"

She glared at him, "I will have you know that I am a Hufflepuff through and through and our houses do not define our qualities. They just point to the more prominent ones".

Harry chuckled at her outburst but sobered when she glared at him some more. Then he asked her, "Tell me about some accidental magic of yours".

She grinned, "Once Auntie had some guests from MACUSA and they were discussing something important. I was around 5 at that time and I wanted Auntie to tell me a story and tuck me in as I was sleepy. Since she was busy, she did not hear me. I got so angry at those guests that I vanished their clothes except the bare essentials. I had never seen Auntie looking so angry before then".

Harry started laughing as he was trying to imagine the scene in his mind of wizards dressed in suits and suddenly their suits vanished. She joined him after sometime.

Their date ended as lunch-time was over. They left reluctantly to go to the classes they had.

It was that evening just before the detention with Professor Sprout (which Vikram had given him) that Angelina got hold of him after the classes and shoved him into an unused classroom and entered the door behind him. She was glaring hard at him and he was looking imperiously at her. When Angelina did not speak for some time, he asked, "Do you have something to say or do you just want to glare at me?"

She was barely controlling her fury, "Are you so hard headed that you cannot understand how important the match is for us? I swear if there was someone who had your talents, I would have replaced you. I do not even know if I should hex you into tomorrow or rip your head off".

Harry adopted the scared demeanour, "Angelina, I am sorry. It will not happen again. Besides we had no practice yesterday so, no harm done. I promise that I will be there for team practice tomorrow morning. I trust that you have reserved the pitch?"

She said tiredly, "Harry, I really do want to win the cup. Yes, I have booked the pitch for tomorrow and I expect you there".

**Great Hall**

When Harry arrived for dinner in the Great Hall, he slipped into a seat besides Fred and George as he had realised that students were still sitting at their own House Tables.

Angelina was glaring at him intensely and he turned to George, "Mate, please tell your girl to avert her eyes or she will incinerate me on the spot".

Fred said, "And how unfortunate that would be?"

George added, "Imagine the newspaper headlines".

They both said, "The Boy-who-lived burned to cinders".

This had the desired effect and Angelina laughed despite her anger. "Harry, please do not do anything like that again. McGonagall told me that they were deliberating about banning you from Quidditch for the rest of the year".

George turned to him, shock written on his face, "Mate that would be cruel and unusual punishment".

Fred added, "Yeah imagine others flying and your best player is benched".

George added, "Oh the shame. Slytherin would win without having played".

"As much as Slytherin would love an easy win, I would rather rub it in your face after I have caught the Snitch right under your nose, Potter", sneered Malfoy who had just come up.

Harry laughed, "Maybe, if you weren't so busy looking down your nose at other people, you could look up and spot the Snitch every now and then".

Everyone around them laughed while Malfoy walked to Slytherin Table. Trash talk was common for Quidditch and Harry had kind of expected it. He was also expecting the Slytherins to attack the Gryffindors to sabotage the team as they had done previously and the lions would give as good as they would get.

**Lion's den**

Harry was finally cornered in the Lion's den. He had evaded his friends for long enough and now it was time to pay the piper. As he entered the Common Room just before Curfew, it was surprisingly deserted except for Ronald, Neville, Hermione, Ginny and the twins.

Ron pointed him to a chair near the fire-place, "Take a seat, Harry".

"I think I would rather remain standing. It will make it easier to make my escape if you start trading hexes with me, you know".

The twins cheered, "That is the marauder spirit. Way to go".

Hermione glared at them while Neville started, "Harry, we do not need to tell you what mistake you made. Now this was not our fault and I feel that we can chastise you for this. I do not know about these two but my complaint is that you left your god brother behind in your adventure. You should have taken me along. What if someone had attacked you or something happened to you? Did you even think about your friends once?"

Harry started to say something before Ron cut him off, "Don't speak but listen to us. You think you have become so mighty that we are beneath you? You do not make time for us anymore. You hardly sit with us in the common room and most of the time you are living by yourself doing who knows what".

Hermione started to speak, "Harry, why did you vanish like that? We were worried about you. Did you not think about us at all? Why did you do it? I wanted to hex you for being so careless. How can you be so reckless Harry? You were not here to conduct the morning training sessions either".

Harry looked at Ginny, "Do you have any complaints against me, Miss Weasley?"

She suppressed a giggle, then said, "No Harry. I have no complaints whatsoever against you but Hermione wanted me to be here to bolster the numbers".

Harry turned to the twins, "You two? You have any complaints?"

They bowed low to him, "We just wanted to congratulate you on the act, Prank Mage. It is true that your Hogsmeade privileges are revoked and that is painful but you are our hero".

Harry then turned to his three friends, "I realise you have some genuine complaints with me with the first being that I am not giving enough time to you but you have to realise that I am stretched too thin at the moment and I have too many obligations, none of which are indispensable. This year, I was determined to have more friends than just you three and so it is obvious that people would have claim on my time. Then there is Susan who needs equal time with me so that we can know each other. Then there is the war and Tom. Old Tom is up to who knows what and I realise that we do not really have much time before he will come out in the open, so, obviously I have to prepare myself to meet him when he comes. I also have to make sure that my friends can defend themselves or fight if war is on the door step. As for keeping you out of the pranks, I do not know if you people have realised it or not but two of you are prefects and the third is dating a prefect. You cannot jeopardise your posts for me. If I had told you that I was going to sneak out of the school to see where my parents are buried and to observe my traditions, would you have kept it secret? No, you would have gone running to Dumbledore or McGonagall which is your duty. So, to protect you and to be able to pull this off, I had to keep you all in the dark".

After that Harry nonchalantly walked up to the Dormitories and crashed in his bed as soon as he could change.

As Harry disappeared to the dormitories, Hermione muttered, "We forgot to tell him about the Halloween celebrations".

Everyone around her laughed.

**Badger's Hole**

In the same moment, Susan was being interrogated by her friends in the fifth year dormitories though the line of questioning was different. Her year mates had surrounded her and everyone was looking at her with such eager anticipation on their faces that she had to laugh.

Hannah asked, "What did you and Harry get up to, Bones?"

"What do you mean, Abbott?"

Sally Anne-Perks said impatiently, "Come off it, Susan. You know what she meant. You and he were out of the castle, alone and nobody knew where. Please tell us that you at least kissed him",

Susan scowled, "Just because your mind is in the gutter does not mean others are like you".

Sally Smith said, "Don't pretend to be so high and mighty, Bones. He is so gorgeous that anyone can hardly resist kissing him. I would have snogged his brains out, if I were you".

Susan glared at her, "Are you eyeing my man? Do you really want to die that badly, Sally?"

Hannah pacified her, "Calm down Sue. She is just yanking your wand. She has had her eye on Summerby for a long time now though I would not deny that if he was not yours, I would have tried to make a move".

Susan said in a sing-song voice, "Do you want me to tell this little detail to Neville?"

"Neville!" she gasped and stuttered, "Do... Don't... you dare!"

"Or what Abbott? You will stutter at me?"

Megan who had been sitting quietly said, "Enough of avoiding the topic, Bones. Tell us the details".

Susan shrugged, "You can stop drooling. Nothing really happened between us. We had a tiring day so we did not get up to any shenanigans at all. The only thing which happened was that I pecked him on his cheek a couple of times".

**Saturday, the same week Rosier Estate, Dorset**

This month's trials were at an end with the full moon being tonight. If things went well this night, Remus planned to ask Ted to obtain the patent as soon as it was possible. It would be another week before Harry would receive the patent for the improved potion and they would start mass production. Things were good in the meanwhile except for Nymphadora Tonks who had started to openly show her affections towards him.

He wanted to discourage her but she was not deterred. Sirius had figured out that something was going on and had asked Remus. Remus had stonewalled him a lot of times until Sirius had made him confess that Nymphadora had feelings for him and he did not know if he was good enough for her nor did he want to ruin her life. Sirius told him that he was an idiot to think that way.

He also knew that Sirius was up to something behind his back but had no idea about what it was. He was only determined to not to give in to her attempts. He was not about to condemn someone else to the life he had.

**Hogwarts**

Today was the day of the match. Harry had managed to avoid getting any more detentions. Not that he had stayed out of the hexing, just that he had been careful about who was around when he did it. The upcoming match was Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Hexing the opposing team wasn't just fun, it was a moral imperative.

Gryffindor had the advantage here. They had backup players on their squad which Slytherin did not and they always went everywhere in pairs. Every player was fair game but it looked like some sort of line had been drawn when it came to the Gryffindor team. For example no one tried to hex the twins because they were the embodiment of chaos. Messing with one meant messing with both and nobody was crazy enough to try and fight with them. Another player declared out of bounds was Harold Peverell due to his prowess with the wand. Everyone knew that he had an expansive repertoire of spells, he was notoriously hard to sneak up on and nobody wanted to be at the wrong end of his wand. Other than those three, every player had been hexed or attempted to be hexed at least once.

Angelina had been hexed when she was returning from classes and her eye-brows had grown until they covered her face and she could not see. She had to visit Madam Pomfrey to get it undone.

Ronald had been hexed returning from classes and he had to go to the medi-witch for boils on places which people generally do not show in public. Hermione prowled the corridors for hours afterwards trying to find the perpetrators.

Someone tried to hex Katie with a knee reversal, but was saved by George who was nearby and deflected the hex.

Someone else attempted a stickfast on Fay Dunbar but she deflected it with quick reflexes before replying with a hex of her own. Ginny Weasley sent a couple of Slytherins to the Hospital wing with the bat-bogey hex.

Demelza Robins had been stalked for an opportunity but she had taken to walking with her friends and was always in a group. The final back-up player Jack Sloper had not been attacked or hexed for similar reasons.

The Slytherins had got as good as they had given. The captain Graham Montague had been hit with Twitching Ears hex when he was returning from the library. It was not just a single hex but more like someone had peppered him with hexes and he had to see Madam Pomfrey to counter the hex. Harry and Neville claimed the credit for that in the Gryffindor Common Room to high applause. Ron had grumbled that he missed most of the fun but Harry had reminded him that as the prefect, he was supposed to stop him.

Malfoy had been hit with the tail-growing hex and had been sporting one for a few hours before the medi-witch was able to remove that. That had led to him being laughed at in the Great Hall. The twins had claimed the credit for that one.

The beaters Crabbe and Goyle had been sent to the hospital wing with the Horn-growing hex and the Horn-tongue hex courtesy of the three Gryffindor chasers.

Miles Bletchley had been carried to the Hospital wing after Fay Dunbar had hit him with the scalping hex in retaliation for the stickfast hex.

Cassius Warrington never went anywhere without people around for the fear of being hit. He and a couple of his friends had been found petrified and left in an unused corridor where they had remained for hours.

The only player who had been declared out of bounds was Adrian Pucey because he was the only decent player on the Slytherin team. He always played fair and did not involve himself in any of the cheating.

Practices had been brutal in the meanwhile. Angelina had acted on his advice and booked the pitch in the mornings. Harry had told the students that he would not be participating in the morning runs until the match. Since he and Ron were both tied up, Neville and Hermione had started to give practice to others. Angelina ran them ragged making them practice until the last moment she could manage. Fred and George had once complained that their boils had ruptured which made it hard for them to sit on a broom. When Harry questioned them about it, they told him that it was due to a product they were developing and had tested on themselves. Harry had not practiced any of his new moves during the morning sessions because he feared players from other teams would notice. He wanted them to be a surprise.

Things were good with Susan. They were still eating at their own house tables but otherwise spent every spare moment together. They would often go on a walk around the lake, making small talk with each other, or would organise an impromptu date on the grounds where Dobby would bring them refreshments while they talked. Sometimes they were joined by Neville, Hannah, Ron and Hermione. Harry however remembered Ron's complaint and made time for his friends in the tower. As a rule, he would sit with them and finish the homework or sometimes when he was feeling daring enough, he would challenge Ron to a game of chess where Ron would easily defeat him. Sometimes, he would teach the younger years who had doubts regarding the practical application of something they had read or the theory of the subjects.

He was also planning a major prank for the school but had not yet acted on it because he knew that getting caught in any misdemeanour would mean he would have to sit out of the match which was something he did not want to do. He had made plans, found the people who could help and now was waiting for the perfect time to execute it.

He visited Hagrid a couple of times and the half-giant looked worse for wear every time. He had still not resumed his duties as the Care of Magical Creatures professor but Harry hoped he would take up his position soon. Hagrid often talked to him about beasts and Harry indulged him.

Another thing Hagrid had been puzzled about was his friends and had asked him when he was in the grounds walking with Susan. Hagrid at that time was grooming Blackstorm and Harry could swear that the hippogriff was enjoying all the attention which was given to him. Hagrid had made a separate paddock for him and asked Harry to fix it with warming charms so the Hippogriff would not be cold during the night. Other than that, Hagrid spent a considerable time with the hippogriff except when he was going into the forbidden forest.

He had hailed Harry as they were taking a walk around, "Harry, so good to see yeh. Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"I don't know Hagrid. They are Prefects now so they have some other obligations as well".

"Come in for a cuppa?" Hagrid asked.

Susan replied before Harry could. "We would be delighted Hagrid".

When they entered his hut, Hagrid asked Susan, "Sorry, but I do not remember yer name. Yeh are Edgar's kid, aren't yeh? You are not in me class, are you?"

She smiled, "yes, I am his daughter and my name is Susan Bones. And no, I took Runes and Arithmancy".

Hagrid asked Harry, "Are you two seeing each other?"

Harry delightfully replied, "Oh yes, we are seeing each other".

"Blimey! How soon things change. Before this year, there was only you three and now you have a bunch of students around you".

"Times change, Hagrid. Will you tell us how your trip to the Giants was?"

"Ruddy bunch, they are. Me and Olympe had almost convinced the last Gurg to remain neutral but he was murdered by one of the other giants and now they are all coming to support you-know-who".

"Hagrid, if you cannot speak his name then call him Tom Riddle".

"Tom Riddle?" Hagrid asked, confusion written on his face, "the same Tom who framed me?"

"The very same, Hagrid but I thought you already knew that".

"No Harry, I did not. Tom disappeared soon after he left school and when he re-emerged, he looked nothing like his younger self".

"Oh. So Hagrid, what are you planning to show us for your first class this year?"

Hagrid had a big grin adorning his face, "I have a surprise that you will all like".

Harry slightly shuddered, "Please tell me that it is not another Blast Ended Skrewt".

Hagrid guffawed, "Come now Harry, they weren't all that bad".

Harry mumbled to himself, "May be not to you. They were nothing less than a total nightmare for us".

Harry hauled Parvati aside in the common room one day when she was talking with Lavender Brown.

"Parvati, can I have a word with you?"

She gave him a radiant smile while Brown was saying something to her in hushed whispers and giggling at the same time. "Yes Harry, what can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you, in private if you will".

She followed her out of the common room to a classroom. After he had locked the room, she asked him with a raised eye-brow, "What is it you want to talk about?"

"Parvati, first of all let me apologise for the way I treated you at the Yule Ball. It is not how one should treat a lady when he is escorting her".

"Harry that is an old story and I forgave you long ago. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

He fished out the stone he had collected from the bonfire, "I want you to read this stone for me".

She eyed him inquisitively, "As far as I remember Harry, you were not present at the Samhain celebrations. How did you get this?"

Harry had heard how Dumbledore had Samhain celebrated with all pomp and grandeur. "I had my private celebrations. I cannot read this so I am asking you".

"Why me?" she asked. "I am not the divination teacher".

Harry internally cringed at the thought of going to Trelawney for getting his stone read. He gave a brightening smile to her, "You and I both know that she is not a true seer. There are only three seers in the school and I know them personally. Happily, none of them are named Trelawney".

She took the stone and turned it in her hands, inspecting it for a long time. "Harry, it shows that in the coming year, you will have a lot of troubles but there will be moments of happiness and rejoicing in between. By the time next Samhain arrives, the final battle would have been fought and wizarding Britain would be liberated of the yoke of the oppression of Voldemort".

Harry was impressed with the way she had called him by his name and did not flinch or shudder or gasp at it.

**Gryffindor Fifth Year Dormitory, the Next Morning**

When Harry woke up the next morning, he was feeling pumped. The match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was the moment the whole school was waiting for and Harry felt like he could flatten the Snakes single-handed if he had to.

Ron, however did not seem to share Harry's confidence. Although Ron was the best at the try-outs, which is why he was the new Keeper, and he did well at practice when he was on form, he did not stand up well to the trash talk from the other team. This morning, he was looking a bit peaky and pale. Of course, the previous Keeper had been Oliver Wood, the team captain. Those were big shoes to fill especially when Wood was a professional player now.

Harry knew that Ron had been getting peppered from shots by his older brothers in his back yard since he was old enough to sit on a broom. He was the best instinctive keeper Harry had seen yet, when he relaxed and trusted his feelings. Harry knew that his friend just needed a confidence boost and that he should have seen to it earlier, but he had been too busy to do so. Now, all he could do was tell his friend that he was the best they had.

**Great Hall**

The Quidditch team got ready with firm determination. When they started to march down to the Great Hall, the entire house fell into step behind them. It made quite a display as the entire house marched into the Great Hall clad in their house colours and took their places at the Gryffindor table. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables erupted in tumultuous applause and cheers. The Gryffindor Quidditch team took a moment to stand and take their bows before taking their seats.

Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table and saw that they seemed to be scattered, not all present and that there were a few worried faces on the other team. All well and good, but, when he looked at Ron, he could see that Ron was feeling worse, not better. Pre-game jitters were normal for some people and for Harry, that all went away the moment he was on his broom, but it was total bane for Ron.

As breakfast went on, and the usual pre-game trash-talk went back and forth, Ron looked even worse. If Harry didn't do something soon, they would have to put McLaggen in as keeper and he was not a team player.

By the time breakfast was ending, Ron was looking green and it looked like he would be sick. Harry had not realised that pre-game jitters could be this bad. He took his leave of his house mates for a few moments and went outside the hall to summon Dobby, "Dobby, get me a vial of Calming Draught mixed in a glass of pumpkin juice. Do not bring it up yourself but ask the elves to send it up to Ron at the Gryffindor table".

Dobby popped away and he returned to his table. He watched for when the draught was delivered and coaxed his friend to drink it. Ron, as he expected, had calmed down considerably by the time the team had started to march to the Quidditch stadium.

Susan caught up to them on the way and asked, "How do you like my robes, Harry?"

Harry had been marching side-by-side with Ron, making sure that his friend was feeling better. He had not looked properly at Susan until she asked. When he did, his mouth dropped open in surprise. She was dressed in Gryffindor Quidditch robes, which had been carefully tailored to flatter her figure, and she was carrying a Gryffindor flag with her.

She closed his mouth and said coyly, "Stop drooling, Harry".

Ron had to drag him away because he was sure that he did not know what was going on at that moment. Soon the team was huddled in the team lockers. Angelina was getting started, "So, we are up against Slytherin. Some of them may have better brooms but we have the skill. We have been practicing hard for this match and we will yet again make them eat our dust. Every one of you, remember your roles and fly like you have been doing".

Angelina kept going on and on while Fred muttered to Harry, "Thanks to her, we have not been properly dry this season. Thankfully we discovered the cure for our boils or we would have had to put in substitutes for this match".

Harry grinned back at them, "I have a few moves that I haven't been showing off in practice. And", he said, rolling up one sleeve to show them that he was wearing fore-arm guards, "I have a few other surprises up my sleeve if a Bludger happens to come my way".

After she was done with her ten minute long speech, she ordered her team to get ready.

Harry cornered Ron, "Mate, there is something that I have to tell you".

Ron said uncertainly, "Yeah? What is it?"

"Slytherin have no idea of your abilities and they are scared because you are much better than Oliver was. Just trust your feelings. You have to play your natural game and you will be unstoppable. You have played against your brothers and kept goal against them since you were too young to remember. I do not think anyone on their team possesses more talent than your brothers. This is your moment to show that you are something more than any of them. What do you say mate?"

Ron excitedly said, "Let's show them, Harry". The Quidditch team flew out of the lockers to the field.

The stadium was full by the time the teams arrived at the pitch and like every year, three fourth of the school was wearing Crimson and Gold and were chanting for Gryffindor. Lee Jordan was on the mike.

"Welcome to the second and most anticipated match of the season. I give you the Slytherins!" The Slytherins flew into the stadium in a line.

"Montague, Warrington, Pucey, Crabbe, Goyle, Bletchley anddd Malfoy! The serpents are ready for another pummeling at the hands of the lions".

"Jordan!" exclaimed Professor McGonagall.

"Sorry Professor. As I was saying, we haven't seen much of the Slytherin seeker this year. There are two new Beaters on the team which seem to be built along the same lines as the old ones. We'll have to wait and see how they do.

"Here come the Gryffindors!"

The crowd went wild as they entered in formation. The Chasers with Johnson flanked by Bell on her right and Spinet on her left in the lead, followed by Fred and George with their bats resting on their shoulders and Ron tucked in behind. Harry came streaking out from behind then pulled up to fly just above Fred and George.

"Angelina, Katie, Alicia, Fred, George, Ronald aaand HAROLDDD PEVERELLL!"

The stadium was drowned in deafening noises.

Lee continued, "This year Angelina has put together a strong team and they look unbeatable. They look fit, disciplined and hungry. Angelina has continued the legacy of Oliver Wood well and she has grown to be more amazing than previous years but she still won't go out with m..."

"JORDAN!", Professor McGonagall shrieked.

The teams landed and dismounted in lines facing each other at centre field.

"Sorry Professor. As I was saying, this is a fantastic team. Madam Hooch will be officiating today. She has arrived with the balls and the captains are shaking hands with each other".

Harry observed the hand-shake carefully. Angelina was not a skinny, wimpy girl, nor was she timid, but Montague was a guerrilla. Harry knew that he would try to intimidate his captain, injure her if he could. A non-verbal strengthening charm was easy enough to pull off and he did it.

Lee continued, "It looks like Montague will be clutching his hand throughout the match. Aaand they're off!"

The teams and Madame Hooch rose into the air on their brooms. She tossed the Quaffle into the air and gave a single blast on her whistle.

Harry took off with the team with the wind rustling through his hair, adrenaline pumping in his veins. He started searching the skies for a sign of the golden ball while keeping an eye on the game and ears on the commentary.

"Angelina has the Quaffle. Pass to Alicia. Pass to Katie. And back to Angelina. Feint to the right and Bletchley falls for it! Score Angelina Johnson! It's 10 to zero for Gryffindor!"

Harry spotted the Snitch while Madame Hooch brought the Quaffle out to center field to resume play. But it was far too early in the game and Malfoy clearly had no clue as to where the Snitch was. Harry decided to have some fun and flew in opposite direction with Malfoy following and when he was sure that the golden ball was lost again, he returned back to prowling the skies for the snitch.

Lee picked up the commentary again, "Pucey has the Quaffle, flanked by Crabbe and Warrington. Ouch! That will leave a bruise. Pucey did not see the back swing from his own beater and it hit him in the ribs making him drop the Quaffle. Katie for Gryffindor picks it up and she is charging the Slytherin end. She dodges Montague, a Bludger from Goyle , passes to Angelina! There's Warrington and Pucey. It looks like they're trying Parkin's Pincer".

Just then, Harry dived through the middle of the formation, scattering the Slytherin chasers and giving Angelina a clear path to the goal posts.

"Peverell comes out of nowhere and breaks up the defence! Pass to Katie. She takes her shot… Bletchley makes the save! Pass back out to Warrington. Dodges a Bludger and a Weasley. Crabbe blocks a Bludger from George. Pass to Pucey. Back to Warrington. This is the first test of the new keeper Weasley. Ron charges out from the goal! It looks like a Transylvanian tackle! Warrington flinches and drops the Quaffle! Picked up by Ron. Passed back out to Katie. Pass to Angelina. Reverse pass to Alicia. Alicia is in trouble as Pucey and Montague are closing in on both sides of her while Warrington is zooming towards her. The twins have done a Dopplebeater defense targeting Montague who could not dodge in time and Alicia has escaped. Pass to Katie. She dodges a clear attempt at cobbing by Bletchley. And she has scored again! Gryffindor leads 20to 0".

Harry had been listening to the commentary while he kept track of the golden ball and Malfoy. He was also listening to the score since he wanted to win the match when they had amassed enough points.

"Pucey has the Quaffle. He dodges Bell, Spinnet and Johnson! There's a Bludger from the twins. He dodges that too! It's all up to the Keeper now. He fakes left! Weasley goes for it. Shot on center! There's no way to save that! And Wow? Weasley saves it with a Starfish and Stick by the skin of his fingernails! I have to say that the new keeper is as good as Wood was. Angelina has the Quaffle. She looks determined to evade the opposing chasers but Goyle has smacked the Quaffle into the crowd".

Now Lee almost shrieked, "That's a foul, referee!"

There was a double blast on the whistle as Madame Hooch called a penalty against Goyle. Someone in the crowd passed the Quaffle back out to her while she warned Goyle, "That is mis-use of your bat. One more like that and you will be watching the rest of the game from the locker-room. Penalty against Slytherin. Johnson for Gryffindor will take the penalty shot".

Lee picked up the commentary, "Angelina has the Quaffle. She's going for the left, the right, shot on center and… Bletchley blocks it!"

The crowd groaned with disappointment.

Harry spotted the snitch dancing towards the Gryffindor end of the field but he had no intention to catch it just yet. Malfoy was tailing him closely. It was time to have some fun. Making a big show of spotting something at the Slytherin end, he abruptly turned his broom and raced in the opposite direction with Malfoy following, being very careful not to outstrip the speed of Malfoy's Nimbus 2001 by too much.

Lee continued, "Peverell has seen the snitch! Malfoy is racing him for it! They're diving in the Slytherin end. Peverell pulls up. It's a Wronski Feint!"

The Crowd uttered an, "ooo!", as Malfoy went tumbling between the goal posts, unable to pull up in time. There was a double blast from Madame Hooch's whistle as Montague called for a time-out and Madame Pomfrey charged out to the field.

Lee picked up the commentary, "It looks like Malfoy got plowed. I don't think that Slytherin has a back-up Seeker. If this is bad, it could be all over for Slytherin".

Madame Pomfrey gave him a careful examination. The concussion he suffered earlier in the term was her main concern. As it turned out, the worst injury he received was some grass stains on his robes. Other than his rage at Harry, he was quite alright. The Medi-Witch cleared him to play after about a minute. He re-mounted his broom and shook his fist at Peverell, swearing revenge.

Harry smiled and waved in return while shouting, "Glad to see you're all right!"

With a blast of the whistle and the Quaffle tossed into the air, play resumed.

Lee continued, "Looks like Malfoy is good to go. Better luck next time".

"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed.

Lee chortled, "I mean, good to see a fair match. It's Johnson with the Quaffle and Warrington moves in to intercept. Ouch! It's a collision!"

There was a double blast from Madame Hooch and another penalty shot was awarded to Gryffindor. Angelina was feeling sore from a collision with a guy that was twice her size so Katie took the shot.

"It's bell with the Quaffle. She's charging the center hoop. Bletchley drifts to the right. She swerves left. The shot… And it's through the left hoop! 30 to 0 for Gryffindor!"

The crowd went wild while Madame Hooch carried the Quaffle out to center field to resume play.

"Warrington comes up with the Quaffle. Pass to Pucey. Pass to Montague. Goyle pelts a Bludger at Peverell well away from the Play! What's he doing? He's charging the Bludger! Peverell nearly knocks Montague off his broom with a Bludger off his forearm! Montague takes his shot! It passes cleanly through the left hoop. The score is 30 to 10 for Gryffindor".

Loud cheering erupted from the Slytherin side while polite applause came from the rest of the stadium.

As the game progressed, it got more physical. The Slytherin players, with the exception of Malfoy were all large, heavy guys. Montague was built along the lines of Harry's muggle uncle. Since this was supposed to be a non-contact sport with the exception of the Bludgers, that meant that their larger size made their better brooms a moot point. But they were perfectly happy to use their greater size and mass to intimidate and if at all possible, flatten the Lion's chasers and Keeper. Harry, Fred and George had little to worry about. Of course, Fred and George were practically human Bludgers themselves while Crabbe and Goyle were so inept that they were as likely to hit their own team members instead of the Bludgers. Harry spotted the Snitch repeatedly and faked Malfoy out every time as the score piled up.

Then it happened that Goyle got a lucky hit with a Bludger and knocked Alicia right off of her broom. Harry had been busy at the other end, distracting Malfoy when it happened.

Lee announced, "Spinnet takes a hit with a Bludger from Goyle! She's off her broom! It Looks bad!"

Lee caught Harry's attention. His cushioning charm and Madame Hooch's hit at about the same time, but it wasn't quite enough and Alicia broke her arm in the fall. There was a double blast from Madame Hooch and the play stopped as Angelina called for a time-out. Madame Pomfrey rushed out onto the field and looked her over. Harry knew that he could have fixed her up in a minute, but he also knew that the first Substitute Chaser was Ginny and besides, he did not want to show off his healing in front of the whole school. Madame Pomfrey conjured a stretcher and carried her off to the infirmary. Angelina gave Ginny the high-sign and she mounted her broom with a grin of fierce determination. Fred and George seeing the look on her face, thought that the Slytherins were going to regret taking Alicia out of the game.

Lee picked up the commentary, "Madame Pomfrey is taking Alicia Spinnet out of the game. Don't worry folks, she'll be alright. Substituting for Alicia is new-comer Ginny Weasley!"

The crowd gave her a cheer as she took up her position and waved at them.

"With what we've seen, I expect great things from another one of the red-head clan.".

With a single blast of the Whistle, the Quaffle sored into the air again.

Lee picked up the commentary, "It's Ginny with the Quaffle! Wow! She's really going for it!" Ginny's light frame with her new Nimbus 2001 made for a dynamite combination. The only thing more nimble than her on the pitch was Harry.

"She's past the Chasers. Good Bludger by Crabbe. She's dodged it. It's all up to Bletchley now. She fakes him out of his socks! It's 60 to 10 for Gryffindor!"

As Madame Hooch carried the Quaffle back to Center field, Fred turned to George and asked, "Where did she learn to fly like that?"

George answered, "Beats me. I'm just glad she's on our side".

After that, Slytherin tightened up their defences. There were two more penalties against Slytherin, one for flacking and another one for cobbing. Angelina and Katie each turned them into goals. With the score at 80 to 10 for Gryffindor, Harry thought it was time to end the game. Crabbe sent another Bludger at him which Harry dodged with a barrel-roll making the black ball miss his ear by inches.

Then Malfoy flew up to him sneering, "What's the matter, Scar-head, scared?"

Harry chuckled, "Of what? You or your beaters who can't hit a Bludger straight?"

Meanwhile Slytherin was given a penalty for stooging and Pucey was taking it. Harry was worried that Ron might fold under pressure and would lose it but Ron started doing the Double Eight loop and Pucey failed to score. Harry noticed the snitch flying near the Slytherin end. He made a feint toward the Gryffindor end. Once Malfoy started to follow him, he performed a reverse Immelmann and doubled back to the Slytherin end. Although the firebolt was faster than the Nimbus 2001, Harry was definitely heavier than Malfoy now and the difference was not that great. Malfoy was right behind him and he was pushing his broom for all it was worth. The snitch did a nose dive and Harry was plunging after it. Goyle hit a Bludger at him. Harry used his forearm guard to send the black ball back the way it came but it cost him precious momentum. He dived and followed the golden ball. Pulling out of the dive, he brought it level to the ground and the chase was on. Malfoy had narrowly avoided getting plowed again when Harry pulled out of his dive but he was still close behind him and Harry willed his broom to go faster. The snitch was flying just inches off the ground. It could not possibly make another dive.

Lee announced, "Are my eyes deceiving me or has he touched another level altogether? Harold Peverell is dangling upside down from his broom by his ankle. Malfoy is close behind him. The snitch has changed course and is climbing but Harold Peverell has flipped back on top of his broom and performed a perfect Plumpton Pass. He has scooped the snitch in his sleeve! That's it! It's all over folks! GRYFFINDOR wins over Slytherin! THE final score is Gryffindor 230, Slytherin 10". Harry's teammates had descended to the ground and every one had piled up on him, shouting and celebrating. The Lions did a victory lap around the pitch. While the rest of the team descended, Harry flew to the stands, standing on top of his broom, holding the Snitch aloft.

"Harold Peverell is flying to the Hufflepuff stands towards Susan Bones who, I should tell the viewers, is wearing Gryffindor Quidditch robes, and he has offered the snitch to her. Blushing, she has accepted the snitch. That's my boy... that's my boy". Lee was dancing on the spot with the mike, "Ladies and Gentlemen that is how you do it".

Harry had just done something which he was sure would be talked about for years to come, if not decades.

* * *

**A/N- **Hello folks, I am over-whelmed with the last chapter and I love you all. The reviews were great and I hope this chapter was up to your liking. I tried to make it as much entertaining as possible.

I know some of you would be thinking of the asterisks I used and they are to indicate a scene break or that a different things starts from there so as to make it comfortable to read.

Awaiting your lovely reviews.


	39. Chapter 39

**Hogwarts**

The Gryffindor team was leaving the pitch after the match and Harry was following them, lost in thought. He had hoped that this year things would be better between the houses, the Slytherin players would have come and shaken hands or something but that had been a fool's hope. There had been no change in their demeanor from past years at a Quidditch defeat. Well he could not expect everything to be roses and sun-shine. He was walking hand-in-hand with Susan toward the castle when he noticed two men running toward him, grinning. Having recognized them, Harry ran forward to embrace Sirius and Remus at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked them.

"Dumbledore invited us to the match as your guardians and we were not going to miss such an opportunity, were we? I wanted to see you fly again. I am glad that I came because I can chastise you for that stunt that you pulled at the end. You could have been hurt, pup", Sirius said clearly concerned for him.

Emmeline who had walked up to them by now, said, "Hush you, it was incredible flying. I have heard all about his flying and I just had to see it for myself. He is even better than James was".

Arthur and Molly were there too. Harry assumed that Dumbledore had extended an invitation to them to see their son make his debut more than to see Harry play.

McGonagall who was there with the others said, "Mr. Peverell, I am glad at a Gryffindor win but that dangerous stunt you pulled right at the end was an unnecessary risk. Please see to it that you do not do so again. I did not for a moment think that you would lose the snitch. I feel that the stunt at the end was just you showing off".

Molly wrapped him in a hug admonishing him, "You should not pull those stunts, Harry dear. I was scared".

After she let go of him, Sirius turned to Susan, "Miss Bones, I can see he is quite enamored with you. I trust the feeling is mutual?"

Susan turned quite red and mumbled, "You do not have to ask".

Everyone chuckled while Remus turned to him, "That was something James would have done giving the snitch to Susan, cub if Lily had allowed him to. For a moment, I thought I was seeing him on the broom there".

"So, will you all be staying for lunch or do you have to rush off?" Harry asked the guests after the formalities were over.

Sirius said with mock indignance, "If you want us to leave then you can directly say so, Pup. You do not need to make it a question".

Remus said suggestively, "Think about it, Padfoot. He may want to have some private celebrations".

Harry blushed and Susan too, making others laugh.

Sirius said, "I fear we will trespass upon your time for a bit longer".

They proceeded to lunch in the Great Hall where students from all the houses mingled with each other. As a result, Harry was sitting with Hermione, Neville, Susan, Hannah, Luna, Ernie. The Weasleys were sitting a few places down the table with their children.

Sirius who had been looking around the Great Hall said to him, "It is quite a sight. I would not have believed it if I heard that students from all houses sat in the Great Hall together. You would need to see it to believe it. Things have changed a great deal".

Just then, George, followed by Fred, slipped into a seat across from him, "Harry mate, thank you".

Harry raised an eye-brow, "Thank you for what?"

"Mate, a little birdie told the students that you had said yourself that you will not catch the snitch this time. The ferret had been noising this about for days and that he was going to walk all over you in the match. Nobody wanted to believe it but word is that it came from you. A lot of students, though none from Gryffindor, bet that he will catch the snitch this time. Needless to say, they have lost a bunch of money".

"Who were the highest betters?"

"Oh, the teachers as a rule do not bet in these pools so there is no winner among them but Natalie McDonald won 100G betting on you. Ernie made 50 while one Astoria Greengrass made 50 G. They are the major winners. The biggest loser was Malfoy himself who lost 200 Galleons".

"So where is my share?" Harry asked him.

"What do you mean, mate?" George asked him.

"Well seeing how I spread the misinformation and it made people bet on the wrong side, I am entitled to some of the Galleons you made, am I not?"

Sirius guffawed, "He has you both there. You should share some of your winnings with him".

At that moment, Mrs. Weasley looked in their direction and there was no more mention of the gold. Everyone knew that Mrs. Weasley did not encourage such things.

The guests left after sometime. Harry made his apologies to Remus and Sirius about not being able to come for the full moon tonight due to being closely watched. He was proceeding to the library when George told him, "Remember Harry, there is a party in the Common Room this evening".

Susan arched an eye-brow, "What party is he talking about?"

Harry replied off-handedly, "The post quidditch victory party which we have after a win. Don't you people have a party of your own?"

She frowned, "No, we do not. Come to think of it, there are no parties in any house other than Gryffindor. How do you people party?"

"Fred and George sneak out to the village and bring flagons of butterbeer, pumpkin pastries, pumpkin juice, custard cream and whatever catches their fancy while they are there. I just hope they don't decide to mix some of their products in with the supplies. That would get Hermione's dander up and half of the house would end up in detention".

"What is wrong with their products?" she asked curiously.

"You will have to try one for yourself to know about it", he said. "I am not giving away any of their secrets. Just remember that nothing good comes from using them except a laugh or two".

**A Marauder's Birthday**

On the 3rd of November, it was Sirius's birthday. Harry and some others decided to help him celebrate. Obtaining permission from the Headmaster for a few hours, he had apparated to Black Town House before the break of dawn. The elves had worked all night to make the decorations, getting the cake and everything which they needed.

Sirius woke up. When he started to walk down to the kitchens, he found himself dangling upside down and had to grit his teeth in fury. Harry came into the room and asked him cheekily, "Bested again, eh?"

"Did you run away from school again pup?", the marauder asked him.

"I may have asked for permission. Then again, perhaps I did not. Why do you ask? Want to report me to McGonagall?" he asked him.

"Oh no, I would not commit such sacrilege. I wanted to know if Susan snuck out with you or you gave her the slip".

"Not at all Padfoot, I informed her that I will be here, harassing one marauder. Happy Birthday, Father".

Harry had left him dangling there and returned to the castle giving a letter to Kreacher to deliver to Sirius after he was released by the elf and left his gift.

The gift had been hard for him to find and he could not think of something suitable. Sirius did not need any books because he had hundreds of them already. He had never seen the marauder wear any jewelry either. Sirius's taste in clothes was admittedly far better than his own. He had turned to the only person who knew Sirius better than anyone and Remus had given him an idea.

He had contacted the Goblins and told them to get it done at their named price because it was a hasty job. The gift had arrived this morning at Hogwarts. Harry brought it with him when he came from there.

When Sirius came down from the ceiling, 30 minutes later, Harry was long gone leaving only the elf for company. The elf had given him the letter.

_"Dear Padfoot,_

_I would like to have stayed but I have other obligations which take a lot of my time. I will try and be there this evening to celebrate your birthday with you. I will not be able to stay for long because Dumbledore does not want others marking my absence from Hogwarts. _

_I have brought you a gift which is in the meeting room. I hope you will like it._

_Prongslet"_

Excited at the idea of a gift, Sirius had rushed into the meeting room to find the table laden with gifts. In a corner where space had been cleared there was the gift Harry wrote about. As he undid the wrappings with a flick of a wand, he was speechless for a long time.

There was a platform of sorts on which there were statues of a few animals. The biggest of them was a stag cavorting with a doe, while a dog and a werewolf were in the background watching them joyfully. A plaque on the platform read 'The Marauders'.

Sirius kept watching it for a long time, just staring at the statues and the happy expressions on their faces. He knew Lily was not an animagus but it was her patronus form which was etched on the statue. Sometimes he tapped the statue with his wand, and the animals would start moving making him smile. Whoever stopped by that day appreciated the gift but only a few people understood what it represented.

The only other gift that he loved had come from the twins. They had sent him boxes of detention slips which they had duplicated sometime earlier in the year and thought he would like to keep a souvenir of his glory days.

There had been a big party that night and Harry barely made an appearance and returned within an hour. He told them that they were having a session in the Room of Requirement that night.

**Room of Requirement**

That day Harry had decided to start teaching students to duel. It was something that they should know and there was not much time to learn it. Since there would be no more quidditch practices until the weather cleared and snow stopped falling, they could again start having two sessions a week.

He had also tested the limits of the magic of the room and realized that it could do anything within reason, so if he wanted to have some running space ready, the room would oblige. As such, he was planning to have runs in the room for some mornings. It was better protected and had warming charms to prevent them from being frozen to death, unlike the corridors of the castle which had huge windows that allowed cold winds to pass through.

When everyone had gathered in the room, he started addressing them, "We have learned all the spells which can be useful to us in a duel and would help you to survive however knowing a spell and knowing how and when to use it are two different things. If you do not know what spell to use or you freeze in the middle of a duel that will be your end. CONSTANT VIGILANCE is a must for everyone. Also keep your eyes open for any movement of your opponent and it may give you an advantage over them. Today, we will start dueling with each other to see how you do. These duels are not a show of power or skill but an opportunity to put into practice what you have learned over the last few months. With the spells that I have taught you, every one of you stands a chance. First of all, Hermione and Ron here will be giving a demonstration for everyone. Watch and learn".

Hermione stepped forward confidently while Ron was a little uncertain. Harry knew he was unwilling to hex her but if he did not pull himself together, he would not be able to stand before her.

Hermione had taken her stance against him. Ron had raised his wand to defend himself but the way his eyes darted around Harry knew he was going to humiliate himself. May be, he needed that.

She shot the first spell at him that they had learned for the first time in practice, "Expelliarmus" and Ron's wand flew out of his hand. Everyone cheered but Harry was scowling, "Ron, this is not the time to chicken out. You cannot let her walk all over you. You will not even hurt her this way. If I see you give up so easily, I promise you will be duelling against me next".

The threat was sufficient to move him to action even if barely. She raised her wand against him again. As she shot 'expelliarmus' again, he shot the same at her. The spells collided in mid-air while Hermione brought up a spell chain and Ron pulled up a shield. As the spell-chain was rendered ineffective, he started firing stunners, petrification hex, disarming hexes. He did not let his barrage stop for a few moments and Hermione easily defended against everything that he sent at her.

After he was done, she started a barrage of bombarda at him forcing him to cower behind a shield. When she was not able to penetrate the shield, she used a shield breaking hex followed by a stunner in quick succession. As his shield shattered, he collapsed.

Harry enervated him and signalled Neville to step forward. "Hermione did her job well and stunned Ron who made an effort considering the circumstances. Although I feel his effort was somewhat lacking. As I am supposed to be teaching you, I will take it up with Neville".

He and Neville bowed to each other gracefully and then they started circling each other, cautious of each other. Neville suddenly fired a bone-breaker at him which Harry dodged and retaliated with one of his own. Neville fired another and as Harry dodged this one, he started firing bone-breaker, bone-crushers at him. Neville had become more adept at dodging hexes than others and he dodged all of them. Then Harry feigned exhaustion. Neville was on his guard and did not rise to the bait. He did not drop his guard but kept watching Harry who figured Neville would not fall for it. After sometime, Neville started casting, ensuring that Harry was not pulling some trick on him. He was casting at his best speed. Harry had moved far beyond one on one duels months ago. Neville's curses could not even trouble him a little. Pretty soon they were going spell to spell with spells colliding in mid air and causing mild explosions. Neither of them was ready to give up and the students were fascinated. Neville knew that Harry was not casting at the peak of his strength. He was only teaching others because if Harry really wanted to duel him, he could have defeated him in seconds. Harry also knew that Neville understood he was not casting at full strength and so Neville was not trying to goad him. They kept at it for 10 minutes when Harry started casting faster. Having difficulty defending, Neville reluctantly raised a shield. Harry shattered that with an over-powered hex and the stunner which followed stunned Neville.

There was tumultuous applause at this however Harry could not care less. He enervated Neville and then he divided them into groups to duel. He assigned pairs from different houses together so they would not hesitate to cast their spells.

That session ran beyond curfew hours. Harry discovered another ability of the room. It could open secret passages near the Common Rooms for the students. The passageway for the Hufflepuffs ended somewhere near the kitchens behind a tapestry. Since the dungeons were on the same side, the Slytherins went that way too. The way for Ravenclaw on the second floor ended somewhere near the library where there was a secret passage which led them to their common rooms and was frequently used.

As the students were leaving, Neville agreed to lead the Hufflepuffs to their common room. Harry felt he had ulterior motives for being so chivalrous. If he was not careful, he would end up in a detention with Filch.

As everyone left, Susan had stayed behind. Hermione told him to return soon and went to the Gryffindor tower while Harry summoned Dobby to bring them some refreshments.

He dropped her off at the Badger's hole after an hour and returned to his tower as Blizz.

A few days had passed without any incident. The castle was quiet again, slipping into monotony. The weather had become cold and snow was falling freely now.

Most of the students had given up the morning practices. Seamus had complained to him that he had to quit practicing on the catapult or risk getting buried in snow. Harry acquiesced and told him that they could take a break until the snow stopped falling.

There had also been talk about holding a New Year's ball between him and the Marauders. He had called them on the mirror and they had talked about it at length. Sirius had told him that in previous years, the Blacks used to throw Yule Balls while the Potters hosted New Year Balls and both events were eagerly awaited by the populace of the wizarding world. Those who knew that they would be invited for certain used to mark those days and keep their schedule free in anticipation of the invitation. As the Blacks and Potters disappeared from the scene, they were replaced by other Houses who had been trying to attract the same numbers. Sirius wanted to hold a ball this year and they had decided that a combined ball hosted by Peverell, Potter, Black, & Rosier would do much to lift the morale of the public after they had revealed that Voldemort was alive and back in action. The decision was made to send invitations to their allies within the next few days and Remus, Sirius and Andromeda would look after the other preparations for the party. This was supposed to be the grandest event of the year unless they managed to slay Voldemort later in the year.

There had also been talks about finding a distributor for the new potion for which the patent was expected to arrive within two to three days. As a general consensus, it was agreed that Herbs and Weeds would do a poor job of it. They needed someone who was very good.

Remus had also talked with him at length about the werewolf registry. Harry had protested against the very existence of such a registry. But when Remus talked him through it, discussing with him the idea behind registering werewolves, reasons for registering them and knowing their numbers, his protests had died. They were of the unanimous opinion that the ministry could not be allowed to track them unless it was willing to do the same for every witch and wizard. Since they had decreed that werewolves were not second class citizens, they should not be given any treatment that would make them feel alienated and inferior. Harry had talked to him about deregulating the potion by exercising some influence upon the Ministry but Remus talked him out of it telling him that it was better that it was regulated so people knew who was buying it or people would start to traffic it in the black market. There was another issue which needed their attention. It was to protect his facility and greenhouses where the alternate component grew because it was clear that Death Eaters would attack it if they saw it as a threat. To that end, Harry was ready to hire some hitwizards out of Wizarding Britain to augment the on-site force of 40 or so werewolves who were already working at the facilities.

The next session of the Wizengamot which was scheduled in the middle of November was supposed to be chaotic. As Remus could not participate in it when the issue of registry was raised, he needed Harry there to ensure that his allies and fellow lords would lend their support.

**Hogwarts**

Harry walked into the common room past mid-night thinking hard about a prank which would be remembered for ages. He expected that there will be repercussions but he was ready to take the risk. No one could earn a reputation as a prankster unless he was willing to take a risk.

After thinking about it a lot, he had arrived at an elaborate prank which would require several people. He had a few he could rely upon but none of them was named Ron. The red-head was a Prefect and Harry wanted him to keep his reputation intact. After looking for a long time, he had zeroed in on Mandy and Terry from Ravenclaw, Susan and Justin from Hufflepuff, Daphne and Du Vant from Slytherin and in Gryffindor, he and Neville were sufficient though it meant, he would have to enter the girl's dormitories, something which no boy had been able to do since the school was established. He tried to fly on his broom but the enchantment repelled him. He did not want to use the Mystic's form of travel not knowing what he would find in the dormitories or what scene he would be walking into that way. He worked casting detection charms up the stairs and up the corridors as far as he could aim. He found a curious thing that the enchantments only went up to the last step of the stairs.

The next question was how he could climb atop the stairs without them turning into a slide. On a whim, he transformed into his animagus form and walked silently up the stairs. To his delight, the stairs did not transform at all. After climbing atop the stairs, he found a dark deserted corner and transformed back. Nothing happened which showed that his intrusion had been detected. He silently returned to his own dormitory to prepare for the next phase. For that he was going to commandeer some of the Twin's stuff.

For the next few days, he met others whom he wanted in on his plan. His plan was simple. Cause as much mayhem as they could. He had met others in secret and told them his plan. The plan was to let him in their common room when it was time. After that they would make themselves scarce and Harry would help them with the execution of the prank. True it was going to take a lot to do but the end result was going to be fun.

**A week later**

Hedwig winged her way to the breakfast table this morning carrying a heavy parchment in her talons. Harry untied the letter, offered a treat to the owl and let her fly away. He gave one look to the envelope and seeing the ICW seal, he slipped it inside his bag. Everyone was watching him and waited for him to say something. Harry chose not to say anything because it would be in the news within the next couple of days anyway. Remus had also told him to watch for the newest edition of Potions Today and to expect letters from some big names in the field of potions who were already working on the field of Wolfsbane or Lycanthropy. Harry knew that would happen and he was ready to sort through those letters and make some connections.

In the past week, Neville was finally coming into his own which perhaps had something to do with his training as Dumbledore's apprentice. Neville had told him that Dumbledore was teaching him some transfiguration and alchemy which he had extensively studied under the immortal Alchemist Nicholas Flamel and which Harry had never tried. While Alchemy was very advanced even for NEWT students, Dumbledore felt that the training that he was giving Neville would help him to learn Alchemy as much as he could be taught at this stage. If it still caught his attention, he would encourage him to find a competent alchemist later. On the side, Dumbledore was teaching him to duel and some defensive magic which was really advanced and not everyone could do it. Neville had told him about his failure at sword practice and the old headmaster had told him that he could help him a little and had lent him an old book which had been taken off the shelf about 3 decades ago for being out of use in the library. The book was about weapons and how to wield them in duels. Neville was not very successful so far, but he had started to be able to dodge him far more effectively. Harry had once joked that Neville was perfectly groomed to take the Headmaster's position after the old wizard decided to retire at the age of who knows when. Both were Gryffindors and one was the successor of another. After all declaring Neville as his apprentice would mean that Dumbledore was basically announcing his successor. If the apprentice decided to follow the path of the master, it would not be a surprise. Neville was also getting better in the duelling ring where he usually faced Harry when everyone was gone. Harry claimed that no one else could duel with him like that and it was the best practice he could have.

Hermione and Ronald were having a mixed time. Until last year, Harry had included them in every adventure, told them about everything that happened. He was always gloomy, burdened with people's expectations then. They wished he would smile but he was there and he always relied on them and now that he was being happy, smiling often and at times radiant, they could not be a part of things he did. While he did not tell them about everything he had learned, his skills had already driven the point home that he was something more now than he had ever been before. He was also funny and often pranked people now but they could not participate in those pranks. What they could do was to award detention to him or to deduct points off the house points and to recommend him for detention. Most of the teachers sent students to the Green Houses for detention now instead of Snape. He refused to have anything to do with Harry at all. Rumor had it that he had said that he could not handle the new version for more than a class a week.

One day, Hermione came upon him involved in a prank war with the twins and a few others in the common room. It was more like a brawl where everyone had been a victim and culprit at the same time.

Hermione had entered through the portrait hole and had to duck a violet colored curse. She whipped out her wand and stood up to find that Harry had upended a sofa as a barricade to use for cover and was hexing the twins when he got a chance. It reminded her of a few war movies where soldiers hid in trenches and fired at the enemy when they could. The twins themselves were hiding behind a couple of sofas at the other end of the common room. So far, one of the twins looked like a Minotaur and the other one had a crown like a rooster on his head. One of the twins also sported a short skirt and a tank top while the other was sporting bark armour. They were sporting a multitude of colors on their bodies like they had been hit with colour changing hexes several times.

Hermione also realized that Harry had not been spared from the spells of the twins. Perhaps he had wanted to enjoy this as much as he could. Then she understood why he was hiding behind a sofa and using it as a shield. She saw him giving his wand the barest of flicks and one of the twin's wands was replaced by a fake wand which turned into a parrot while the other twin's spells started to raise him into the air. Neville Longbottom came sliding down the slide (Wait! the stairs to the boy's dormitories did not turn into a slide!) with wand blazing and before the twins could notice him, he had hit one with the pumpkin head hex and the other with the leg-lock curse followed by rictumsempra. Neville himself was sporting antlers on his head and his ears had been switched with a donkey's. Harry by now had freed himself of the twin's spell and together, they had tied the twins. After the fight was over, Hermione noticed that every housemate who was there had been hit with one hex or another.

Somebody had hit Romilda Vane with a Geminio spell and two copies of her were running amok. Cormac McLaggen had been hit with the blindfold spell, bound with ropes and was still flailing his limbs and trying to get out of his predicament because his wand was not in his hand. Some were trying to speak but could not because their tongues were sticking to the roof of their mouths. The boy dormitory staircase was turned into a slide with a Glisseo. Ron was hiding in a chair trying to cover his nose with his hands which perhaps had been hit with an Engorgio. It was large and Hermione sort of liked the look on him. A few of them were dancing uncontrollably. A couple were hanging in the air. A few had their colour changed. Others had parts of their bodies changed to animal's parts. Ginny was hit with the multiple humanoid hex and was changing from human to gnome to dwarf to centaur to goblin to elf in rapid succession. Lavender was looking like a canary with the feathers just melting off of her. Ellia Runcorn was hexing people with the dancing feet spell while Fay Dunbar tried to stop her.

Hermione took in the scene and sighed. She had no other option than to go to Professor McGonagall. She turned to one of the portraits in the common room and found the occupants frozen in their frame. Someone had stunned all the portraits in the room. Enervating the occupants of the portrait, she sent them to fetch McGonagall and to tell her that it was a big emergency.

Within a few minutes, Professor McGonagall came into the Common Room with the Headmaster in tow.

Dumbledore exclaimed, "Merlin's Beard! Miss Granger, what is going on here?"

"I do not know Professor". She spread her arms around, "I arrived in the common room to find this around me. Harry was hiding behind an upended sofa fighting with Fred and George while others were just watching or were hexed. Some were dancing, some were hit with langlock, while a few were showing animal parts".

McGonagall had by now noticed Ron sitting in a chair, in a corner. "Mr. Weasley, do you have something to do with this? Did you perchance take part in it?"

It was Fay Dunbar who answered, "No Professor. Ron entered after it had started and immediately tried to stop his brothers. One of them hit him with an engorgio charm in the nose".

Dumbledore sent a patronus and Poppy Pomfrey arrived after a few minutes, her wand out and looking concerned. As expected, she found Harry first and started hitting him with diagnostic spells. Harry tried to protest but she glared at him and he pursed his lips. After she was done analyzing the results, she was puzzled, "Nothing has happened to you. When Albus sent me a message, I thought that finally it was that time of the year when you would be brought into the hospital wing with an injury. I had even asked an elf to get your bed ready".

Everyone was laughing hard while Dumbledore said, "Careful Poppy or others will think that you are being partial to Mr. Peverell. He does not need any help from you but there are others who do. Please start with Mr. Weasley first".

She fixed Ron's nose in a trice and then started working on others. Within 15 minutes, everyone was restored to their usual state and then Poppy went away. Dumbledore then started addressing the students, "Who is responsible for this?"

None of the prefects knew who had started the fight and so none of them were telling. McGonagall turned to Ron, "When you entered the common room, who was casting spells at that time, Mr. Weasley?"

Ron was hesitant to answer but he had to. "Professor when I entered the Common Room, I found Harry, Neville, Fred, George, Lee Jordan, Ginny, Ellia Runcorn and Lavender involved in a prank fight from two sides. I went to stop Fred and George while Fay tried to stop Harry and Neville. The twins hit me with engorgio and that was the end of my involvement. A few students were trying to help Fay".

McGonagall addressed the crowd, "Those who tried to help Miss Dunbar please stand aside".

There were five such persons including Fay. "For trying to maintain peace and harmony in the common room and for assisting the prefects, I award 20 points apiece to each of you".

She then looked at the culprits of which there were 12 students. Telling them to follow her, her and Dumbledore exited the common room. When the 12 students returned an hour later, they were given a standing ovation by the students in the common room except for those who had tried to stop them. Harry and the twins took their bows while Hermione scowled at them.

Hermione was angry and it showed in her tone, "I hope you all were punished properly. It was reckless of you all to start a prank war in the common room. You could have hurt someone. How could..."

Harry stopped her tirade mid-way with a raised hand in a pacifying gesture, "Really, Hermione. If you keep that up, your face will get stuck that way. We have been punished according to the gravity of our crimes. A few of the most innocent ones i.e. those for whom it was a first offence, will be in detention with Professor Sprout for a week at 6:00 in the evenings. Those who are hardened criminals (a couple of people snorted, while Fred and George took another bow) including me will be serving those detentions with Professor McGonagall. Apart from that those who are being sent to Professor Sprout have lost 5 points each. We the hardened criminals have lost 10 points each from Gryffindor. Initially she wanted to hand our detention to the dungeon bat but he straightaway washed his hands of us. Something about the Weasley's being the bane of his existence or something like that. No other teacher wanted us and the Headmaster could not have us".

The next morning, when Susan looked at the giant hour-glasses that displayed the points for each house, she noticed that Gryffindor had gained some points overnight. She would have asked Harry about it, but he had not shown up to get her from outside the barrels this morning. Now that she looked around, she realized that Neville was not with Hannah either. The two of them sat at the Gryffindor table as had become their custom and waited for news as they began breakfast.

Tracey was already sitting there, waiting for Fred, with Daphne sitting beside her. George was missing too. There was not much space between Susan and Daphne which made her suspicious that Daphne was likely still after Harry.

Sometime later Hermione slid into a seat opposite her and Ron slid in beside her.

"Hermione, where are Harry and Neville?" she asked.

Hermione said off-handedly, "I do not know Susan. We are not talking right now".

"Why? What happened?"

Just then Harry slipped in beside her, "I can tell you all about it".

"Hello Harry", said Daphne coolly, "You haven't said a word to me since the match".

Susan fumed and wanted to tell her off but Harry was already saying, "There are certain commitments which I need to honour, Daphne and I cannot make enough time for everyone. I barely get around to everything as it is".

Susan poked him in the ribs, "So why is the golden trio not talking?"

Harry cringed, "Promise never to call us that again. So as I was saying, yesterday we were bored and Fred and George were envisioning what it would be like to have a prank battle in the middle of the common room. Others egged them on and they challenged me to a prank war on the Marauder's Honour. Being an heir to the legacy of the Marauders, I could not allow their challenge to go unanswered. So I accepted the challenge. Teams were formed of the students who were willing to participate in it. I, Neville, Lavender, Runcorn, and a couple of others whose name elude me were on my side while the twins, Lee, Ginny and a couple of others were on their side. The limit was prank spells only.

We had been in the prank battle for a few minutes when Ron walked in and became the victim of one of the prank spells. When Hermione came in, it was almost at an end. She called Professor McGonagall who rewarded those who were trying to stop us and punished those who were causing mayhem. However, as far as I remember, I did not stop talking to them. It is their choice".

Susan was amused and angry at the same time. "You mean to say that you have been put into detention again? How long is it this time? Harry, you spent the last two weeks in detention almost every day".

Hannah was taking Neville to task, "You are a prefect's boyfriend and yet you are engaged in rule-breaking?"

Neville grinned sheepishly, "If you want to break rules you can join me the next time, Han. Prefect or not, you can have some fun every now and then".

Hannah glared at him while Harry murmured in Susan's ear, "He is so whipped". She chuckled in response.

This detention was a week-long and McGonagall was so angry with him and others that she had set them to clean some of the rooms in the dungeons without magic and had left Filch as their supervisor. They planned to prank Filch too.

**A few days later**

The last few days had been hardest on Argus Filch. He had been gleeful when he was given the chance to preside in a detention over the wretched brats whose sole aim was to cause trouble to Argus. He had been day dreaming about lording over them and to give them hell in detention but as it turned out, the last few days had been anything but fun for him.

The first day, he had told them to clean an old room in the dungeons without magic. They had not used wands as far as he could see and finished their chores easily and quickly without leaving a speck of dirt behind. That night, he had been prowling the corridors to find wayward students when he noticed two students getting into a broom closet. He eagerly shuffled forward to catch those miscreants and threw open the door to receive the biggest surprise of his life. The cupboard was empty! To make sure that his eyes were not failing him, he stepped inside the closet when someone latched it from the outside, trapping him. As per his reckoning, he was rescued from there after two hours by a Gryffindor Prefect after Argus had made himself hoarse with all the shouting.

The second day, he had set them to clean the washroom on the second floor and they had finished it without breaking a sweat. That evening when he went to his office, he found a box of sweets waiting for him with a thank you for all the work he did but was noticed by no one. Over-whelmed, he ate a few pieces of the sweets and ended up with boils. His predicament was solved by the Potter boy who had given him a potion for curing boils.

The third night had been yesterday and he had them clean a room. Mrs. Norris had been taken and trapped in a suit of armour by Peeves. When Argus rescued her, someone had splattered the first floor with mud.

Harry had been having fun for the last three days. They had immensely enjoyed it when Argus Filch could not figure out how they were finishing their chores so quickly. Harry was capable of wandless magic so scourgify was not a big deal for him but for appearance sake, he had enlisted Ron who was happy at being given something to do. He had asked Ron to don his Invisibility Cloak and bring their wands once they were in detention. They had their wands concealed in their sleeves and cast the cleaning spells with Argus being none the wiser. Ron had done the same for three days in a row now and was feeling happy at being part of the pranks. As for trapping Filch in the broom cupboard, George and Fred had disappeared into the broom cupboard when they knew Filch could see them. What Filch did not know was that the broom cupboard had a hidden back door and they exited through it. When he inspected the cabinet, it was already shut with a locking charm. Lee had closed the door from the outside.

The sweets were delivered by Ginny who had been given light punishment. They were a specialty of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and would give boils to the user. They were mostly harmless. A simple cure for boils potion was enough to cure it. Ginny had wrapped them in a gift box and entered his office opening it with Alohomora charm and left soon after she had planted the sweets there.

The third day, Harry had found Peeves lurking on the fifth floor and after letting him pelt Harry with chalk pieces from a blow gun he had fashioned from an old pipe, Peeves had agreed to trap Mrs. Norris in a suit of armour. The mud was splattered on the ground floor by Susan, Justin and a few others.

They were sitting at the breakfast table having breakfast and talking about things of small consequence when an eagle owl landed before him carrying a magazine in its talons. He untied it and there on the cover was Harold Peverell in his Wizengamot robes, looking every inch the wizard that he was. Below his picture was written: **"THE NEWEST POTTER IN POTIONS"**. A small part of him was elated that they were connecting him with his ancestors.

The cover story of that edition was the alternate Werewolf potion which he had developed, had conducted three monthly clinical trials with due diligence and the ICW had issued the patent to him only after being satisfied that it was indeed a new and improved product.

_**"HAROLD PEVERELL INVENTS THE NEW WOLFSBANE**_

_In a press release issued by the Potions Guild at the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW), it has been stated that Harold Peverell, the youngest lord in Britain, also known by the moniker of the-boy-who-lived and who hails from a long line of potioneers throughout his family history, has invented a new version of the wolfsbane potion._

_Here we remind our readers that the Wolfsbane potion invented by Democles Belby was the first break through in this direction and brought much needed relief for those who have been cursed with Lycanthropy. Sadly, for all his genius, Mr. Belby could not find an alternative to one of the crucial ingredients of the Wolfsbane Potion, that being Aconite which is poisonous to every being. It's after effects are devastating on a person. While one would not willingly ingest poison but for several werewolves who did not want to spend the night of full moon as a dumb beast, it was the only option. For many others who would have willingly taken it, it was too expensive for them to afford. For these reasons, the said potion has been criticized for a long time. Many potion masters are of the opinion that it was about time that someone made a break through._

_According to the article submitted by Mr. Peverell to Potions Today, he is quoted to have said that he invented the potion after seeing how it affected those cursed with this affliction. To quote him, "Just because some people want to maintain their sanity during these ghastly transformations, they had no option other than to willingly ingest poison". _

_As per the description of the patent available with Potions Today, he has replaced Aconite with an ingredient which is easily available and he has expressed his resolution to make it available to everyone so that they will not have to ingest any more poison._

_We wish him good luck and express our hopes that we will continue to see him shining in the field of potions like many of his ancestors._

_FOR INFORMATION ON THE PATENT, see P. 28."_

When he was done reading, he realised that his friends were looking at him intently. He also realized that the Great Hall had gone silent. He looked at the teacher's table to find Dumbledore's beard twitching, his eyes full of twinkle, Vikram was giving him a knowing look, Snape had disbelief written on his face and Harry was sure that a copy of the magazine was open in his hands. He knew that Potions Today was a magazine that not just anyone could subscribe to. Its subscription was only offered to those who had obtained mastery in potions with the ICW. However, he could not figure out why others were looking at him like that.

He then noticed today's Daily Prophet open before them and there on the front page was the same photo with the headline below it, _**"THE NEWEST POTTER POTION MASTER".**_

Hermione asked him, "Harry, why did you not tell us?"

"I told you Hermione that I was learning Potions with other subjects. Why does this come as a surprise?"

Dumbledore had stood up at the teacher's table by this time. "I am sure you all have read the happy news that was on the front page of the Daily Prophet today. Mr. Peverell has invented an alternate potion to the Wolfsbane Potion which will be helpful to a lot of those who were afflicted with this terrible disease. I congratulate him on behalf of all the teachers and the students of Hogwarts for such an achievement. Since we cannot do much about celebrating his achievement, I award 100 points to Gryffindor for this achievement and there will be no classes today followed by a feast at dinner".

The announcement was met with high applause the students in the Great Hall.

Harry grumbled, "Would have been nice if he had cancelled the detention too".

As soon as Dumbledore had sat down, students started swarming him, congratulating him or fawning over him. A few of the intellectual minds asked him about the potion and how he achieved it. Harry kept doing this for at least 30 minutes before he got tired and excused himself politely. McGonagall interrupted him before he could walk away to inform him that his detentions had been ended with those of the other students. Harry knew it was more because even Filch had given up on supervising them during detentions. Susan followed him out of the Great Hall to the grounds where they trudged their way through the deep snow to a secluded corner around the lake.

After they made themselves comfortable, he asked Susan, "I suppose you are angry with me, Sue?"

She asked him softly, "And why would I be angry?"

"Because I did not tell you about the new potion".

"No Harry. I understand and I love your surprises. In fact, every time something new comes to light, I feel like I do not know you at all and I try to know you more".

"Sue, what are your thoughts about a date once we are home for Winter Vacation? It would be better to go somewhere other than Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade".

"Why don't we plan a trip to the hunting lodge during the winter vacation?"

"That is a nice idea Sue but I am not ready to show it to others, you know. I would like to keep that as our private retreat. I remember Sirius telling me something about a manor in Ireland which is in a valley and it would be ideal for a vacation spot. What do you think about that?"

"That is not a bad idea, Harry. Who else are you inviting?"

"Neville, Ron, Hermione and Hannah from school, of course. I'll want to invite Sirius and Remus too if they can take some time away from their responsibilities. We will have to spend some time together considering whoelse should be invited".

**The Contract**

Daphne had cornered him that evening at the dining table. Luckily for her, Susan had not arrived for dinner yet. She could talk to him without being glared at by or glaring at the Heir of Bones.

"Harry, I have a proposition for you".

Harry warily asked, "Do you? Please elaborate on that, Daphne".

"Father sent me a letter this morning to tell me about your achievement and to ask if you would be willing to contract with Greengrass Potions as the distributor of your potions or sell the patent to us with the stipulation that a monthly royalty would be paid to you".

He scrunched his forehead in thought, "I do not plan to sell the patent. This is not about profit or fame. This is about giving a chance of a better life to those suffering from lycanthropy. While it is true that I need a distributor other than Herbs and Weeds but I will be able to make a decision only after I have heard Cyrus's terms and conditions. If you would be so kind as to ask Lord Greengrass to write a letter to that effect to me, I would be happy to host him under my roof after this Wizengamot Session. Then, we can discuss the details of this contract".

Daphne nodded at this train of thought. He had made calculated moves which would not give them false hope yet would not ally them against him. He was promising to meet them but was not willing to commit without knowing if there were any strings attached. She would write a letter to her father and ask him to contact Harry directly. Then she remembered he had said something about Herbs and Weeds. "Have you dealt with Herbs and Weeds in the past, Harry?"

"I would not say I have and I would not say that I have not. What I would tell you is that they are far too gold oriented to even think about the reasons why I invented this potion in the first place".

Susan arrived at that moment to see them talking. She knew Harry was not trying to put any moves on Daphne. But she could not trust Daphne. The Greengrass Heiress was a consummate Slytherin and would not stop at anything to obtain her heart's desire.

She knew that the moment was near when she would have to sit with Daphne and talk about it or they would end up trading hexes with each other. Harry was being sweet by humoring her and she could see that he was not behaving the same way towards her as he used to do. She decided to meet Daphne sooner than later but hoped that the day would not come before the next term started.

Days passed very quickly after that. Harry had received a letter from Cyrus Greengrass and they decided to meet after the Wizengamot session for this month.

As Remus had predicted, the news of the Werewolf Registry and its maintenance came up pretty soon after the news broke. The ministry wanted to register the werewolves and to brand them so that it could keep track of them. Frank himself was not of this opinion but agreed that werewolves needed to register themselves. This would help them to know how many of them were legally in Wizarding Britain and how many had arrived illegally to serve Voldemort. Any werewolf not in the register would be considered an illegal immigrant and dealt with in accordance with the law. The ministry was divided. The issue could only be properly resolved in a session of the Wizengamot since it had the power to make laws or to amend them.

Harry had been sent a copy of the proposed bill sought to be introduced by Robert Abbott at the next session. He and Frank were of the same opinion and so Frank had him put the proposal forward. As it was, he needed at least two days away from the school for the session.

When Harry had asked Dumbledore for two days leave, it had been readily granted. The same had been for a few other students who were not lord yet but heirs. When he asked Dumbledore about it, he was told that it was customary to bring heirs to those sessions where something of vital importance to the Wizarding World could be happening. House Business was one of the grounds on which a student could be given a leave however most of them were leaving only for one day.

**Unknown Castle**

Voldemort was furious. He had heard of the new potion and the effects it had upon werewolves. He did not want his werewolves to take any potion but he could feel that their loyalties were slightly shifting which was reason for concern and any indiscretion of his part may cost him their loyalty. Already 100 or so werewolves had already sidelined themselves from the war or even joined the other side with the Ministry offering them a better deal than he did.

He could not forbid his followers from taking the new potion because he feared that they might rebel and he would lose a major chunk of his forces. The Ministry had made significant improvement under the new regime and if things continued in this vein, his already difficult campaign would be nigh impossible. Already three of his followers whose families had pledged their loyalties to House of Black had begged him to not involve them in any plans regarding Harold Peverell or their entire bloodline would suffer. They had otherwise agreed to do as he decreed for them. He had crucioed them for a long time but had granted their wish because he realized the complicated magics behind loyalty oaths would otherwise render them incapable and perhaps extinguish 3 bloodlines in one go which would cause even more resentment among his followers.

Severus had also given him some important news about something that the old fool was planning to do around Yule and had promised that he would inform him if it was imperative for him to act instantly. Of course, he remembered how the interfering, old coot had placed the philosopher's stone forever beyond his reach just four years ago. The image of the prophecy, sitting on its shelf somewhere deep in the department of mysteries flashed across his mind.

He also realized that he had to speed up the timeline for his objectives or he would have to spend a lot more time in the shadows. First was storming the wizarding prison Azkaban. He needed his followers out at any cost because without trusted commanders, he could not win a war. No one among his new followers possessed the cruelty or the talents of the members of his Inner Circle. He needed at least Bellatrix, Dolohov and Rookwood out of prison because Bellatrix was almost as talented as him while Dolohov was a ruthless killer. Rookwood had worked in the Department of Mysteries and as such, he could help them in figuring out a way to pick up the prophecy orb without the need for Voldemort to personally go and do it. He would also need the Dementors on his side.

**A meeting of Allies**

Harry had arrived this morning at the Townhouse. They had a meeting scheduled for the allies at the Bones Townhouse today at noon. Harry needed to be there because he knew that the wizarding world had begun to look to him as a leader for the new united factions. As Remus Lupin was a werewolf, some people would have objected to his presence and Dumbledore would have been forced to ask him to stay out of it for reasons of conflict of interest meaning that House of Potter would not be represented. He had to be there in person.

He had been joined by Susan when he had arrived with Sirius at the Bones Townhouse in the afternoon. The house elf escorted them inside. Amelia offered them seats at the table while they waited for others to turn up. The first one to come through was Robert Abbott which was no surprise because Hannah and Susan were best friends, so it was natural that he was invited. As it was, they knew that the loyalty of the neutrals was temporary and they would get back to being neutral after the war. It was wise to strengthen the Grand Alliance while they could.

Soon others started to come in. Macmillan was followed by Ainsworth who was followed by Acton followed by Boot followed by Corner followed by Greengrass followed by Arthur followed by Charlie followed by Andromeda lastly by Alice. There were also a few more lords he did not knew who previously had belonged to the Neutrals and were allied with House Greengrass namely Orpington. Ebercrombie, Zeller, Fawley, Shafiq, and a few others who names eluded him at that moment. Alice sent a glare his way as she entered the meeting room but said nothing at that time. Harry knew he was going to be receiving an earful from her later and may be a couple of hexes.

Since Lady Bones had called the meeting, she started speaking, "As you all have been informed by the Wizengamot, a change to the Werewolf Registry has been proposed by Robert. We will be voting on it in the coming session. This meeting has been called here to discuss the issue and to see if anyone has opposite views to ours that the ministry should not be allowed to track werewolves. Who would like to go first?"

Ainsworth raised his hand. "I am not in favor of the change. If we are able to track them then we will be able to sleep peacefully at night knowing that the ministry is watching them and taking adequate steps to protect us. While we have repealed the horrendous laws, it will be a bit much to let them roam without knowing what they are doing".

A few of them concurred with his statement.

It fell to Harry to assuage their concerns. "I would concede that Lord Ainsworth has raised valid points but I do not agree with his proposition. When we repealed the laws, we were aiming to achieve equality for werewolves and most of them who were turned have never engaged in any act which would merit such treatment at our hands. The sole objective of repealing the laws was to help them realize that we are not discriminating against them. I agree that we must keep a register of werewolves so that we would know if they were involved in any criminal activities but I do not want them to be branded like cattle. They must be given liberty to live life free from shackles and if we keep restraining them then for the purpose of equality, we would have to brand and track every witch and wizard because otherwise there is no other way that I think we would be able to give them equality. Most of you have children in Hogwarts who have studied under the tutelage of Remus Lupin when he was the defense professor. Can any of you tell me that there has been a better defense teacher than him in years? For all the year, he took the wolfsbane even though Aconite is a poison just so that he would not turn any student. Many of you have employed werewolves and they have been hard working and honest. There are werewolves out there who deserve a chance at living freely and I, for one, am willing to give them that chance. I also implore you all to support this motion".

Many of them clapped after he had sat down.

Lord Ainsworth started speaking again, "How can we ensure that a werewolf who is engaged in a crime will be correctly identified and punished, if we cannot track them?"

It was Amelia who answered, "I will answer this one. The same methods and laws will apply as if any witch or wizard had committed a crime. We will have their magical signature registered. In case of a crime, we will track them through their magical signature and when found guilty, they would be punished in accordance with our laws. The crime of turning, however, is unique to werewolves and their condition. This crime is punishable by death".

"Is that not a bit harsh, Amelia?", Arthur asked.

"No Arthur, it is not harsh at all. We have to balance the scales on both sides. Turning someone and condemning them to lycanthropy is as good as murdering them and murder has only one penalty- Execution".

They debated some more, people made their opinions known and they debated again and then would again discuss some suggestion. Finally it was agreed that they would support the motion at the least.

After the meeting was adjourned, Alice cornered him, "Tell me godson why I should not hex you for worrying me?"

He gave her his lop-sided grin, "Godmother, you can hex me and you would be within your rights to do so. Before you do, I should tell you that I wanted to visit my parents on Samhain. This was the first time that I went there and I am not sorry that I did this".

She hugged him fiercely. There was no way that she could punish him after she knew why he had done what he did. "I understand Harry but please remember that we care about you. If something had happened, I do not think I would be able to face Lily and tell her why I failed at my duties".

"I promise godmother that I will inform you in advance from this time on, so you can stand in my defense, if the need be.", he said cheekily.

"If you did not have such a good reason for this act Harold, I was itching to have a go on you. But this time I am letting it go. Please understand that we care about you", said Andromeda who was standing behind Alice and had not left.

* * *

**A/N- I know this chapter might have felt off colour to you all but I had written super long chapter (30K words or so) and I had to break it down so you might feel it lacking but I would urge you to bear with me. We are almost at the end of term and we will have the first showdown soon after Yule. Stay tuned and thanks for all the reviews.**


	40. Chapter 40

**Wizengamot**

The members of the Wizengamot had been trickling into their seats for some time now. Harry strode in when he was sure that all the others were in their places. Amelia had told him that if he entered this way, others would know that he was there and they would make an effort to participate with more interest in the proceedings. As he walked up to his seat, he nodded towards many of the lords and exchanged greetings with a few of them. He noticed Sirius sitting in the Rosier seat and Andromeda in the Black seat. He took the Peverell seat himself and waited for the session to begin.

As was the custom, the entire Wizengamot stood when Dumbledore strode into the chamber with exactly 2 minutes to go before 10:00 a.m. They remained standing until he took his seat on the dais. He rapped his gavel and said loudly, "Close the doors".

The massive double doors which formed the entrance of the Wizengamot closed.

He started addressing the gathered members, "Let the Wizengamot session for the month of November, 1995 begin. Before we proceed to the agenda for the day, does anyone have any formal notices, motions or announcements to be made?"

A couple of people stood and made announcements which were part of the daily business of the Wizengamot. It took the better part of an hour but it was important business which could not be avoided. Finally after the announcements, motions etc. were taken care of, he rapped his gavel again. "I trust that the agenda for this session has been conveyed to you all. Lord Peverell has invented an alternative to the wolfsbane potion which has been proven to have the desired effect on those suffering with lycanthropy without any of the toxic side-effects. The first order of business today is to congratulate Lord Peverell for this significant achievement".

Everyone present in the Wizengamot stood up; even the dark faction, although with less enthusiasm, and clapped for his achievement. After the ovation had gone on for more than two minutes, Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "The Minister of Magic after conferring with the Chief Warlock, the Head of DMLE and several of the department heads within the Ministry has decided to present him with the Order of Merlin (Second Class) for this contribution. I request that Lord Peverell come forth and accept the honour".

Harry dazedly walked to Dumbledore's dais where Frank was standing on one side of him with Percy standing behind him. Harry had not known about the Order of Merlin or he would have avoided this session or asked Frank to not do this. He was still not used to attention being lavished on him unnecessarily however he knew that he could not refuse it now without looking arrogant.

He walked up to Frank who picked up a silver medal from a tray that Percy was holding and pinned it to his robes and a roll of Parchment which he handed to him. Frank gave him a genuine smile, "Lord Peverell, your discovery will make life easier for thousands of people inflicted with the curse of lycanthropy. I do hope that they will find ways to make their lives more meaningful with this potion".

Harry bowed to him and returned to his seat. He could swear that Percy was beaming at him. That was a mystery that could be solved later. Right now, Dumbledore was rapping his gavel again.

"As you all know, the wolfsbane potion is regulated by the ministry and the International Confederation of Wizards. It can only be sold to known lycanthropes. Therefore, only those who are registered with the werewolf registry are given access to this potion. This new variation, invented by Lord Peverell, will be regulated in the same manner. Lord Abbott has made a motion that changes be made to the registry in light of repealing of the anti-werewolf legislation. The changes proposed by him are fixed on two points primarily: The registry should not be allowed to brand werewolves and they should not be traced by the ministry. Those of you who want to speak for or against the motion please raise your wand".

A lot of hands went up with Harry being one of them.

Dumbledore started, "Since there are many who wish to speak to the motion, we will go by the order of precedence of the Houses. The Ancient and Reverent House of Peverell is the first and foremost in line in the absence of House Pendragon and of House La Fey. Lord Peverell, you have the floor".

Harry stood at his place and started speaking confidently while leaking his magic a little to wrap around him like a cloak, "Dear Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, pardon my insolence for speaking in front of all of you when I have little to no experience with this august body in comparison to you all. Before I start making my points, I would like to ask how many of you have children, grand-children, nieces or nephews studying in Hogwarts in 3rd year or above".

Many of the hands went up and he started speaking again, "I presume you all know how no defense professor has lasted more than one term at the school for a while now. Two years ago, the Headmaster hired a wizard named Remus Lyall Lupin to teach defense. I know he was revealed to be a werewolf by the end of the year but I ask you all as to what your children said about his teaching abilities?"

One of the lords stood up and answered him, "My son who was in his NEWTs year at that time claimed that he had not seen a more decent DADA teacher than Remus Lupin in 7 years at Hogwarts and he would have failed his NEWTs if it was not for him".

Several other lords murmured in agreement. Dumbledore was watching everything with amusement. He knew what Harry was doing. By the time Harry finished having his say, these lords would all be ready to march behind him and do whatever he asked of them. Sirius too was smirking, perhaps thinking along the same lines. Ghost of a smile was playing on Amelia's lips.

Harry continued, "As many of you agree, he was the best DADA teacher to have come to Hogwarts in all these years. The OWLs and NEWTs scores in DADA were the highest they have been in decades that year. Despite his affliction, he was an excellent teacher who took time to teach all of his students and did not judge them. As the Headmaster can affirm, he was one of the best students of his age and despite having impeccable grades and being a hero in the last war, he was without a job because our ministry had declared werewolves to be mindless beasts and their position did not change even after the Wolfsbane was invented. There were laws written against them by a non-descript witch who rose to be senior under-secretary in the previous administration. We rewarded a war hero with scorn and hatred. That speaks a lot about our society and what is wrong with it. This bill introduced by Lord Abbott seeks to ensure that we do not discriminate against them anymore. They are ordinary people like us. The only difference being that they are forced to become mindless beasts for 13 nights a year due to this affliction. If we continue discriminating against them on the one hand while we pretend to be treating them like other citizens, we would be called hypocrites and would be no better off than we were under the previous administration. While some of you may argue that we are already giving them more freedom than they were given before, that is still not equality. If we are vying for equality, we must brand and trace every witch and wizard like we would brand the werewolves or we should not trace and brand anyone at all. Branding someone like that befits to megalomaniac dark lords but not a civilised society such as ours". He bowed to the Wizengamot in general and sat down to tumultuous applause from every quarter. Even some from the dark faction were applauding for him.

Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "Well said, Lord Peverell. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak to this motion?"

Since Harry had conveyed everyone's sentiments artfully, the hands which were raised previously were not raised again, with the exception of Lucius Malfoy. "I wish to speak against the motion".

"Very well, Lord Malfoy. You have the floor".

He started speaking in his drawling tone, "I respect what Lord Peverell has said before this chamber", with disrespect dripping from his every syllable, "We must keep in mind that most of what he said is motivated by his own interests. We all know he is partial to the werewolf Remus Lupin and that he has discovered an alternative to the Wolfsbane potion. Naturally, he would support this motion which aligns with his interests. What is not clear is whether this motion is in the best interests of the wizarding community as a whole. I don't know about the rest of you, but I sleep better at night knowing that the ministry is aware of the identity and location of the werewolves at all times and especially on the night of the full moon. For the sakes of your children if not for yourselves, I ask you to vote against this motion".

As he sat down, Sirius raised his hand, "Chief Warlock, I would like the opportunity to address the Wizengamot".

"Permission granted, Regent Rosier. The floor is yours".

Sirius stood and started speaking slowly and clearly, "Lord Malfoy raised some good points however he forgot the main objective behind the werewolf friendly stance of the Ministry. We agree that a werewolf who turns innocent children should be put down like a rabid dog and this is an explicit provision of this motion. We should be mindful that many of the werewolves in Wizarding Britain, my associate Remus Lupin included, were turned as acts of revenge or coercion by the followers of Voldemort. They are innocent victims of a vicious crime and they deserve our compassion, not our disdain or to be treated as second class citizens or monsters. Many of them were small children who had no way of understanding what had happened to them. They were forced to live in writhing agony every night of the Full Moon. Through no fault of theirs, they were forced to bear the unbearable pain of their bones reforming while they transform, their minds lost to madness and being reduced to raving mindless beast. Until now the ministry has been discriminating against them, segregating them from the society as if they are some illness which should not be allowed in this society which is somewhat responsible for what happened to them. In the last war, I was serving as an Auror. I saw far too many instances of small children who were turned because their parents refused to do Voldemort's bidding or they actively opposed him and his merry band of fools. For the price that they paid for their parent's defiance, how did we reward them? We quarantined them from us civilised people and what's more, we branded them like Voldemort did to his followers. Where did it leave us? How did it make us any better than them? If this is the way that we are going then I would daresay that we are no different from Voldemort and his followers".

There was lots of applause for Sirius this time and when he sat, Harry sent him a smile which said that he was pleased with the Marauder's moving speech.

"Is there anyone else who wishes to speak to the motion?" Dumbledore asked.

When no one replied, he rapped his gavel again, "Are there any questions to be asked before we move to vote on the motion?"

Elder Alexander McDougall, who was the head of the McDougall clan in Scotland and Elder of the Wizengamot stood, "I have a few questions for the Minister and the chief of DMLE, Chief Warlock".

"You are permitted to put forth your questions, Elder McDougall".

He turned to Frank and Amelia, "If we vote on this motion and it passes the Wizengamot, how will the ministry rein in the rogue werewolves?"

Amelia stood, "Elder McDougall, we will not brand them or trace them constantly but we will record their magical signatures when they are registered. It will be mandatory for every werewolf entering our borders to be registered and their magical signature will be recorded at that time. A dedicated team of 50 Aurors will be formed to deal with instances of werewolf attack and the like. Any werewolf that we find to be involved in any crime will be given a trial and if found guilty, they will be punished according to the gravity of their crimes the same as any other member of our society. However the offense of turning someone to lycanthropy is unique to werewolves. Any werewolf found guilty of this offence will be summarily executed".

As she sat down, Dumbledore asked again, "Does anyone else have a question?"

Lord Greengrass stood, "Why can we not make a formal request to the ICW to deregulate the potion?"

This was answered by Frank, "It is so Lord Greengrass because if we deregulated the potion then no one would be obliged to register themselves. This would be like an open invitation to criminals to come and live in Wizarding Britain because there is nothing to regulate them or their actions. It would mean the ministry will have no means to determine the exact number of werewolves within the magical borders of Wizarding Britain. This could be a catastrophe in the near future due to Wizarding Britain being over-run by werewolves who would not need to register themselves and could wreak havoc on the society".

"Does anyone else have any more questions before we move to vote?" Dumbledore asked for one final time.

When no one raised their hand, he rapped his gavel again, "Those in favour of the motion, raise your wand lighted green".

A forest of hands went up and Dumbledore quickly counted them. There were 100 votes in favour of the motion.

"All those who are opposed to this motion, please raise your wands with tip lighted red".

Some of them raised their wands and a quick count revealed that 30 had voted against the motion while 30 had either abstained from voting or were not present.

Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "The motion is passed by a vote of 100 in favour, 30 opposed with 30 abstentions. The Ministry shall take care of all other related matters with this motion and present a plan to be put into place within the next week. Lord Peverell is ordered not to release his new potion to market before the registry is functioning effectively again".

The session was adjourned soon after and Harry was joined by Susan, Daphne, Neville, Hannah and many other of his friends who had come to watch today's session. Lord Greengrass joined him on the floor of the chamber where Harry had been talking to his friends. Harry reminded Lord Greengrass of his invitation to Black Townhouse that afternoon to discuss the contract which he was eager to procure.

The friends decided that the day was too good to be wasted inside so they all went for lunch to a restaurant in Diagon Alley. Lunch was a boisterous affair. After having their fill, most of them returned to the castle while Harry and Susan left for Black Town House. Sirius had gone on duty to the Auror Floor while Frank had returned to his office. Amelia had also returned to her office as Harry knew that they were working on the plan to lure Tom out.

Mad-eye had selected a team of 50 Aurors to accompany them and was training them diligently. The finer aspects of the plan were being put into place and this reminded Harry that he had been lacking some serious practice since he had returned from Adrishpuram. He was unstoppable against a horde of dummies but Tom was certainly not going to act like a dummy for him. He would need to be in top form for the next act.

**Black Town House**

Susan accompanied Harry to Black Townhouse. From there, she had decided that they would floo to the cottage on the hill and from there they could walk back to the school.

Lord Greengrass visited them in the evening when Sirius and Remus were there. Dobby escorted the visiting Lord to the meeting room where Harry stood to greet him. As Cyrus came into the room, he stepped forward and shook his hand, "Cyrus, it is a pleasure to see you".

"Likewise Harry", he returned the gesture and greeted others in the room before he took a seat which Harry offered him.

Remus, as it had been agreed, opened the conversation. "Lord Greengrass..."

Cyrus cut in amid conversation, "call me Cyrus, Remus. After all, I was only a few years ahead of you at Hogwarts and on the receiving end of your pranks far too many times".

Remus chuckled, "Alright, Cyrus then. I seek your pardon for speaking out of turn. As I understand it, you wish to enter into a contract for distributorship of the new potion?"

Cyrus nodded, "I was willing to buy the patent, if Harry was amenable to it. I have learned of his reasons. I am hoping for sole distributorship of this new potion which I know would be helpful to those cursed with lycanthropy".

"Again, I ask your pardon for this. My nephew does not have much of a head for business and does not think of things in a greater perspective. This is why I am speaking on his behalf as his Steward. What amount of profit are you vying for by this distributorship that you are hoping to acquire?"

"I must accept that when I heard of this potion in Potions Today, I was amazed that nobody ever thought of improving the existing potion and after a few quick calculations, I realised that due to the prices of the alternative ingredient being low, the costs would fall drastically. Assuming that Harry would like to make quite a profit on the product, I had assumed that the prices would more or less be equal to wolfsbane. When Daphne told me that he is not doing it for financial gain, I stopped assuming and I am waiting to hear what his take on the matter is".

"We are not looking to make too much of a profit from it. As you might already know, House Potter has acquired a Wolfsbane manufacturing unit a few months ago and it is there we intend to start production. Since we are supplying the ingredients, brewing the potion and packaging it, we managed to drastically cut down the costs and as per my calculations, our cost is around 5 Galleons for a month's dose for the domestic market. It may be as high as 7 Galleons when we are exporting it. Add your profits of 3 galleons to every dose it comes out to around to 8 Galleons. So, we are selling it for 11G for a month's dose for domestic market while it may be up to 13 Galleons for exported products. So we are going to offer the product at 11G for a month's dose".

Cyrus sat listening for a long time before he started speaking, "Your proposition is good and has been well thought out. Part of the high cost of Wolfsbane is that it requires extremely capable potion masters to brew it and then add the cost of ingredients and packaging and other charges, the prices skyrocket. This potion that you are putting forth is admittedly better than wolfsbane in all aspects. One of the potion masters in my company told me that it shows a lot of promise and it will dominate the market within a month of its launch. I had not expected the prices to be just above the margin. You will make only meagre profits out of it. Knowing Harry's intentions, it makes sense. Greengrass Potions will agree to sell the potions in Wizarding Britain, if you agree to grant us sole distribution rights".

Remus called his own house-elf and asked her to take a missive to Andromeda and Ted Tonks. They arrived after about 10 minutes.

Andromeda asked Remus, "What do you require of us?"

Harry addressed her, "Aunt Andromeda, Greengrass Potions has agreed to our proposal for the distributorship of the new potion. I ask you to draw a contract to that effect between us. Their obligation shall include collection of the packaged products from the facility, selling them and returning our share of the revenues. They are also responsible to meet all regulatory requirements to only distribute the potion to properly registered werewolves".

She nodded, "I will draft a contract to that effect post-haste and you can sign it".

The contract was ready within 20 minutes and Harry read it thoroughly before handing it to Remus. The contract said that Greengrass potions would be responsible to collect the packaged product and sell it through their apothecaries. They were also responsible for complying with Ministry guidelines with regard to selling the potions. For every dose, they would make a profit of 3 Galleons and the product would be sold at 11G for a month's dose.

When it came time to sign the contract, Andromeda asked him, "Have you thought about a name for the potion, Harold?"

He had thought about the name a lot in the last few days and found one which would describe the potion effectively. "It will be called Lupuslax, Aunt Andromeda".

The contract was signed that day and it was agreed that as soon as the ministry allowed, Cyrus could start taking delivery of the potion. As it was almost evening, people started trickling in. Almost everyone Harry knew from the order or the Wizengamot, or the ministry was there. When he raised his eyes, Sirius told him that it was just a small celebration for his achievement of the Order of Merlin.

The party lasted late into the night. Harry crashed in his room as soon as he saw the last guest out through the floo. Susan left some time during the evening after Amelia suggested or more like ordered her to return to Hogwarts.

**Hogwarts**

Harry returned to the castle the next day. They had a potion lesson that day. During the whole lesson, Snape did not say a word to him but only kept looking at him while he glared at other students, sneered at them and otherwise made their life hell.

As other students were leaving, he asked Harry to stay back. After the students had left, he motioned for Harry to follow him to his office. When Harry entered his office, he was stumped. There on a wall was a big photo of his face, perhaps the same one as was on the cover of Potions Today, displayed along with pictures and portraits of many other potion masters.

He asked confused, "Umm... Professor why is there a photo of me in your office?"

Snape took a moment to reply, "Because of your achievement, Harry. You have shown that you have prodigious abilities in potion brewing. I admit that I have been experimenting with Wolfsbane for a long time in an effort to discover an alternate but I was not successful. You achieved this feat without any formal training in potion brewing which I should have given to you when you started at Hogwarts. A lot of meritorious students had to do with a sub-par education because I could not help but see the shadows of my past in every bright wizard or witch".

Harry could not understand what the point of this conversation was. "Professor, if you have nothing more to say, would you please excuse me? I have another class to get to. I would expect to be put in detention if I am late".

Snape handed him a piece of parchment, "There you go. It will save you from any detention. I have just a little more to say". Harry waited patiently for him to speak.

He started speaking after 5 minutes, "Harry, congratulations on your achievement. I must apologise to you for all the slights and my behaviour toward you. You have been touted as 'The Chosen One', the best hope for Wizarding Britain to overcome the Dark Lord. Even with that aside, being the son of Lilly and James, I expected much more from you than I have seen. I rode you hard because you had the nerve to be you instead of her… or him. I did not realise but in my perverted sense of justice, I was enjoying tormenting you thinking I was getting my revenge upon your father. I never stopped to think what I had become. I offer my congratulations and apologies for all the slants I committed towards you".

Harry went to his other classes wondering if perhaps the sun had risen in the west that day. The dungeon bat had his photo mounted on the wall of his office in a place of honour. Perhaps he woke up on the wrong side of his bed in the morning.

**Chamber of Secrets**

That night Harry had called Vikram to join him in the chamber to practice. Vikram arrived to see him battling a horde of dummies by himself. Harry was trying to perform the dance of death as he had seen Harsh do on the ship that day while making the dummies cast at him all at once. it looked like he was not very successful.

Vikram kept watching him for some time before he interrupted him. "Enough Harry, stand down".

Harry turned to Vikram and he could see the storm on Harry's face, "What has happened Harry? What has got you worried?"

"Professor, I feel like I am not practicing to the level that is required of me. I mean in Adirshpuram, I used to practice different magics all day, could show off my skills and no one would bat an eye. Here, I feel stifled. I cannot practice like I used to. There is no one like them", Harry whined.

The mystic chuckled, "Harry I understand where you are coming from but you cannot leave your school and other things that you are doing. You also cannot go traipsing away to practice with mystics because we cannot interfere anymore than we already have. I do not understand why you have not asked your friends for help?".

"What do you mean?"

"Harry, do you trust your friends?" the mystic asked.

"Of course, I do", Harry said confidently.

"Do you believe that they would never betray you or give up your secrets to others even under the threat of death?", the mystic asked him solemnly.

Harry wanted to say yes instantly but took a moment to think about it. He had more friends now than he ever had before but it was unwise to trust too easily or too quickly. Hermione, he knew would never give up his secrets even under threat of instant death. Neville would never tell on him to others and would keep his secrets no matter what. Susan was fiercely loyal to him and there was no way that she would betray him. Hannah was also a friend and Harry felt that he could trust her with a few secrets but not the really important ones. Ron had walked away from him last year but had returned later. He had also stood on a broken leg before an alleged mass murderer ready to die for him and that should count for something. There was Daphne who was a good friend but Harry was still not sure if he would be comfortable with telling her his deepest secrets, after all, he did not know anything special about her except that she fancied him a lot. Seamus was a boy who was known to be a motor-mouth and could blurt secrets so he was out. Ernie was a little pompous but was becoming unfailingly loyal to him and had stood up to Smith for Harry even though Smith was his friend for the last 4 years. The twins and Ginny were beyond question. Finally he faced Vikram, "I can trust most of them with my life and would die for them, if the need be as they would do for me. Why do you ask?"

"Harry, the kind of practice that you are used to, is not possible without help from several people. While I am a mystic, I am only one wizard. I cannot do parallel casting. If you want, you can enlist your friends to help you practice the way you want. The room of requirement would be useful for this purpose. If I were you, I would choose a group of them and let them duel with me for practice. If you are still worried about your secrets, ask them to take a magical oath for that".

Harry nodded, "I think I will ask them for help".

Vikram asked him another thing which was on his mind, "Harry, why are you not teaching the students 'the patronus charm'?".

They all know that my patronus used to be a stag, same as my father's. Now my patronus has changed to a great snow-leopard. It will lead to some awkward questions and I don't know how to answer them".

The mystic smiled, "Tell them it can change when one's personality changes. With everything that you have been through recently, it would be surprising if your patronus did not change".

Harry nodded, "I will start teaching the patronus charm in the next session. I also want to practice some of the mystic spells with you".

Vikram pulled out his wand and adopted the stance of the duel, "Let's dance, Harry".

Harry started casting at a speed which was too fast for most people to follow. But Vikram was a mystic. He faced Harry without difficulty. The mystic was able to dodge or sidestep his spells and had not yet resorted to the slippery fish. Harry kept casting to his heart's content. Finally when he saw that Vikram was getting too comfortable with his spells, he pulled out the elder wand and started shooting spells at him from two wands at once. Vikram still was able to dodge for some time before he had to adopt the slippery fish mode. Harry could see that his movements were not as fluid as his own had been. He was no where near as adept as Vari was. Harry knew that there were only three people who could do the slippery fish better than Vikram, those being Harsh, Vari and Harry.

After having cast all the spells that he wanted, he nodded to the mystic to start casting. Vikram could not cast with both hands but made up for it by arranging dummies in different positions. They all were set to cast at specific angles as he wanted and he motioned to Harry to start his practice. Harry started dodging spells from the dummies and was doing it easily because he knew where they would shoot their next spell and he could move out of place before he was hit. Vikram started shooting spells at random from among the dummies and almost every time, his spells were in the place where Harry would have landed or where he would be. Thus, in addition to dodging the dummies, he also had to dodge Vikram and while it was not the same as having mystics cast at himit was closest to it.

When they were done with their practice, he resolved to ask a few of his friends to help him practice the way he wanted. If he had to stand against Voldemort, he would have to take some risks.

**Room of Requirement**

Harry had waited for the students to gather in the Room of Requirement before he started addressing them. "This week I realised one thing which I had not thought about. As we prepare to fight you-know-who and his minions, he has a number of creatures in his service namely Dementors, Werewolves etc. I have given you a basic idea about how to elude or even bring down a werewolf. But I had honestly forgotten about Dementors. As you all know, the best way to repel a dementor is the patronus charm. It can drive them away due to the fact that the dementors are fiends which suck all happiness out of us while the patronus is made up of all the positive feelings. Starting today, we are going to learn the patronus charm. The ancient and mysterious charm conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all of your positive feelings. Remember that only those pure of heart can conjure a patronus".

He took a pause for a minute and then started again, "While a patronus looks warm and comforting but conjuring one is hard, especially for those who never had any happy memories. It is a complex spell which requires a great deal of energy and focus. It is fuelled by your emotions. I learned it with a Boggart and it took me the greater part of 4 months to be able to pull it off. Before you all conjure the spell, I invite you all to sit on the mats provided to you".

Mats appeared beside the students and they sat as he had directed. He now ordered them to close their eyes and said, "Now think of a happy memory. The happiest moment that you can remember and let the feeling over-whelm you. Let yourself bask in that feeling. Sit in this position for 10 minutes and then we will go further".

After 10 minutes, he raised them, "Before we start casting, please repeat clearly after me, "Expecto Patronum.". The students did so a couple of times and after Harry was satisfied, he started addressing them again, "Now take this stance, thrust your wand forward and clearly say the incantation while revelling in the feeling of your magic. Let your mind drown in positive feelings, happiness, elation and joy".

Within a minute, the hall was filled with cries of Expecto Patronum as students were trying to cast the charm. As Harry expected, none of them were able to produce so much as a silver wisp from their wands. After 10 minutes of trying, Hermione asked him, "Why don't you show us the charm, Harry? May be we would get the idea".

Harry acquiesced. He closed his eyes and raised his wand while thinking of the moment that he had seen his parents in limbo and was embraced by them. Giddiness came over him and he whispered 'Expecto Patronum'. A big four legged animal burst out of his wand making the others gasp.

He opened his eyes to find his friends looking at him and his patronus each in their turn. The rest of the students were busy watching the patronus that he had conjured.

Hermione asked the question he knew was coming. "Harry what happened to Prongs?"

Ron added, "Wasn't your patronus a big animal with antlers?"

Harry shrugged, "A patronus can change shape with changes in personality of a wizard or from some emotional upheaval. With a near-death experience at the end of last school year and everything I did over the summer, I guess that my patronus has changed along with me".

Hermione now looked at the creature closely, "What is this creature?"

It was Luna who answered, "It is Blizz".

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, "Luna, snow-leopards are..." Her words were caught in her throat when the patronus actually walked up to Luna as if he wished to be petted.

Luna smiled, "I see that you have got rid of your wrackspurt infestation, Hermione. This is a snow-leopard".

Hermione had shut her mouth and her lips resembled a straight line.

Harry continued teaching, "So you all have seen me conjuring a patronus. Now try and do not worry if you are not able to conjure even a wisp of silver at first. It is incredibly hard and would require time. Remember that you need happy memories and positive feelings for it to work".

Everyone started trying and by the time the lesson ended, many of them had managed to conjure wisps of silver. A few had managed to conjure an incorporeal patronus. The one who was farthest ahead of the others was Luna. She had a hare running around her by the end of the lesson. Hermione had conjured silver wisp around her but was not able to get anything more than that. It was the same with Susan and Hannah. Neville however was not trying and Harry decided to ask him about it later. Daphne was trying and had a silver wisp. The twins had conjured incorporeal patroni. Ginny's face was scrunched up in concentration and her eyes were closed in thoughtfulness however she was not able to conjure anything yet. Harry had a suspicion that she would find it very hard to conjure a patronus due to her past with the diary. Everyone else was trying hard to conjure up a patronus but nobody had gone beyond the silver wisps yet. After about an hour, Harry dismissed them telling them to practice more in their free time so that they would have a better chance of success in coming sessions. As students were leaving, he asked Neville to stay back. Susan as had become the practice also stayed back with Hannah.

Harry turned to Neville, "Mate, when did you learn the Patronus charm?"

Hannah stated her disbelief, "No. Neville does not know how to conjure a patronus".

One look at Neville told her that Neville did indeed know how to conjure a patronus. "During the summer, my great-uncle Algie taught me the patronus charm. So I already know it".

Hannah crossed her hands in front of her chest, "Show me".

Neville whipped out his wand and cast the charm. A vast four-legged creature burst forth.

Harry saw the creature and guffawed, "A bear. That is incredible and I would say rather fitting considering your personality".

Hannah was poking him in the chest, "You knew how to conjure a patronus and yet you did not tell me? To your girl friend? Why?"

Harry took Susan's hand and started to drag her away, "Let's leave them here. They will likely take a lot of time to reconcile their differences".

As he was escorting Susan down to the dungeons, he found the fifth year Slytherin Prefects on patrol and could not resist the temptation to commit some mischief. He had not pranked anyone for a few days anyhow.

Staying in a dark corner, he sent a few spells their way whispering under his breath and turned to Susan, "let's leave this place as soon as we can. There is going to be mayhem".

The next day, they would hear that the Slytherin Prefects had been fixed to the ceiling on the sixth floor with their tongues glued to the roof of their mouth and no one had seen anyone who might have done it. The teachers almost immediately suspected that Harry was behind it, and they were right, but proving it proved to be more difficult. For one thing, Susan had vouched that Harry was with her at the time when it had happened. For another thing, priori incantatem on his wand at Snape's hands revealed nothing. There was nothing to be found of course because he had not used the Acacia wand but the sandalwood wand for this deed.

**Fourth Floor**

Harry had sent a message to a few people to come meet him in the space behind the mirror on the fourth floor. They were Neville Longbottom, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Mandy Brocklehurst, Terry Boot, Daphne Greengrass and Du Vant.

As they all took their places at the table, he started addressing them, "I suppose that you are all wondering why I invited you all here and not anyone else. The reason is that I am planning a prank, the likes of which will be talked about for years from now. I am informing you in advance that this may earn you detentions and the wrath of the headmaster and the teachers. So, if any of you want to back out of it, please do so now and there will be no hard feelings. If, however, you choose to stay and sabotage my plans, I swear by mother magic that I will make your life hell".

No one moved. Daphne asked him, "I can understand others but why are we here and why not Hermione and Ronald or the twins for that matter?"

"Because you are an important part of what I am about to do, Daphne. The prank needs your help to execute it. Hermione, Ronald, Hannah and Ernie are all prefects and I would rather that their reputations remain unblemished. As for the twins, they are often at prank war with me and I want to rub it in their faces for once. The prank will happen in all houses on the same day".

Justin started speaking, "I am honoured that you invited me to be a part of this venture. I want to hear what the plan is before I commit. If it is life threatening then I must refuse".

Harry nodded, "That is perfectly understandable, Justin. The prank I am planning is based on runes and some transfigurations. As to what it will do, that will be revealed at the time when these take effect. I must warn you that we will all end up becoming victims of these pranks to avert any suspicion on us. In addition to the warning, I assure you that it will be perfectly harmless".

Susan eyed him suspiciously, "And exactly what will it do?"

Harry grinned, "Sorry Sue, I am not telling you yet. Let it be a surprise for everyone".

**The Prank**

The prank took place two days later. There was the little issue of the portraits to be looked after because they could spy on them and get them caught. To that end, he had to give up on some of the things that he wanted to do. He gave up on the initial idea to enter a common room of another house because he knew everyone would suspect that he was behind the wrong doing and everyone knew about his invisibility cloak. Add to that, stunned portraits and it would leave a trail for everyone to follow.

He had convened a meeting again of his lieutenants and told them what to do. He told them of the runes that he wanted to be drawn. There were 14 sets of runes, one for girls and one for boys of each year. The only similarity was that all students of one year would suffer from the same prank i.e. if one fifth year was seen with a horn on his head then the same would be for every student in the fifth year.

What he had not told them was that the students would be impersonating teachers and famous personalities from the Wizarding world. The runes for glamour in the cluster had been tweaked to give them the desired appearance.

That night, the students went to work after mid-night when everyone had gone to sleep. Du Vant had etched the runes on the doors of the boy's dormitories while Daphne did it for the girls in the serpent's pit. Justin and Susan did the same in the Badger's hole. Boot and Mandy did it in the Eagle's nest. Harry did it in the girl's dormitories under his invisibility cloak while Neville did it in the boy's dormitories.

Harry eagerly waited for the next day when things would hit the fan. There were a lot of holes in his plan. Harry took it to be almost for certain that they would be caught. The first hint was that the prank was the same for every house which meant it was done by people working together and right now, there were no other groups working together in all four houses other than his circle of friends which had grown to be vast. The second thing was that the only other prankster group that being the Weasley twins would be baffled with the prank because they had no idea who did it. That would leave only Harry as the plausible suspect. The third thing was that Dumbledore would surely try passive legilimency on students and he was sure that Boot and Mandy did not have elaborate protections around their mind. Snape no doubt would ask Harry to be tested by the Headmaster and his refusal would seal his doom. There was no way he was going to let someone in his mind.

The trouble started the next day at breakfast. It was about half an hour after breakfast had started when people started changing. It started with the first year boys turning into Filius Flitwick as the first year girls turned into Poppy Pomfrey.

The charms professor, who liked a good joke as much as anyone left the teacher's table and joined in with the first year students, helping them act more like him. The medi-witch, who did not have any critical cases this morning, joined in with the laughter once the students were over the initial surprise.

Two minutes later, the second year boys turned into copies of Gilderoy Lockhart complete with the shiny wavy hair and the idiotic grin as the second year girls changed into Professor Pomona Sprout. The older boys pointed and laughed at the second year boys. It was hard to tell if the Herbology professor was more amused or annoyed.

The laughter kept up for another two minutes until the third year boys suddenly all looked like Vikram Ram and the third year girls looked like Aurora Sinistra. The DADA Professor chuckled while the Astronomy professor looked starry-eyed at her imitators.

A minute later, the fourth year boys all turned into Cornelius Fudge complete with lime-green bowlers and pin-striped cloaks. The fourth year girls turned into Amelia Bones. Some of the boys tried to look stern and scowl, which just made it funnier as they tried not to laugh. A few others took the bowler off their head and tried spinning them as they had seen Fudge do when he was nervous. When Susan saw who the girls had changed into, she was horrified. Her Auntie would hex her into the middle of next week if she ever heard about this.

By the time it was the fifth years turn Hermione was sweating and muttering under her breath. Ron heard such profanities coming from her mouth that he could not have thought that his girl friend could be so brilliant at expletives. The boys changed first into the likeness of Hagrid with his beetle-black eyes and untameable, wiry hair but without his elephantine girth or towering height. The next moment, the girls changed into the History of Magic Professor, Professor Martha Hughes. Even Hermione had to admit that it could have been worse.

The sixth years had started to sweat by then. Harry knew they were just hoping that they did not change into something horrible. Their hopes were dashed when in the next minute, there were dozens of replicas of Professor Snape, complete with hooked noses, greasy, lank hair and black robes, sitting around in the Great Hall. The girls changed into Professor Trelawney complete with the frizzly hair, shawls and her over-sized glasses.

The seventh years got the best of it with all of the boys getting Dumbledore's appearance. The girls got Professor McGonagall.

Fred and George, looking at each other pointed and said, "Wow! We're identical!"

Angelina, who looked like McGonagall, gave Fred and George detention for terrible jokes in her best imitation of Minerva McGonagall who was scowling now.

Harry and all of his accomplices were sitting together at the Ravenclaw table eating breakfast and were deliberately not looking up. They were enjoying the mixed reactions of the students around them and knew that looking up would give their secret away. He knew that many of them were scandalised. But many more were enjoying it like the Weasley twins who were showing off their long fine beards. They were standing in their place and trying to mimic Dumbledore making others laugh. Dumbledore too was chuckling seeing their antics.

At the teacher's table, Flitwick was genuinely happy and enjoying the fact that the students loved that they were looking like him. He was also moved by the fact that the students loved him so much. Of course he knew that he was one of the favourite teachers at Hogwarts but to see the love being shown so openly was a nice touch. He inwardly resolved to award 20 points apiece to everyone who was involved in it for a prank well executed.

Poppy Pomfrey was usually a very laid back witch who was generally not shocked by anything except when it came to the well being of others. The way someone had glamored students to look like her was touching and a lovely gesture. Pity she could not award points to students but she would have loved to know who the ones behind the prank were so she could pat them on the back.

Professor Sprout was amused that students liked her enough to glamour others to look like her. It was a lovely gesture from whoever had done it. If her suspicions were correct like the other teachers, the culprits were at the Ravenclaw table.

Vikram of course knew the handiwork of Harry and how much the youngest marauder loved to prank, considering Harsh had taught him one prank too many. Aurora Sinistra was happy thinking that students actually paid attention to her even if for a prank and that they had said indirectly what she had wanted to.

Hagrid was amused and blushing a little. He had no idea that the students liked him so much and to see it so openly was indeed the best thing to happen to him this year. It was too much for him to take in anymore and he took out his handkerchief and profusely dabbed at the corner of his eyes. Professor Hughes was amused because whoever did it had guts to do something considering her reputation. She had seen all sorts of pranks at the school when she had studied at Hogwarts and was a few years behind the Marauders. Now she was delighted to be involved in one even though indirectly. Needless to say she was thrilled and would have awarded points to students if she knew who they were.

Professor Trelawney was not in the Great Hall as was her custom so nobody could know what she thought of it but Snape was looking murderous. Ever since he had changed his opinion of Harold Peverell, the brat had started to make efforts to prove him wrong again that he was indeed his father's son. Snape had been a classmate and far too often the victim of the Marauder's pranks. Harold Peverell was turning out to be one like him. Until the last year, he had been involved in death-defying adventures and no pranks like his father but now he had done more spectacular pranks than his father in one term alone. Merlin knew where it would lead. However one thing was certain- Harold Peverell was like his father and a marauder at heart.

Dumbledore was of course enjoying the prank. It was not done to hurt anyone and only bring laughter all around for the students. Minerva McGonagall was however Minerva McGonagall after all. She would not remain idle and let the mischief makers go unpunished. She had tangled with the marauders and came out on top even though she had got her hairs white with them. No son of a marauder could defeat her. Harold Peverell would pay.

Colin Creevey was meanwhile busy clicking pictures across the great-hall and laughing his head off. He had become Cornelius Fudge after all. Harry was planning to ask Colin to duplicate the picture and to keep a copy for himself to rub it in Sirius's face.

**Unknown Castle**

Voldemort was readying himself for action. The way the ministry had made it mandatory for werewolves to register, he knew the Aurors would be given unbridled powers to apprehend werewolves and his faithful who did not register would be hunted down. Things were already getting hard for him without the ministry actively engaging against him. Even in the last war, there had not been people who had the guts to make hard decisions. The former minister Milicent Bagnold who was hailed as a hero at the end of the last war did not have it in her to authorise lethal force. It was only when she herself had been attacked that she had authorised lethal force to be used. Voldemort thought he had killed all those men of iron will in the last war but perhaps there were still some out there who could make the tough decisions. If he wanted to stay ahead of the ministry, he had to do certain things at once.

The first thing he needed most was gold to fund his campaign. He had a lot of followers who could be asked to contribute towards his campaign or more like, he could confiscate their vaults for his purposes. Perhaps it was a suitable time to test the loyalty of the crafty Malfoy. He clapped his hands and a lowly new recruit entered the room and bowed low to him, "Yes, my lord?"

"Go and send Malfoy to me", Voldemort ordered.

Lucius entered after 5 minutes looking hesitant, his skin pale, and his eyes darting around with a frightened expression on his face. He bowed low to Voldemort, "My lord, you called?"

Voldemort sneered in his cold voice, "Took you long enough, Lucius". As Lucius shuddered, he levelled his wand at him and intoned, "Crucio".

The elder Malfoy kept withering under the curse for 2 minutes before Voldemort ceased his torture. Lucius sat on his knees after gathering a lot of his strength yet he was shaking with fright.

"I require a service of you, Lucius", he said coldly, "I want you to transfer all your liquid assets to me. I want all the gold that is in your account to fund my campaign. It is a great honour which I have decided to bestow upon you. I presume it is not disagreeable?"

Though he made it sound like a question, Lucius knew better than to answer otherwise. "N... No... No my lord. You are most beneficent to have selected me for this honour. There is no higher pleasure than to know that the Malfoy wealth would be used to fulfil your noble goals".

As they were talking, Lucius had not yet stood up and did not dare to look up in Voldemort's eyes for fear of being caught lying to him. Over the years, he had transferred a lot of his wealth to the Gnomes so that if something untoward was to happen and the Ministry seized his fortune, he could escape and still live a lavish life-style. The wealth that he had squirreled away with the Gnomes was almost as much as was with the Goblins. He had made some heavy investments after the last war on the advice of the Gnomes and they were paying healthy returns. Malfoy had suspicions that the wealth might have been coming from investment in the Muggle world but for him gold was gold. He did not care where it came from.

"Lucius, I require you to go to the Goblins and ask them to transfer the gold in seven equal parts to new accounts which shall be opened in the names of Goyle, Mulciber, Yaxley, Macnair, Parkinson, Flint and Selwyn. In case something happens to you, the money shall be used to fulfil the noble purpose of our victory, of the realisation of our dream. I want you to do this by today, Lucius or you will suffer my displeasure".

Lucius nodded. Of course he could not suffer the cruciatus curse too many times a day or he would slip off the deep end. The Dark Lord had a lot of plans and Lucius had dreams around those plans. He could not risk giving up on those plans. The wealth in the Malfoy Vault was nothing to the dreams which would be realised.

As Lucius left, Voldemort started thinking about the second problem. There was the chief issue of recruitment. Greyback was an alpha. He could recruit werewolves for him but still, he did not have as many recruits as he would have liked. He needed to step out of Wizarding Britain and gather some troops. Perhaps a tour of the neighbouring countries and defeating dark lords here and there was in order. He could claim the rights of victor against the followers of said Dark Lord and meld them into his own followers thus boosting his numbers but that would have to wait until he could break his most trusted followers out of Azkaban. He needed someone in charge of his troops in his absence and no one among his current followers was worthy of that honour except may be Snape but he was artfully employed where he could serve him in a more beneficial manner.

Third was the prophecy. The blasted prophecy was what had restrained him all these years and yet he was not able to get his hands on it. He would have to increase his efforts. As soon as he could get the prophecy, he would be able to make a move to seize power. The ministry shall be the first followed by Hogwarts where he would finish all his enemies in one fell swoop.

**Hogwarts**

The students were still flabbergasted about the prank. The teachers had gone to work instantly to try and undo it but to no avail. Snape had tried many spells which otherwise would have undone any spell but nothing could counter the pranks. Minerva had tried to reverse transforming the students but it had not been possible. Vikram had not made a move to undo it.

Snape looked at him and drawled, "This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Vikram. Why don't you try to undo it or is it beyond your talents?"

Albus knew that Snape was trying to goad Vikram but the mystic was non-plussed. Now that he thought about it, it was the first time that Albus had seen Snape behave erratically towards the defense professor. Unlike the previous defense instructors, Vikram was popular among the students and it was natural that Snape would be against him but Albus had not seen any visible signs of it until now.

Vikram was smiling, "As I remember, I am teacher of Defense against the Dark Arts, Severus. There is no dark magic here. This is a prank. It is a combination of charms and transfiguration which is expertise of Filius and Minerva. They are more than competent to deal with this".

Dumbledore stood and addressed the Great Hall, "Since it is not practical for you to attend classes with this disruption, there shall be no classes today. I request that the Prefects join us in the staff room shortly. The rest of you students stay here. You shall remain in your seats, here in the Great Hall while we find out who is behind this prank".

The prefects rose as one and followed Dumbledore and other teachers to the staff room. It was disconcerting to see four Hagrid, four Martha Hughes, Four Snape, Four Trelawney, Four Dumbledore and Four Minerva following the teachers to the staff-room. The only difference between them was the trim of their robes. Ron glared at Malfoy and even their beetle-eyed glares were identical.

**The Staff Room**

The Prefects stood before the teachers and Dumbledore started, "Now we are all here to find the ones behind this prank. Those prefects who were not on duty yesterday are free to go. First I would like to hear from the Head Boy about anything unusual he saw or heard or was reported to him last night".

Most of the Dumbledores, McGonagalls, Snapes and Trelawneys left while the Hagrids and Hughes remained. It was a fact that fifth years were assigned patrol duties more than anyone.

One of the Dumbledores stepped forward, the Head-boy, a Ravenclaw named Dorcas McLaird, "Headmaster, I noticed nothing out of the ordinary in the castle last night. I myself had the first patrol from ten to midnight last night. I did not notice any student out of bounds in the castle".

Dumbledore nodded, "Now I would like to know the report of the Gryffindor prefects who had their turn at patrol last night".

One of the Professor hughes spoke in Hermione's voice, "Headmaster, we patrolled the corridors from ten to midnight. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the castle. In our common room, the students had gone to sleep by the time that our patrol began. The portraits kept vigil in the common room and they noticed nothing out of the ordinary either. No student had come out of the dormitories after we had gone on our patrol".

After they were done, he turned to Ernie and Hannah, "Did you two notice anything?"

One of the Hagrids spoke in Ernie's voice, "No, Headmaster. We did not see anyone nor did we notice anything out of the ordinary in our Common Room either. Students were gone to bed shortly after curfew and the portraits and the house ghost claim to have seen no one".

Dumbledore nodded, "Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson, do you have anything to add to what they observed in their dormitories?"

It was strange to hear Malfoy's drawl come out of a replica of Hagrid, "Nothing worth reporting, Headmaster. The students were in their beds before curfew and nothing happened during the night to make me get up and investigate".

Dumbledore had been dismissing every prefect as they were done with their reports. It was standard procedure to keep the deliberations and musings secret from the student body. They after all had no say in the matter of the administration of the school.

Finally Dumbledore turned to the Ravenclaw Prefects, "do either of you have anything to add to what has already been said?"

The final Hughes spoke in Padma's voice, "Headmaster, I have seen Harold Peverell consorting with students from all the houses in the last few days, particularly Daphne Greengrass, Conrad Du Vant, Justin Finch Fletchley, Mandy Brocklehurst and Terry Boot at times. Other than that, there is nothing substantial that I can add to what others have already said".

"Very well Miss Patil. You both may go to the Great Hall now. Do not discuss this with anyone".

As the last two prefects left, Dumbledore turned to the teachers, "So you have heard what there is to be told. What do you all think?"

Minerva began, "I suspect that this is the handiwork of Harold Peverell and his associates. The Weasley twins might be able to do the magic involved in this prank but they have no access to the other house common rooms".

Vikram interrupted her, "Minerva, there is nothing to suggest that someone not allowed has accessed the common room of another house".

Flitwick chimed in, "However we have seen evidence of what he can do. His performances in his classes so far this year are evidence of that. We all have heard what Bethsheda had to say about his Runes prowess. He had never studied Runes before but he can create Rune clusters which are not possible for many of the seventh years".

Snape also put his two knuts in, "I think that he is involved in it. He has the knowledge and resources to do a prank like this. He must have asked people to help him in rule breaking".

The real Martha Hughes asked him, "Even the Slytherins, Severus? I never thought that students of your house would help him".

Snape's expression soured, "While it pains me to admit but yes, I believe that students from my own house were involved with him in this prank".

Dumbledore asked him, "What do you suggest we should do to confirm our suspicions?"

Snape turned to him, "Call them into your office and ask to see his memories. If he refuses, he is guilty as charged".

Minerva interrupted, "You are not going to perform Legilimency on him, are you?"

"Of course not Minerva. I would ask him if he agrees to it but I will not force it".

The teachers returned to the Great Hall and Dumbledore addressed the students, "I would request Harold Peverell, Susan Bones, Neville Longbottom, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Terry Boot, Mandy Brocklehurst, Daphne Greengrass and Conrad Du Vant to report to my office immediately".

The named students who had been sitting together at the Ravenclaw table stood as one to follow the Headmaster. The other students watched as the four pairs of Hagrids and Hughes made their way out of the Great Hall.

On the way up, Susan muttered, "To Dumbledore's office again. So much fun!"

Harry snorted but said nothing.

Dumbledore who had heard her mutterings said over his shoulder, "I heard that Miss Bones. It seems to be your nature to be a trouble maker that you end up in my office again and again".

Dumbledore offered them seats in his office. Shortly they were joined by Severus, Minerva, Filius & Pomona. As the heads of houses joined, Dumbledore turned to them, "I do not have any direct proof about your involvement in this prank so far. There are reasonable grounds to suspect your involvement. There are statements of witnesses which connect you to the happenings of this morning. The most prominent name which has been put forward is Harold Peverell. Mr. Peverell, would you let me read your mind to see that you are not complicit in what happened today?"

Harry shook his head, "Headmaster, I have secrets which can put people's lives in danger if they are known so I will not let you cast legilimency on me".

Snape's lips curled upwards, "Why you little…"

But Albus cut in before he could finish his sentence, "Severus, I am talking with them. You are to sit and observe".

He turned to Harry again, "Mr. Peverell, if you do not agree to let me see your memories, it would be assumed that you are guilty and you will be punished for it".

Harry was relieved. He could take the blame on himself and others would not be punished for the act. He responded to the Headmaster, "I will bear whatever punishment you will see fit, Professor. No one else was involved in this prank with me and I did it myself".

Dumbledore was not surprised. It was Harry's nature to act unselfishly. He addressed him, "If you so accept then you are found guilty for this prank and..."

He could not finish his sentence before Neville and Susan said at the same time, "Headmaster, we are also involved with him. We are equally liable".

Harry sighed. He had thought that he could deflect punishment from other students but that was not to be. Susan and Neville had accepted their roles and Dumbledore would punish them along with him.

By this time, the rest of them also stood and claimed responsibility for the prank with him. Severus was frowning at the behaviour of his students. It was so unlike them to stand so loyally behind someone but there was nothing he could do after they had openly admitted their guilt. Minerva was part angry and part proud. Angry for obvious reasons and proud because Neville stood by Harry and did not let him take the fall for everyone. Flitwick was indifferent in outward appearance but inwardly he was thinking of ways to negate the punishment which would be awarded to the students. Pomona was proud of the loyalty her puffs had shown to their leader. People often thought that she did not care but Pomona always kept her eyes and ears open and had noticed how Harry was becoming a leader among the students.

Dumbledore said to them, "Since you have all accepted your culpability, it is decided that we will be lenient to you all in your punishments. Letters will be written to your parents or guardians to acquaint them with the gravity of your crimes and 50 points apiece off each of you with a week's worth of detention with..." he paused and asked the four heads of house, "Which of you shall be taking them?"

Everyone washed their hands of them at once. Minerva did not need 8 students from all four houses to be serving detention in her office at once. Flitwick rarely put a student in detention so he had little experience in this matter while Pomona flatly said that there were enough students to do detentions in her green houses for now. Snape had looked at Dumbledore in such a way as if to dare him to send the students to him for detention. It was well known by now that he would not supervise a detention where Harold Peverell was concerned. Dumbledore had half-heartedly suggested Filch and was silenced by Minerva telling him that last time Harold Peverell was serving a detention with the care-taker Filch had spent 3 days in misery and had resolved to never supervise over those blighters in detention again.

At last, Dumbledore had agreed that the students will be sent to Rubeus Hagrid for detention. He was more than enough for them. Surprisingly, everyone had seconded his decision.

When they returned to the Great Hall, every student was still sitting in their position. A lot of glares were sent their way from all the tables. At the same time encouragement was also shouted at them by the students who appreciated a good joke. This was a moment that a prankster lived for.

When Dumbledore asked him about countering the prank, Harry told him that he had no knowledge about how to do that. It fell to the Headmaster to figure it out.

Dumbledore beckoned a Flitwick look-alike towards him and started casting detection spells at him. After about five minutes, he was smiling as he analysed the results of the detections spells. He stood and beckoned Minerva closer, "This is a combination of partial human to human transfiguration and glamour charms so you have not been able to counter it. Take a seat, Minerva and I will undo it in a trice".

He stood and waved his wand over his head in a wide arc and inaudibly sent a spell at the students. An enormous wave of magic spewed out of his wand like a blanket and settled upon the students. Within a minute, everyone had returned to their original forms.

* * *

**A/N- **First let me get my rant out of the way. I received in total two reviews for the last chapter. Was it really that bad? I know it was not up to the mark but then I thought I had already said that it would be so. I carve for the reviews and I know what agony it has been to see no reviews to the chapter.

Now I want you to tell me what patronus you think should be given to characters. As you have already read, Longbottom is a bear, Hermione is an Otter in canon, Twins are two magpies, Ernie is a boar, Seamus is a fox, Cho is a swan, Ginny is a horse and Luna is a hare. Now I want you to tell me about what you would think befits other major characters in this story like Susan, Daphne, Tracy, Justin and few others who may have caught your eye.

Now here is a treat for you all, an excerpt from one of the upcoming chapters:

_**Unknown Castle**_

_The man appeared outside the castle and ran inside, wheezing but not daring to stop and catch a breath. Lucius tried to stop him but he pushed him aside and burst in Voldemort's chamber. Voldemort who was in his chair reading a letter which Severus had just sent. The letter said that Dumbledore was going to pick that prophecy from the Department of Mysteries along with the brat. He was already furious and he read each line and interruption irked him. He raised his wand and roared in cold fury, "What is the meaning of this?"_

_The man immediately went of both his knees before him, kissing the hem of his robes and wheezed, "My Lord, Peverell and Dumble... Dumbledore are going to the Department of Mysteries at this moment. I have seen them in the corridor which leads to the Department"._

_Voldemort understood what he wanted to say in a moment and roared, "Lucius"._

_Lucius had just walked into the room and fell on his knees, "My Lord?"_

_He said in his cold-pitch voice, "Gather the faithful, Lucius. We are going to the ministry". He turned to the other man, 'You have served me well today. Come see me tomorrow for your reward"._

_The man who was frightened of the ire of his Lord turned tail and walked quickly out of the chamber, not daring to break into a run while trying to do so._

_5 minutes later, 60 wizards were ready to storm the ministry behind their Dark Lord._

_Voldemort and his band of fools appeared in the ministry with portkeys that he had made for them but their portkeys were made in keeping with wizard wards and not goblin made wards which were being erected as soon as the last man popped in. He told them to take positions while he started to walk towards the lifts when Harry Potter emerged out of air before him, "Going somewhere, Tom?" _


	41. Chapter 41

**Hogwarts**

Harry was wisely avoiding everyone's company that day because he knew they were itching to have a go at him. Hermione was the most vocal one and if she hadn't respected authority figures, she would have pummelled him right there in the Great Hall. There were a lot of sixth years who were giving him menacing looks and Harry knew why. Hardly anyone would be happy with being turned into Severus Snape or Sybill Trelawney.

He and all of his associates had decided that they would pass the day away from general populace and to that effect, Daphne had gone with Tracy who had no problem with looking like Martha Hughes. Conrad Du Vant had sat with his friends in Ravenclaw who were welcoming of him while Neville had tagged along with Harry and Susan telling him that he had no other place to go like the dormitories or the library or the mermaid's sanctuary where Hannah's wrath would not reach him. The looks that Hannah was giving him were enough to curdle fresh milk.

Justin however had been welcomed with open arms in the Badger's hole by his friends for a prank well executed with the exception of Smith, of course. Turpin and Boot had no problem returning to the Ravenclaw tower because they knew others in their house would be more interested in knowing the details behind the prank seeing it was great piece of magic. Harry, Susan and Neville had taken refuge in Hagrid's hut for most of the day where the Care of Magical Creatures Professor openly told them that he had been proud of them. He reminded Harry that his father also used to perform such pranks and then would spend days avoiding others while planning more mischief. Sometime during the day, Hermione and Ron had came looking after Harry and Neville and Hagrid had told them that he had not seen Harry since the morning making them go their way.

It was finally late in the night when Harry and Neville had returned to the tower having no other recourse. Being absent from the tower after curfew would have earned them another round of detentions and they were in the mood to enjoy the success of this one before they were put in detention again.

When they reached the fat lady, she beamed at them, "Well! Well! Well! If it isn't the new pranksters in residence?"

Harry asked her cautiously, "What is the mood inside the tower?"

She smiled mysteriously, "You will have to see for yourselves. Just to tell you, I am proud. The twins were getting arrogant after being unchallenged for so long".

As they opened the portrait hole, arms reached out and pulled them both inside. There were life-size photographs in the common room papered on the walls showing students changing. Some other life-sized posters showed Fred and George acting like Dumbledore. There were some other photos and an impromptu party was in progress. There was a large banner in the middle of the common room which read, 'Prank Mage Peverell and Prank Lord Longbottom'.

The twins beamed at them, "Brilliant Harry. It was brilliant. We could not have thought pulling it on all four houses at once. We are glad that you are taking up our legacy".

Harry raised an eyebrow, "And exactly what do you mean by that?"

The twins explained, "The legacy of the Marauders. When we found the map, we had decided to take up the legacy of the marauders. We dubbed ourselves as the new Marauders".

There were many others who came to congratulate them. Ginny had eyed them warily and told them that while she thought it was a good prank which had been enjoyed by everyone but there were some who thought otherwise. There was Dean who congratulated him on the feat while Seamus asked him if there was a prank where he would need the Irish wizard's talents. Harry let Seamus know that he was at the top of the list if Harry needed something blown-up. Several others had also come up to congratulate them or to apply for being part of the next prank. Harry also noticed that Hermione and Ron were being kept engaged by the students so that they would not be able to chastise the duo for the prank. Finally Hermione managed to get free of the grasps of Parvati and Fay and made a beeline for him and Neville where they were talking to the twins.

Harry noticed Hermione coming towards them with a storm in her eyes. He asked the twins, "Do something about her, will you?"

"On it" said George and he stepped forward to offer a butterbeer to Hermione standing in such a way that he covered both of them. Harry took that moment to escape to the dormitories where she could not harass them anymore. They decided to turn in right away or Ron would bite their heads off. Not because they had pranked the students but because they did not include him.

**Badger's Hole**

Susan had been given the same kind of applause in her common room though not as rowdy as it was in Gryffindor tower. The students had congratulated her for the prank and a couple of them had even asked her to let them in on the next one.

She had been having a great time until Hannah dragged her to the dormitory with other girls following.

After Susan had made herself comfortable on her bed, Hannah started ranting, "What did you think you were doing Susan? You pranked all of us and you even included poor Neville in it. His father is minister and how do you think he will react when he learns of it? Think about how auntie will react when she hears about it. She already had threatened to punish you and you did it again".

Susan had been chuckling, "Exactly how long have you been keeping it all pent up? I know Neville's father is the minister of magic but he knows we are students and we get up to these kinds of shenanigans at times. Hell, he attended Hogwarts at the time of the Marauders and my parents and lived through all of sort of pranks that they pulled. As for Auntie, she loves me real well and would not give any serious punishment".

Hannah mumbled, "We will see when the owl post comes".

**Black Town House**

Sirius Black had just returned from the ministry to find a Hogwarts Owl sitting patiently on his desk with a letter in its talons and it puzzled him because usually Kreacher could take delivery of a letter when Sirius was not in residence.

He untied the letter and the owl took off. He opened the letter to find the slant cursive hand-writing of Minerva McGonagall.

_"Dear Mr. Black_

_This is to inform you that your son Harold James Peverell has been found guilty for rule-breaking and pranking the whole school at once in concert with several students of other houses. _

_This letter has been written to you in hopes that you will take corrective action towards him and curb his rule-breaking habits._

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"_

There was a post-script to the letter which said,_ "I know it is a fool's hope that you would rein him in, but the school rules make it my duty to inform you"._

The letter was dreadfully lacking on details about what had happened in the school and the way it was written showed that the teachers had been bothered terribly with the act.

He walked to the fireplace, threw in a pinch of floo powder and called, "Moony's lair". A few moments later, Remus Lupin was visible in his office in his manor working on something. At the sound of the floo, he looked up, "Padfoot! Has something happened?"

Sirius adopted a troubled expression, "Moony did I bother you at the wrong time? Were you busy with something?"

Moony waved him off, "Just some paper-work which is almost finished already. What do you need of me?"

Sirius said hesitantly, "It is about Harry. Something has happened and I have no idea about what to do".

The werewolf came running to the fireplace, 'Step aside, Sirius. I am coming through".

Moony exited out of the floo, his eyes turning to the shade of amber, "What happened with Harry, Padfoot? Tell me everything at once".

Sirius handed the letter to him, "This came from Hogwarts this evening".

Remus read the letter and glared at Sirius, "He has been caught in a prank that is all. Why did you have to worry me out of my wits?"

Sirius started laughing, "It was funny to see you come running like that. However the letter is woefully short on details and Minnie has written that she has no hopes of me that I would admonish him. Thing is I want to admonish him like Prongs would have".

Remus snorted, "Prongs would have thrown a party in his honour and filled his trust vault to the limit. However I would accept that I am curious what he did this time".

"Let's ask Minnie then" said Sirius and threw a pinch of floo powder in the fireplace and called "Deputy Head Mistress's office, Hogwarts".

A minute later, Minerva's office was in view where she was sitting in a chair.

Sirius said cheekily, "Good evening, Minnie".

She said to him through gritted teeth, "What do you want, Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin? How can I serve you?"

"Minnie, I got a letter a few hours ago that my son has been caught in rule-breaking. Can you throw some light on that?"

She told everything in detail about what had happened that day including the choices made year wise for the students.

When she was done telling, Sirius was laughing so hard that Minerva sent a stinger at him irritated. It was only with his quick reflexes that the Marauder escaped harm however the spell fire ended the floo call. Moony had been in the background sitting in an armchair and was laughing uproariously, tears leaking from his eyes and clutching his stomach.

Sirius turned to him, "What a prank, Moony! The lad has outdone himself this time. I cannot even begin to comprehend how he pulled it off. Can you imagine how Snape would have reacted seeing his lookalikes sitting in the great hall and sneering at everyone?"

Lupin who had just managed to control his laughter broke into laughter again.

Sirius however was adopting a sober expression, "I think I will have to send him a howler".

While Messrs. Padfoot and Moony were enjoying the pranks of their son and nephew, owls were flying towards homes of other students who had been his accomplices in crime. Similar letters were delivered to the residences of the rest of the students and the parents had decided to punish their children when they came home for Winter holidays. For now a letter would do.

**Great Hall**

The next day, Harry received the first howler of his life. He had actually forgotten that letters would be sent to their homes as part of the punishment. He was sitting with Susan and Neville at the Gryffindor Table with the twins and the quidditch team around him. Hannah was still not talking to Neville and Harry was avoiding Ron and Hermione so they figured that the twins would be perfect barriers to save them from the wrath of others.

As the owls started coming in, Harry noticed Hedwig flying straight to him with a horned owl behind her. Hedwig just dropped the red letter before Harry while the other owl landed on the table extending its leg to Susan.

Malfoy who had been watching gleefully shouted, "Look! Peverell has got a Howler!"

A few of the students snickered while George said, "Mate, open it or it will open anyway".

Harry was eyeing the letter warily and was frowning, wondering why Sirius would send a howler to him. He was not exactly the model of disciplined behaviour either. While he was wondering, the letter started smoking then opened by itself.

The Great hall was filled with the voice of Sirius Black, "HARRY, WHAT A PRANK! MERLIN'S BEARD, I AM PROUD. YOU HAVE MADE US PROUD. MOONY MIGHT SEND YOU A LETTER ADMONISHING YOU BUT DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO IT. HE IS JUST PLAYING THE GOOD AUROR BUT HE HAS NOT STOPPED LAUGHING SINCE WE READ THE LETTER".

By the time the howler ended, Harry was chuckling with the others while Malfoy looked like he had swallowed a lemon. Hermione looked furious.

Ron was heard moaning, "He gets a howler and he is applauded for a prank".

Harry then noticed Susan was shaking like a leaf. He asked her with concern, "Sue, what is the matter? What happened?"

She said nothing but extended the letter to him wordlessly. He started reading the letter which obviously was from Amelia Bones.

_"Susan Amelia Bones,_

_I am disappointed, young lady. I am in fact furious that you were involved in a prank. When you snuck off to Godric's Hallow, I decided to let it pass but you have made it a habit. I will see to your fitting punishment when you are home for the winter holidays._

_Amelia Susan Bones"._

He read the letter and pressed her hands to calm her down, "Sue, I knew this could happen and I had warned you. I am sorry that she is angry with you however if it helps, I will take the blame on myself".

She shook her head, "I will not let you do that. It was me who decided to participate in it and you did not force me. I will face the consequences myself".

Just at that moment, Hector landed before Neville carrying a letter from Alice. Neville was tensed till he finished the letter when his shoulders slumped in relief and he turned to Harry, "Mother says that we are children. We can get involved in a prank or two. It is perfectly okay. She has invited you for a dinner the day we return to London for vacation".

Harry nodded, "Okay" but inwardly he knew Alice would deal with them when they were in front of her rather than shouting herself hoarse from a howler when one could chuck it in fire straight or apply a silencing charm to it and it would be ineffective.

He noticed that Daphne was keeping a distance from him. He wanted to ask what was bothering her but was intercepted by Astoria.

"What do you want, Harry?" she had asked.

"Astoria, why is Daphne being so cold towards everyone?" he asked, curiosity writ large on his face.

"Daph got a letter from father this morning and he was angry with her for two reasons. Firstly for being involved in a prank and secondly for being caught after she had decided to participate in it anyway".

Harry snorted, "He was angry that she participated in a prank on one hand and then angry because she was caught?"

Astoria nodded eagerly, "Mother also had her say. She said that the ice queen had thawed and since then Daphne is trying to act like the Ice Queen again".

"Okay. Do I need to worry about getting threats from Cyrus or Roxanne?"

Astoria replied, "No but I want you to teach me a few tricks. I have a few students to prank".

**A week later**

Hagrid's idea of detention was to divided them into groups and take them to the edge of the forbidden forest to gather some ingredients for some obscure potions which Snape needed or to perform some other harmless menial tasks and he did not seem to mind if they used magic to do it.

The first night, Hagrid had them walk around the edges to find bowtruckles so he could mark trees fit for wand wood. The wand-maker Ollivanders had been looking for trees which could give him wand wood for new wands and Dumbledore granted his request on account of their age old friendship. They had an enjoyable 2 hours in the forest with the only problem being the snow.

That had also been the night when Harry kissed Susan for the first time. Hagrid had sent them in pairs to look for trees and Harry had conjured blue bell flames for everyone as Pashupati had shown him all those months ago.

They were walking for quite a while in the forest when Harry asked, "Have I ever told you about the time I ended up in a detention in the forbidden forest?"

She eyed him warily, "Don't tell me that you actually ended up here for detention".

He laughed, "We did. It was the time when Hagrid had Norbert".

She asked him curiously, "Who is Norbert?"

"Norbert is a Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon".

She squeaked, "There was a freaking dragon in the school?"

Harry chuckled "It would be better if I tell you the entire tale. You see, Hagrid told me at our first meeting that he would like to have a dragon. Sometime during that year, Hagrid met a hooded man in the Hogs Head inn who lost a Dragon's egg to him in a card game. Hagrid was elated to have the egg and started making preparations to hatch it in his hut. We had seen the dragon being hatched and convinced him somehow that he should send the dragon away and it would be in the best interests of everyone, including the dragon. We wrote a letter to Charlie Weasley who was a dragon handler in Romania and he told us that he was sending some of his friends to take the dragon away. Somehow, Malfoy overheard our plans. He then informed Professor McGonagall of it the night we were smuggling the dragon out of the castle. She caught me, Hermione, Neville out of bounds that night. Me and Hermione because we were smuggling it away from the castle. Neville because out of the goodness of his heart, he was coming to warn us about it and also Malfoy because he was also out of bed during curfew hours. Ron was in the hospital wing because the dragon had bitten him on the hand and his hand was swollen. We all lost 50 house points each and got detention".

Realisation dawned on Susan, "That was the time in first year when Gryffindor had lost 150 points in a night?"

He chuckled, "Yes. As it turned out, Filch handed us to Hagrid who took us into the Forbidden forest to look for something that was hunting unicorns. Me and Malfoy came upon a unicorn dead in a clearing and a person was drinking its blood. When it saw me, we tried to run but I tripped over a root and fell on my rump. The being glided towards me perhaps to try and kill me and was almost upon me when one of the centaurs in the forest, I think his name was Firenze, saved me".

Susan had been clutching his arm and her nails were digging into his flesh painfully telling him that she was scared when an owl hooted making them jump and they both realised that they were in the forbidden forest. It was at that moment that some small animal brushed Susan's leg and she jumped in fright and hugged him fiercely. She had buried her face in his robes and it was only when Harry assured her that it was nothing that she dared to raise her face to look into his eyes. In that moment, Harry felt something tugging at his core, a feeling of want, of longing and he had pressed his lips to hers. It was short lived because Neville chose that moment to appear looking for them. He saw the kiss, turned back and said over his shoulder, "Did I come at the wrong time?"

Harry shrugged, "No Neville. It is alright. We were done anyway".

Susan however was cursing Neville's bad timing under her breath.

**A reckless Prefect**

The second night of detention, Hagrid had them tend to the herd of Hippogriff's that he had bred. It was not a punishment for Harry because he had lot of practice at it and actually loved being near the animals while Neville was indifferent because he had learned to tend to Hippogriffs at the Longbottom Castle since he was a child and perhaps liked it much after Herbology, of course.

Harry also saw that Hagrid had found a mate for Blackstorm. It was a magnificent animal with a variety of colours and his familiar was obviously besotted.

The third night, he had them collect a few ingredients which were needed for some potions. The ingredients would have otherwise cost the school lots of gold and not everything could be found in the greenhouses.

The routine had been the same every night and the detention had passed peacefully. Harry was already planning for the next prank which would take place just before the winter holidays.

In the meantime, he had patched things up with Hermione two days after the prank when she had stopped him in the common room. "Harry, why are you not talking to me?"

"Because I want to keep my limbs intact, Hermione", he had replied.

"You are Incorrigible, you know that" she said rolling her eyes, "you pranked the entire school and you did not include us in it to help you do it?"

Harry was dumb-founded, "Hermione, you are a Prefect. You are expected to stop me from pranks or rule-breaking".

She grinned, "We are allowed to be ourselves at times, Harry. Besides Professor Lupin was a Prefect and yet he was credited to be the brain of the Marauders, so I can do that for you".

Harry nodded in all seriousness, "Okay Hermione, next time I will try to include you in it".

"You better", she had said.

**The Room of Requirement**

The next session for patronus training had been more successful than the last. Many of them had spent time meditating on their happiest moments and practicing. Many were able to conjure at least an incorporeal patronus. A few managed corporeal ones too.

Harry answered many queries from different students about the charm and how they could cast it easily. He had told everyone that they needed to have happy thoughts. The memory that they chose did not need to be real but they could think of something that would give them infinite happiness and the same feeling could fuel a patronus.

The most intense discussion had been with Hermione because she had been trying hard to conjure a patronus and had not been able to conjure one so far. Harry had to explain to her that a patronus did not just depend on wand waving and incantation as she was doing but it was based on emotions more. One who could relive happiness from their positive memories could conjure one without any effort but for those who looked for logic to go into it would always have trouble conjuring them.

She had tried the charm in all the spare time that she had but it did not work for her. It was only when Ron had taken her aside for a few minutes and they returned with goofy grins on their faces that Hermione had been able to conjure a corporeal patronus with great effort which was an Otter. However she still had problems with the spell and it always took her more than one try to conjure a patronus.

Ron had been able to conjure a patronus which was a Jack Russel Terrier and Harry had ribbed him that his patronus was also chasing Hermione's patronus the same way as he was chasing after her.

In this second session on Patroni, the twins had been able to conjure corporeal patroni. Theirs were identical Magpies. Harry guessed they had no problem with conjuring corporeal patronus because they knew what it meant to be happy. Ginny had conjured an incorporeal patronus in the third session. Harry had no doubts that she would have one before the year ended.

Susan had also been able to cast a corporeal patronus charm in a private lesson after the third session. She later told him that she used their memory of the forest for the charm. Her patronus was a badger and she was proud of it.

Hannah had been able to conjure an incorporeal patronus by now with appreciation from Neville who was also helping her to achieve this.

A few others had been able to conjure corporeal patroni. One was Cho Chang who had a swan. Ernie Macmillan had a boar. Seamus Finnigan's was a fox. Harry was kind of looking forward to see more of his friends successfully conjure patroni.

**The meeting**

Harry had called a meeting of his chosen friends to ask for help from them. He had chosen Susan, Neville, Ron, Hermione, Hannah, Ernie, Daphne and the twins because they were some of those whom he could trust and were better at casting than others.

The meeting was supposed to be today in the space behind the mirror on the fourth floor and they all arrived one after another. After they were seated, Harry started addressing them, "I have called you all here because I need your assistance. I am happy that you all have progressed quickly and are able to hold your own. I have been pulling my punches when it comes down to it because I have not been getting the same amount of practice as I am used to. I feel like I am getting rusty with lack of serious practice".

Ron asked, "How can we help you, mate?"

"I want you all to duel with me".

"All of us?" Ernie asked, "All of us at once?"

Harry replied off-handedly, "Yes, all of you at once. I will cast while you will defend against me".

The twins asked him, "Mate, are you sure you are not getting a bit ahead of yourself? Sure we know you are powerful but we are too many against you".

Harry replied indifferently, "No, Mates. I am serious about it and do not worry. We are not using lethal spells for Safety's sake".

Hermione made the decision for them, "I do not know about them Harry but I am ready for whatever help you need of me".

When others nodded their assent, he cautioned them, "I would like to remind you all that you cannot tell about anything that you see me doing in these practice sessions. If news were to go out, it would be detrimental to the interests of all of us. Please agree to it only if you think you can face the world and not give me up, even if it is old Tom who is threatening you".

Ernie who knew the barest details about this Tom said to him, "Harry while I do not claim that I know you as well as them but I would not give you up to anyone. We the Macmillans have always stood behind the Potters throughout these centuries and while they do not say that 'where a Potter goes, a Macmillan will follow', the Macmillans and Potters stood together even before the Longbottoms arrived. If you are worried, I would take a magical vow to that effect, if you want".

Such a display of loyalty was enough to convince Harry that none of them would ever give him up. At last everyone agreed that they would help him in whatever way they could. Susan had been quiet during the meeting because she agreed with the decision but did not like it. She knew that the face-off between Harry and Voldemort was unavoidable. Even though she did not wish for him to go off and face that monster, she was not going to stop him from doing what was his duty. She would stand by his side and help him do it. She also had deaths to avenge. The snake faced monster had taken too many people from her and she would be damned if she stood by and let him do it again.

He cheerfully asked them to report to the Room of Requirement that evening for the first practice session.

When the selected students arrived that evening at the Room of Requirement, Harry was already inside and dodging spells from four dummies at once. They all stood watching him dodge the dummies easily. They all had learned dodging in their sessions with him but they realised that they were nowhere near as nimble as him. He was doing it so easily and made it look like a dance. He was not side-stepping or trying the slippery fish and they were all in awe of what he considered simple dodging.

After about 10 minutes, Harry ceased his practice, and noticed the others, "I did not realise that you guys had arrived".

It was Ron who broke the silence, "Wicked! Where did you learn that one?"

Harry chuckled, "It was dodging Ron, plain and simple. With enough practice, agility and speed, anyone can do it".

Hermione spoke, "Not everyone can do it, Harry. May be the senior aurors in the ministry or some professional duel masters can do this but not mere students".

Harry waved her off, "It was practice, plain and simple. However, I want to know if you guys are ready to give me some practice?"

They all nodded and Harry asked them to adopt the stance for dueling. As they did, he pulled his sandalwood wand and took his position, "Now, I am going to take on all of you at once. I want you to defend, dodge or cast the best you can. Your goal is to stop, stun, disarm paralyze the best you can. No lethal spells. I will be doing the same to each of you".

His friends all looked a little incredulous, but they spread out in a semi-circle, leaving enough room for each of them to move and dodge then raised their wands. At first, Harry wanted some practice dodging against live casters. While these were not the mystics but they were the best thing in the present circumstances. When the first volley of spells rushed at him, he neatly side-stepped all the spells making them halt briefly. When his friends realized that he was not casting back and that their spells could not hit him, they picked up the pace and the spells flew at Harry in volleys. It didn't take Harry long to figure out their rhythms and he closed his eyes as he danced, allowing the light from the spells that made its way through his closed eyelids to guide him. He started manoeuvring, pulling his friends out of position. Then a stunner meant for Harry hit Hannah and took her down. The next moment, Ernie took a similar hit. The ones who were still standing conjured shields and repositioned themselves in such a way so they would not hit their friends. Harry opened his eyes and started casting at his top speed, sending spell after spell in all directions. He used a wide variety of hexes, jinxes, charms, transfigurations and animations while he still danced out of the path of every spell. He still had not conjured a shield. He sent a stunner which Fred took on his shield. At almost the same time, Hermione deflected a petrification hex with the same shield she started with. A levicorpus was rustling towards Daphne who had made the mistake of dropping her shield and found herself being hoisted by her ankle. No one else could help her because they were hard pressed to defend themselves from him. As Daphne was being hoisted to the ceiling by her ankle, a shield breaker had shattered Neville's shield. But having enough experience duelling with Harry by now, he had immediately ducked to avoid the stunner which passed through the space where he had been a moment ago. Soon after Neville had ducked, Ronald had decided to risk attacking Harry and had dropped his shield. Before he could cast, his wand was flying across the room to Harry's off-hand. Susan had sent the tickling hex his way which he sent right back at her. She doubled over laughing. George's wand arm was attacked by a dog transfigured from a chair. As Fred tried to defeat the dog, he was taken down by a stunner. Hermione tried to start attacking but in the same moment, Harry's fire whip was roaring through the air making them all duck. While they were all distracted and ducking, she found herself tied in chains while George had lost his wand to the dog having failed to transfigure it back. Harry stunned him too leaving Neville the last one standing. Harry started peppering him with bolts of fire forcing him to hide behind a shield and sent a stunner at him and an incarcerous at the same time. Neville risked slashing the rope which was trying to find him and the stunner took him down finally.

Harry was standing proudly over his fallen comrades grinning smugly. Ernie and Hannah had been knocked out at the start by friendly fire. Hermione was tied in chains trying to free herself of it with her wand having fallen out of her hand. Neville was stunned and so were the twins. Daphne was hanging by her ankle. Susan was just getting over the effects of the tickling hex that had been reflected back at her. Ron had lost his wand during the fight and had been an easy target for a stunner with no way to raise a shield. After that, Neville had fallen at last.

Harry enervated everyone who had been stunned and freed Hermione of her restraints and released Daphne of the levicorpus jinx. When they all came around, they were flustered that they had been bested by him so easily. Not one of them had got a hit on him and that was when he had not shielded against them.

Daphne broke the silence, "That was incredible casting. Where did you learn that one?"

"Sorry Daphne but trade secrets are just that. It is not something that can be taught. Proprietary magic, you can say".

Proprietary magic was one's personal magic and could not be shared and therefore there was no reason that anyone can pester him to teach it to them except may be Hermione but for once, she was keeping her peace.

While they were all catching their breath, Harry gave them some feedback, "I know that none of you have any real combat experience. Before we go again, there are some things you should know. First is the way that Hannah and Ernie went down. That was friendly fire. Fred and George, you were so intent on trying to hit me that you failed to take into account that you might hit one of your own when I dodged out of the way. This is called tunnel vision. You must pay attention to everybody's position when you are in combat or you just might end up taking out one of your own. Second thing is shields. You never know what kind of spell is coming your way. Shields are great against wide-area spells which are exceedingly difficult to dodge, but they take energy, they can be shattered and they do not protect you against everything. I want to see all of you dodging everything you can. Save your energy. The spell that cannot hit you cannot harm you regardless of what that spell is. George, when an animated transfiguration attacks you, you are better off to try and take control of it or vanish it. Those things cannot be injured and it is nearly impossible to undo the transfiguration if you do not know how it was created. Daphne, you still had your wand until you dropped it trying to keep us all from seeing your bloomers. Next time, hang onto your wand and make a surprise attack on one who may have dismissed you as being out of combat. Ron, for a disarming spell to work, it has to hit you. It doesn't take much to get your wand out of the way by sending your wand in your holster and make the spell useless. The rest of you, sure, put up a shield as a precaution, but dodge and learn to cast around the edge of the shield. You will be a lot less vulnerable that way. Any questions?"

They all sort of looked around at each other and shook their heads. Harry noticed that they had all caught their breath, "Ok, let's do it again. Remember, no lethal spells. We don't need anyone getting hurt".

Neville opened with a bludgeoner which Harry neatly sidestepped. Others were not far behind and soon, he was side stepping stunners, petrifiers, incarcerous and incendio too. They were posing no challenge to him at all because they were only firing at him and not in directions he could go in case he dodged or side-stepped and it made it easy for him to dodge better. He had yet to raise a shield since none of their spells had connected with him. He had side-stepped another volley of spells and was thinking how nothing was connecting with him however in that moment it seemed that some understanding passed between them and they started casting at different angles and one after the other firing in all directions that he could go while side-stepping a spell. Laughing inwardly that finally they were making progress, he raised a reflector shield and sent Ron's spell back at him who was in middle of casting and could not dodge fast enough. As Ron collapsed, Susan had sent a shield breaker at him which he sent at Neville by flicking it off of his wand. As a trained reflex, Neville conjured a shield which immediately shattered under the hex. As Neville's shield failed, Harry flicked Fred's hex at George and George's hex at Fred. As he had expected, they had fired prank spells at him and Fred ended up looking like Headless Nick complete with the ruff around his neck while Fred looked like someone had hit him with Furunculous hex. He sent Hermione's incendio back at her and her cloak caught fire which Susan put out with the aguamenti charm. He sent Hannah's petrification hex at Neville whose attention was distracted by the fire and he paid for it. He reflected Ernie's stunner at Hannah and Hermione's incarcerous at Ernie. Daphne had fired a spell chain of petrification hex, disarming spell and incarcerous of which he dodged the petrification hex, flicked the disarming spell at Susan and the incarcerous back at Daphne. Hermione was the last one standing and she started peppering him with incendio and he kept side stepping, taunting her, telling her that she could not touch him and when she did not realise what he was doing, he sent her stunner back at her and she collapsed.

When he enervated them or released them from their predicament, he raised his wand and asked, "Shall we do it again?"

They practiced twice more and every time Harry came out on top. He still had not needed to perform the slippery fish, raise a shield nor did he cast with both wands. The rest of them were showing some real improvement. The disarming never worked again. There were no more hits from friendly fire and they were dodging more. He had practiced rapid casting and he was sure that it was sufficient for Tom for the first meeting. In the next meeting however, he would show him the dance of death.

Classes were in full swing now with the teachers taking giving them more and more assignments to do. McGonagall was teaching at her leisurely pace as she was used to and managing to get her point across to all of them. She had ensured that all of them had mastered the inanimate conjuration when she had started on Vanishing. Vanishing was in two steps. Firstly they all tried to vanish simple invertebrate organisms and when all the class had been successful in it, she had turned to teach them to vanish more complex organisms. She cautioned them against trying to use it on humans because they were most complex organisms and the spell may not be successful at all or would result in a disaster and both of the scenarios were bad.

Snape was teaching them one of the potions that he told them would certainly feature on their OWLs. While he was still being evil to them, he was trying to help students in his own twisted way however Harry knew the damage was done and most of his year mates would end up getting an E at best however, if Snape allowed people in his course with E grade next year, there may be hope for some potential future Aurors or Healers.

Flitwick was the most laid back teacher in Hogwarts and he did not create a fuss over what he taught to them. He mostly made them revise what they had learned in the previous years in addition to new things. His classes were the best to talk because there was generally so much chaos in his classes that people could talk without fear of being over-heard. So far he had them revise the banishing charm, the summoning spell, mending charm, Severing Charm and had them learn the locomotion charm, impedimenta jinx, and the growth charm.

Babbling was teaching Runes and Harry was finally coming to terms with the theories which were a major headache for him. He had learned the practical well enough but had only read through the theory enough to help him to learn the concept. Now he was reading the theories and trying to understand what they said or what concept was in them. There were no major theories in Runes yet but there were so many things that he needed to know like translating the runes, listing their uses and other little things. He was trying to enjoy the challenge as much as he could.

He did not need to worry about defense as it was a subject where he could breeze through it on his practical work alone. He knew that there was no way that he would ever score anything below Outstanding in this subject. With so many students performing at the same level, there were going to be a lot of Outstanding grades in this round of OWLs.

History was all about reading but with Martha Hughes as the teacher, it was an enjoyable subject now. Her classes were also helpful in filling the gaps in his education about the history of Avalon and consequently Magical Britain which had been lacking in Rachael's education. Rachael had so little time with him that she was only able to teach him enough so that he would not end up making a fool of himself in the Wizengamot or appear to be an arrogant, self-obsessed pureblood like Lucius Malfoy.

Hagrid had shown them Thestrals and was planning to show them Kelpie next. Wherever he would get hold of one, Harry had no idea. Hermione told him that once Hagrid had had told her that he was trying to acquire a Chimera which was a XXXXX creature. Its eggs were Class-A non-tradeable articles. Harry had shuddered at the mere thought. A chimera was an infernal beast having a lion's head, goat's body and dragon's tail. They were considered to be impossible to slay. In the only instance of Chimera slaying which was known, the wizard who had slain it fell off of his flying horse due to exhaustion and died. Since Professor Silvanus Kettleburn had taught the students about the Chimera when he was the professor, Hagrid was continuing his lessons. Hermione had been able to discourage him telling him that it was a bad idea because it would lead him to presentation before the Committee for Care of Magical Creatures.

Last week he had shown them a Porlock. It was a creature that grew to a height of two feet on average when fully grown and covered in large amount of rough-shaggy hair. It had a large nose, small arms ending in four stubby fingers and walked on two cloven hooves. It was a native of England and Southern Ireland and was a Horse Guard. Harry had often seen one around Blackstorm but it never stayed when Harry tried to approach it. He had also seen them in the stables around Adrishpuram and Pashupati had told him that he had brought them onboard the Marichika about 40 years ago and they had never left. It generally nested in the straw of the stable or in the middle of the herd it was protecting.

He had also shown them Fairy which was fairly dull when it came to Hagrid but they were beautiful little beasts and the students had really liked that class.

Hagrid was going to show them Crups in the coming term and till then, he was making them revise what they had studied in the last two years except for the Blast Ended Skrewts but every student was happy to have nothing to do with those abominations which he had bred for the tournament.

Professor Sprout was the same as ever and taught them of the things that she knew would feature on OWLs or would be more useful for the students to know. She was also teaching a few of her students about the plants which were in the newly made Greenhouse and only a select few of her students from the present OWL class were allowed into it.

**A few weeks later**

December was halfway through and Harry had told them that he would not be teaching them till the new term as they have had enough for now. The last few weeks had been absolute chaos with pranks happening left and right and surprisingly Harry was not always responsible. It seemed as if some other students in the castle had taken a leaf out of his book and were starting to indulge in pranking.

With Harry already giving them a run for their money and some new unknown variables vying for the position of Prankster in residence, the twins were forced to up their game. They were liberally testing their products on the students when they could. There had been instances when they were put into detention even when they did not do anything.

In addition to the students, Peeves was also trying to contribute to the mayhem. He would often pelt students with dungbombs or with the blowgun that he had come to love so much, There was only concession he had made to Harry and never tried to prank him but was ready to do his bidding lest Harry again tie him into chains. There had been one day in the Great Hall, just after dinner started that Dung Bombs started raining down from the ceiling and going off. Peeves the poltergeist was up there, hovering and cackling like a maniac. Thanks to quick reflexes, Harry had been able to raise a wall around him and his friends before any of the nasty smelling shrapnel had ruined their dinner or fouled their clothes while Bubble-head charms provided fresh air to breathe.

From that time, Harry made it his mission to track down and prank Peeves every chance he got. Once he hexed him with langlock and then stunned him. With Peeves incapacitated, Harry shut him up in a suit of armour. The poltergeist took hours to wake up and get free of the armour. Peeves, being a slow learner immediately set off to find Harry, supposing that he could even the score. This time, Harry bound Peeves in chains and left him in a deserted corridor, where he stayed for two days. After that, the poltergeist became Harry's minion, doing Harry's bidding rather than risking his displeasure.

When Harry told Sirius about it, the marauder could not believe it at first but after showing Peeves obeying him in the communication mirror Sirius had to admit that his pranks were far more phenomenal than his own.

There had also been several instances when he pranked other students. Like one day, he had made all the words disappear from all the books in the library. Harry would have escaped punishment for this one but unfortunately for him, one of the ghosts had seen him and told Dumbledore. Harry had lost 50 points for that and served a detention with Hagrid.

There were many other small incidents which happened but none were pinned on him. He was also careful to earn all the points which he lost because otherwise Gryffindor would have fallen behind. He earned most points with Hagrid for knowing much about creatures while the rest were compensated in Flitwick's classes or Vikram's lessons. McGonagall however never gave him a chance to make up for the lost points and did not let him answer any of the questions she asked.

He was also told by Dumbledore that the death eaters were getting brave due to no resistance being offered to them. There were reports of threats to shop owners in Diagon Alley or other places and attacks here or there. A wizard had been killed in Knockturn Alley when he had apparently tried to refuse to sell an artefact to one who threatened him in the name of Voldemort but retaliation had been made by Aurors who had arrested several of Tom's minions. Rufus Scrimgeour was in constant action as head of the Law Enforcement Patrols and tried to be part of every team which was sent into the field.

He had also been apprised of Moody's plan after Yule. The said plan was to be executed at mid-night after Yule celebrations. Moody had chosen the atrium for the skirmish and Croaker had finally developed the wards which would be employed at the ministry entrances. They would prevent death eaters from entering or leaving the place but those wards would not go up until Tom had shown his snake-face in the Atrium of the ministry. There were 50 Aurors ready for the occasion. Moody had not briefed them about the specifics of their mission but only told them that they were being trained as part of special operations such as Minister's security detail, or protecting the head of DMLE or Moody himself.

The plan was that on the chosen day, the Aurors would be in place by the time of the attack. Harry would go to the ministry on the appointed day with Dumbledore where they would take one of the floo entrances in the Atrium and would go towards the department of mysteries in plain sight. One of Voldemort's spies who was a lowly ministry worker and often lurked around the Department of Mysteries would overhear about Harold Peverell coming to pick up something from the Department of Mysteries and he surely would let Tom know of this tid-bit. However once they were inside the entrance to the Department, Harry would hide under his cloak and return to the atrium while Dumbledore would intercede when Tom was finally out and about. He could directly travel to the atrium with Fawkes the phoenix. A few particular sections of the atrium were already put under Fidelius by Moody and it was there that the Aurors would hide in waiting. As soon as Tom Riddle came out into the open, they would step out and engage his forces in duel at Harry's signal. It was also made clear to him that no one except him would engage Tom in a duel however the rest of his minions were free game for the Aurors. Remus Lupin had been added to the contingent under the request of Sirius and recommendation of Frank.

Sirius's job was to lead one of the divisions while one would be handled by the minister himself who was desperate to score another one on old Tom. One of the divisions would be handled by Rufus Scrimgeour who had apprehended several minions of Tom by now and was eager for more action. Moody would be watching over the whole operation and lead one of the divisions. There was another one under Proudfoot who was a Senior Auror and was touted to become the next head of DMLE in case Amelia were to step down or something were to happen to her. Amelia was to stay out of the skirmish and apprehend any who tried to flee. Since the atrium would have anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards up, the only way out was the floo network which would be redirected to take the user to a designated spot where Amelia would be waiting with her wand.

Harry was also told that if he spotted Nagini, he was to decapitate her on sight. Since the great snake was a horcrux, it was unlikely that anything less than a sword of goblin wrought silver could kill her. With Nagini dead and destroyed as a horcrux, that would leave Tom with only one horcrux that was not already in the hands of his enemies and one step closer to death. They knew that they could not kill Tom in this encounter because he still had one of those abominations left, but the purposes of this ambush were to bring him out into the open and to thin the ranks of his followers. While it was not part of the plan, but Harry had decided to use some of his choicest curses on Voldemort and if possible then to trap him and may be throw him through the veil. Even if Tom somehow managed to come back through his last remaining horcrux after that, it would certainly put an end to his mischief for many years.

There had also been a Hogsmeade weekend where his friends had gone to the village to shop for the holidays while Harry and Susan had stayed behind. He had asked her if she wanted to go to the village and she had refused telling him that they could always do their shopping in Diagon Alley when they got home.

**Head Master's office**

Dumbledore was in thought. The past weeks had been chaos but still entertained everyone quite a bit. The pranks which had been sweeping through the school had done well to uplift the gloomy mood. They had brought laughter and joy which was a welcome diversion in these times from talk of war.

He was also contemplating about the last horcrux which was out of Tom's reach when the gargoyle alerted him to a visitor. Vikram came into his office a few moments later.

"Dumbledore I have news", he said.

"Have you finally had the chance to see Gryffindor's gauntlet for yourself?" he asked eagerly.

"Yes Albus and as I have told you it is not a horcrux. It is secure in a glass cabinet and even the ICW had kind of forgotten about it. The guardians of archives keep it under some really serious protections and it would be a fool's venture to try and steal it. In fact Grand Master Flamel had secured it in the archives and the protections are not broken on it. We had him check it for us".

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose up high on his forehead, "Master Flamel is still alive?"

The mystic chuckled, "Of course he is. He is one of the honorary mystics who never renounced old life and was ineligible for the cloak. Guruji himself sought him out on his island in France".

"But the Philosopher's Stone was destroyed", Albus said, "They told me that they had only enough time to put their affairs in order".

The mystic started laughing, "Albus, he pranked you. Yes the stone which was kept here in the castle was destroyed but honestly you do not think that it was the only one when he himself had made it? He had another which he hid from the world but we knew about. May be there might be more but we do not know about it".

Albus was befuddled. He had in all honesty thought that Flamel had died or was close to death. Since the alchemist was a recluse, Albus had not been able to contact him. To think that he was an honorary mystic was just the icing on the cake, as the muggles say.

"So, it narrows our search to Ravenclaw's diadem which can be the horcrux which we have not been able to find yet. A little piece of information that I have been able to find is that the diadem was not with Rowena when she died. She had lost it years prior to her death and as per her own admission it was her daughter who stole it. The whereabouts of the diadem after it was stolen are not known and I cannot even begin to guess how Tom Riddle was able to find it provided it is the final horcrux", Vikram said.

Dumbledore heard what Vikram told him with rapt attention. He of course had studied Rowena's family tree because he had been fascinated with the diadem and the powers that it was said to contain. Rowena had a daughter who had died sometime before Rowena's death and that was all that was known to him. He would have to look into more places to find where the diadem could be.

"Now Albus, I trust the plans to lure Tom out are in place?", Vikram asked him.

"Yes, Alastor has seen to it. They are training regularly. The Aurors are being trained to kill if necessary. Other small details are being worked out. I hope that by the time Yule arrives, everything will be in place. I swear that once this is over, I am going to retire and spend the rest of my days in peace. A bloke deserves his rest after having fought three wars and two dark-lords, doesn't he?"

The mystic chuckled, "One can always hope, Albus".

**Great Hall**

Susan and Harry had just ambled into the Great Hall for lunch without their friends around. Neville and Hannah were off doing who knows what, Hermione was in the library as usual. Ron for once, was ignoring food in favour of his friend. Ernie had finally asked Lilith Moon out a few days ago. Since then he was often in her company at the Slytherin table or the Hufflepuff table. Justin had taken a shine to Megan Jones and they were spending time together. Ginny to his astonishment had started to see Colin Creevey, not that he was opposed to her choices. Only that Colin was a laid-back guy while she had the Weasley temper. Harry shuddered to think that they might be discussing Harry Potter Fan Club business.

"Harry, what do you say about a date?" Susan asked him.

"I would say that I am in favour of the idea, Sue. Do you have something in particular in mind?"

"Lunch in The Three Broom Sticks followed by a stroll around the village sounds lovely to me".

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment, "Getting out of the castle is no problem, nor is evading any teachers or aurors we may happen to encounter along the way. The real problem is evading Sirius and Remus. They are in Hogsmeade and on the lookout for me in particular. They know my magical signature and no disguise will fool them".

Sue grinned impishly, "Well then, that leaves only two options".

Harry put on his lop-sided grin and asked, "And what would they be, Sue?"

She answered, "Either you can admit defeat and stay here where it is safe, or you can go out there and get the drop on them before they can capture us".

"Well then, let's go. We will have to take one of the secret ways out. I do not want people to know that we have escaped".

They went out as if to take a long stroll in the grounds. Then, they took the tunnel under the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack. Susan was initially reluctant telling him that it was the most haunted building in Wizarding Britain. Harry had the audacity to laugh at her statement.

She had viciously elbowed him in the ribs and he had explained that he laughed because they lived in a magical castle with actual ghosts and what could be more haunted than that. He also told her that the noises were made by Remus during his transformations and when the rumours spread, Dumbledore had encouraged them rather than curbing them.

When they had emerged in the shack, they had found it to be transformed. The walls had new wallpaper. The smashed furniture had all been replaced with desks and chairs. The kitchen had been refitted with a new pot-bellied stove, table, chairs and a full larder. There was a brand-new fireplace, big enough for a man to stand up in too. There was not a speck of dirt in the place. There were also banners with the insignia of the Ministry of Magic on the walls. Harry had been dumb-founded until he found his cousin, Nymphadora Tonks in the shack who told him that the building had been borrowed and re-purposed by the ministry to serve as the Hogsmead Auror outpost and an easy way to reach the school in case there was an attack or something. There was at least one Auror always present in the shack.

When Harry had asked her not to tell on them, she had agreed provided that they returned to the school in less than two hours or she would hunt them down herself. As he was leaving, he noticed that Nymphadora was not her usual exuberant self. Her hair was dull brown (which perhaps was her original colour) instead of the bizarre bright colours she often sported. There was sadness about her which he had not noticed before.

Glamouring themselves, they went to the Three Broomsticks where they sat in a private parlour. After food had arrived and he had cast the usual wards around them, Susan started talking, "Harry have you thought about the trip we were talking about?"

"Yes Sue, I have but we cannot go there till the New Year".

"Why is that?" she asked him. "We will be free of our obligations just after Yule".

Harry stroked his forehead, "Oh right, I have yet to tell you. This year I am hosting the New Year ball. Remus has already sent the invitations to others. I was supposed to invite our friends and I forgot about it".

She nodded, "But we are going for the trip, right?"

"That we are Sue. I just have to decide who we are going to invite for the ride along because no one would come by themselves but bring one with them and that will be a lot of people".

After they finished lunch, they decided that a stroll through the streets of the village would do them some good. It was snowing and the weather was chilly so Susan was kind of hugging him while they roamed the streets.

Susan said suddenly, "That day Longbottom ruined our moment. He could not have chosen a better moment than that".

Harry chuckled, "It was not his fault, Sue. He was just looking out for us however why bring it up now?"

She caught hold of his collar, pulling him towards her and kissed him.

* * *

**A/N- Hey guys, I cannot even begin to tell you how over-whelmed I am with the reviews that I received. Thank you everyone for those lovely words which encourage me to write more and more for you all.**

**The excerpt you read in the Author's Note for last chapter belongs to Chapter 42, so I guess you will have to wait till then however you do not need to be sad about it. I promise it will be worth it. Below is a little something for you all.**

**_Sirius had directly engaged Lucius. He saw Lucius, bellowed and ran towards him, "Lucius, today you will pay your reckoning"._**

**_Lucius had his wand out and sent a curse at Sirius but the Marauder had side stepped it the moment it approached him. It was a little trick he had learnt after watching Harry do it so many times. While he was not as fluent as him, he could ward off the likes of Lucius Malfoy._**

**…..**

**_Frank and Alice were standing back to back in the Atrium and fending off three at once. They both had known each other's moves since forever and could communicate through their actions without talking. It was easy enough for them to fight together with three to four at once._**

**_….…_**

**_Rufus was fighting two of them and was enjoying it. One of his boys had fallen to a bone breaker and Rufus has stepped in to engage his opponent too. He was fighting with grim determination and as they fought, he kept them on their toes._**

**_..._**

**_Moony had already killed one and was fighting two and his power which came to him due to being a werewolf was enough to give him leverage against his enemies. He was casting at faster rate than others and his opponents could not dodge in time._**

**_..._**

**_Moody was having the time of his life. He had fought these vermin all his life and had a lot of grudges from past war. He wanted to engage snake-face himself but the lad had taken it on him._**

**_..._**

**_As Voldemort stumbled out, Harry roared again, "Taditam" and a lightning-bolt erupted of his wand and would have smite Voldemort but true to his fortitude, the dark lord at the last moment was able to raise a mage-shield which made a horrible sound of "CLANGGG" and the spell was ineffective._**


	42. Chapter 42

The potion had finally been released and had been a money maker as was expected. The ministry had worked rapidly on the registry and at the last count there were 500 werewolves in Britain. The Registry was now being well maintained and looked after by Amos Diggory with three wizards working under him.

The potion had been an instant hit and Remus was getting requests from abroad to export the product. Remus had asked Ted to obtain the export license from the Ministry which was issued on the same day and Remus had not wasted a moment to contract with companies suggested by Cyrus Greengrass using the prices fixed by Harry.

So far, they had started to export the product to all of Europe and were considering partners for other parts of the world. The coffers of House Potter were getting filled faster than Remus could count but he knew Harry would not waste a moment to spend it where the gold was needed. In the meanwhile sales of Wolfsbane had plummeted. It was expected that within a month or two, the product would be taken off the market.

The inventor of Wolfsbane Democles Belby had written a letter to Harry congratulating him on his achievement. Harry had invited him to the New Year ball being hosted by him.

For the ball, Sirius had opened the Black Manor which contained a Ball Room almost as big as the ball room at Potter Manor. He had also told Harry to personally invite whoever he wanted to the ball and sent him port-keys to the place for those who were not getting the invitations which Sirius was sending to others. Harry had invited almost all of his friends from his inner circle for the ball and many from those who participated in the training sessions in the Room of Requirement. There were a few muggle-born among them who were given port-keys because they needed a way to come while others who belonged to Wizarding families could floo in directly to the manor (the floo address was in their invitations or Harry could tell it to them). The floo room for the manor was in a little building set aside from the main manor so that if any unwanted guest came along, they could be dealt with before they caused any trouble.

**Hogwarts**

Susan and Harry had not talked about the kiss which happened in Hogsmeade the other day. While Harry still grinned when he thought of that moment, his face adopting a pleasant expression, he was trying not to raise the topic again because he was not comfortable talking about these things. Susan had done it because she had been wishing he would try again after that night when they had been disturbed by Neville but as people always said, he was clueless. So she had to take the initiative but now she was waiting for him to make a move.

Since the last prank, Harry had not pranked a single student or caused any more mayhem. Instead, he was spending his time in the Chamber of Secrets practicing arcane magics or in the Room of Requirement facing his friends and dueling with them. He was delighted that he had retained his speed and accuracy. He was waiting for the confrontation which was just a few days away.

Dumbledore had briefed him about the last Horcrux and told him that it was the lost diadem of Ravenclaw since it was the only relic belonging to a founder which was missing and they knew about its existence. He asked Harry if he had any idea about where it was and Harry told him that he did not know about it but would try to find out. He was already planning to ask someone who could point him in the right direction.

He had promised Susan that they will do their Yule shopping together when they were in London. There were not so many shops in Hogsmeade and therefore not much choice while Diagon Alley was suitable for their choices. He would have to go to muggle London to get something for Arthur though. The Weasley patriarch was wildly enthusiastic about everything muggle.

**Will you be my girl friend?**

Today, the students were ready to leave for London. While most of them were taking the train home but Harry had decided to floo there from the Cottage on the Hill. It was within walking distance and he would be home in no time. As it was, there was too much to do and too little time.

Susan had agreed to join him with Neville. It was easy enough for them to go to their own residences once they were in London. Harry had wanted to ask others to join him but Hannah, Hermione and Ron were prefects while Ginny had recently started seeing Colin Creevey and they hit it off at once. For all Harry knew, they were planning more for the infamous Harry Potter Fan Club. For the twins, it was one of the last times that they would be taking the train back home. They might not have agreed.

By the time the Hogwarts Express was pulling out of the station, they were already home. He had not told anyone that he would be coming home this way and was ready to surprise Sirius but the marauder was away at work.

After lunch and being fed to their heart's content, Neville flooed to Green Hues while Susan had deliberately stayed behind. When they were alone at last, Harry decided to tackle the issue head on. It was no use to try avoiding it anymore. He asked her, "Sue why did you kiss me that day?".

She eyed him skeptically, "Did you not like it?"

He immediately backtracked, "No, no it's nothing like that. It is just that I have heard that generally the guy takes the initiative".

She said to him coyly, "I waited for you to get the hint after the day when Neville had interrupted us but you did not seem to get it".

Harry blushed, "Umm. I. I am not good with feelings and things as such. I suppose I need lessons of my own for these sorts of things".

She chuckled, "Don't worry, Harry. Boys generally don't get these things and we girls seem to make it hard for them deliberately".

Harry had been looking at Susan while she spoke. Lately he had started noticing how she bit her lower lip at times when she was thinking about something or how her eyes would spread in surprise or her smile was actually pleasant or that her laughter was a melody in ears and her blue eyes were captivating. Her full pouty lips only enhanced her beauty. He remembered how she had looked absolutely gorgeous at the start of the summer and with all the training that they had done, she looked like a celestial now. She was beautiful then and now she was like a goddess born as a mortal. Things had been a bit difficult when he had learned of the contract but she was giving him enough room to breathe and not stifling him with affection and that was what he liked about her. She would let him make his decisions and not try to impose her will on him.

He also remembered how devastated he had been at the start when he first learned of the contract because it took away his liberty to choose. All the thoughts about dating a witch or two before he settled down were gone in a moment. He had been miserable about it. But then he thought about Susan and how she might have made plans if the contract had not happened. Neither of them had the right to choose but they could have all the other joys which any other couples did.

"Sue, I just had a thought", he said earnestly.

"I noticed that has been happening a lot lately", she said playfully.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Sue, I do try to think about everything. I just had a thought that the contract may have taken away our right to choose but we can have other things like every other normal couple, right?"

"What do you mean?" she asked while inwardly she had a good idea exactly what he wanted to say.

"What I mean Sue is that just because we are betrothed by contract but that does not mean that we cannot have other joys like dating?" he said seriously.

"I suppose that is true", she said, "however, I would ask your pardon if I do not understand what you want to actually say?"

He huffed, "You are not that daft, Sue. You know what I want to say and yet you want me to say it loud and clear?"

She chuckled, "Well I am not supposed to make it easy for you, am I? If we are doing this then I get the whole package with the bells and whistles. So, I am not exactly going to make it easy for you".

Harry scowled, "You are a really hard task-master. Alright Susan Amelia Bones, would you give me the honour of becoming my girl-friend?"

She immediately replied, "Of course I will".

As she said this, Harry pulled her up close and kissed her. That was the best kiss that they had and they kept at it for a minute or maybe it was a month or a year. Harry had lost all sense of time in that moment. He could only think how soft her lips actually were or of her fragrance which smelled like roses and Night-flowering Jasmine. A warm feeling arose in his chest like sunlight in the early hours of the morning that he had often experienced in the Himalayas.

"How long do you reckon the two of them have been at it, Moony?" said Sirius who was standing in the doorway. Harry and Susan hastily parted when they heard the Marauder's voice. They both seemed to realize then that they were in the meeting room of the Black Townhouse and Sirius and Remus were at the door to the meeting room, looking at the two of them and sharing a smug grin.

"When did you two arrive?" Harry asked them, "I did not hear the two of you come in."

"Of course not", said Sirius, "You were busy melting her brain out of her head".

"I was not that bad", Harry protested and then shut up as he realized what he had said.

Sirius was laughing and Remus was fighting a losing battle to stop himself from guffawing at the expression on Harry's face. Susan in the meanwhile had hidden her face in her hands muttering about the consequences if Auntie heard about it.

"What are you two doing here anyhow?" Harry asked them, "As I remember, you are supposed to be at work at the ministry and Moony should be either at the Rosier Estate or in the office".

"As it happened Pup, Hermione sent a letter to the Head Master and she was absolutely hysterical that you three had disappeared mid-ride. Dumbledore informed Frank who wanted to send a team of Aurors to look for you but Dumbledore told him that you three were seen walking towards the village after school was let out. It was not hard to put the pieces together from there. However I will give you fair warning that Amelia is absolutely furious that you did not inform her. Sadly it seems she has been doing that a lot lately whenever a Hogwarts owl comes to her to complain about one more detention that Susan has been put into".

Remus added, "So Amelia has entrusted me with the responsibility to bring her back and to make sure that she does not get lost along the way".

Susan sighed, "I suppose I better get going before she shows up here, looking for me".

She pecked Harry on the cheek and walked out of the room with Remus following her. Sirius watched Harry deflate a bit as Susan went out and asked him, "Something the matter, pup?"

"Nothing father, I had just asked her out officially", Harry replied. "We thought we would do things like a normal couple does and enjoy every bit of it before it is time to marry".

**Longbottom Manor**

As he was invited to, Harry went to Longbottom manor that evening for dinner. He did not want to make Alice angry because he feared that she would come over then. He had a whim that she was definitely angry with the prank.

As he stepped out of the floo, Alice hugged him, "Here comes my wayward son".

Frank chuckled, "Let him breathe Alice. I am sure that he is worried that you are going to reprimand him for the prank that they pulled on the school".

She guided him to the dining table where Augusta was already sitting and she hugged him. Frank gave him a warm hand-shake.

After Harry was seated, Frank started speaking, "Harry, I may be the minister of Magic but I do not mind when children are acting their age. You both are children yet and it is perfectly normal for you to engage in pranks and chase after witches and have fun in general. I do not mind the detentions either but I am peeved about you three disappearing without informing anyone. None of your prefect friends noticed that you three were missing because they had to go to the Prefect's meeting. It was only when the meeting was over that your absence was noticed and a letter was sent to me. Please never do that again and we will be fine".

Alice turned to him, "Now that Frank has it all out of the way, let me ask how things are going with Susan?"

Harry took some time to answer, "At the start, I felt some resentment but now things are fine between us. In fact, she can understand me in ways that no one else can".

Alice was giving Frank a sly smile, "Of course son, of course. James said something like that about Lily once".

Frank nodded, "That is good that you feel this way towards her however, I just realized Harry that I never asked what you would like to do after Voldemort is gone for good".

"I have thought of a lot of things. Being a potioneer sometime in the distant future is definitely on the list. I would like to play Quidditch professionally for a couple of years if some team would find me competent enough to play for them in some capacity. Maybe if I am feeling adventurous enough I would apply to the Aurors".

Neville snorted, "Are you mental? You should have heard the scouts at the last match. Their eyes were the size of galleons when they saw you dangling upside down on your broom. If you were in your last year of your education, they would have signed you up on the spot".

Frank smiled, "You have James's talent and more. He wanted to go professional before his OWL year and was even ready to apply to Puddlemere United but something happened in his 6th year which changed everything and he joined the Aurors".

Harry had a smile on his face, "Thank you for telling me that. Sirius has not told me anything about this. All he ever talks about is how he and my father terrorized the hell out of Hogwarts".

Alice chuckled, "Of course he does. They were the pranksters in residence for 7 years and unchallenged except perhaps by the Prewett twins".

Frank asked him to report to his office in the ministry the next day early in the morning under Glamour charms because Moody wanted to see his preparations and to brief him about the plans. Harry in his turn invited all of them to Yule celebrations at Potter Manor by passing a piece of parchment to them which contained the secret to the manor and told them that the extended family of Harry Potter would be there.

**Hogwarts**

Harry may have appeared to leave the school peacefully but he had ensured chaos during his absence from the castle. Since most of the teachers did not have a family most of them stayed there during their winter vacations. Many muggle borns and half-bloods had decided to stay at the castle too because Albus had announced that they would be celebrating both Christmas and Yule and the muggle borns had wanted to see for themselves what Yule celebrations were like.

Harry working with the twins had laid traps in the castle for people to walk into. He had left a swamp in the middle of the Great Hall which was one of the twins' products. He had just tweaked it enough so it would be activated at dinner time in front of the teachers. Just so that he did not miss it, he had asked Vikram to take photos of it. There were also fire-crackers which he had obtained courtesy of the twins and he had made arrangements for them to be placed in the Great Hall to go off when Vikram sent a wordless wandless finite at the crate of firecrackers. There was also the stuff that the twins had perfected like Ton Tongue Toffee, Braying Butterbeer and Canary Creams which would be mixed in with the Christmas Dinner Party by an accomplice Harry had asked to act in his absence.

When dinner was well under way, suddenly a swamp opened in the middle of the Great Hall. It had formed between the Ravenclaw table and the Slytherin table. A few students had fallen into it but were quickly retrieved and dried off by Madam Pomfrey. The swamp was not deep. One could hardly be more than up to their knees in it so there was no harm done. Dumbledore chuckled, "The Pranksters have sent their compliments".

Flitwick vanished it in a trice but not before Vikram had been able to capture photos of it.

**The next day**

Hermione Granger dragged her parents to Diagon Alley in the morning. She had returned home worried about Harry but had been told that he flooed to London from Hogsmeade and she had gone home. Since the end of her third year, she had spent little time at her own home but lived more at the Burrow in the last two years. The summer also had been abruptly cut short when she had to return to England via the phoenix express to train with the others. Her parents were already going to France this year for skiing a day before Christmas. She wanted to join them but she was torn. She also wanted to be at the Manor House of the Weasleys where Arthur had invited her, so, she had decided to spend the little time she had with her parents enjoying their company and then joining the Weasleys or going to the Black Townhouse where there was a room always available for her.

This morning, she was on a mission with her parents in tow because she wanted to get the inheritance ritual done. Harry had written a letter to Griphook telling him to help her with the ritual and even if no magical ancestry was found, he would pay the costs of the test. She had tried to make him accept money from her but he told her that it was an early gift for Yule to her. He had given her a ring with the Potter crest and asked her to show it to the teller Ironjaw who would take her to Griphook promptly.

Hermione had asked one of the guards about the said teller and he pointed to one teller sitting behind a counter. She approached him cautiously and said respectfully, "Excuse me. I am here to see Griphook".

The Goblin did not look up from his register and sneered, "Griphook is not an ordinary goblin, human. He does not see every human who walks through that door demanding to see him".

Hermione remembered the ring and tossed it on the counter before the Goblin, "I am told he is expecting me".

The Goblin initially wanted to snarl at the insolent witch before her but controlled his tongue when he saw the crest and internally shuddered. Hastily closing his register, he climbed down and motioned for her to take a seat in the lobby, "Please take a seat. Griphook will be here to see you shortly".

Griphook came in about 2 minutes later and motioned for them to follow him to a room at the other end of the hall. The room was simple with the walls being bare and there were some chairs on either side of a table.

As they made themselves comfortable, Griphook started talking, "As I understand from the instructions I received from Lord Peverell, you are here for an inheritance test. Is that right?"

Hermione nodded and he continued, "There are a few things that I want to explain to you before we get to it, Miss Granger. The first is do you know of Wizarding customs, in particular the system of Vassals of houses, cadet lines etc.?"

Hermione nodded, "I have the basic idea about them".

"Very good. Now the thing is that the tests may reveal something about your magical heritage and there may be inheritance tied to it or there may be nothing. Since Lord Potter has sent you here and is bearing the costs of the test it implies that you are under his protection and if you are revealed to have magical heritage then you would be considered as a Vassal to the House of Potter no matter what your magical heritage might be. Is that agreeable?"

Hermione took her time to think about it. Molly had told her about vassals but she had not told her about anything like this. Also she was certain that if she had some magical inheritance then Hermione would be the only descendant alive which meant she would have to seek the protection of one of the houses. If it came down to it, there was only one choice. She turned to the goblin, "I understand what you have told me and agree to it. Please proceed to the ritual".

The goblin produced a parchment and a blood quill, "Please write your name on this parchment with this quill".

She took the quill and wrote her name upon it and grimaced while the quill drew her blood to write. After she was done, words started to appear.

**Name:** Hermione Jean Granger

**Father's name:** Daniel Hector Granger

**Mother's name:** Anne Granger nee Paxton

**Prospective heir to:** House of Granger

She read the parchment once and then read it again and turned it to see if something else was written on the other side but there was nothing. She handed the parchment to the goblin who took a look at it, pulled out a stamp and returned it to Hermione after properly stamping it.

"Congratulations Hermione Jean Granger, heir to House of Granger", he intoned and then pressed a rune on his table. A goblin entered and he barked orders to him.

After the goblin was on his way, Griphook turned to her, "I have sent him to fetch the relevant documents related to the House of Granger and we will be able to answer any questions that you might have within a few moments about the status of your vaults and estates etc. If you have a question other than that, feel free to ask".

Hermione had a lot of questions and she did not know how many she could ask before the Goblin would refuse to tell her more. She decided to take the cautious approach, "What can you tell me about the House of Granger?"

The goblin gathered his thoughts for a few moments before he started saying, "The family had broken off from one of the ancient families, though I do not remember which one, sometime in the middle of the 16th century. The family lasted for 8 generations during which they made their name with feats in potions though nothing like the Potters. The family was supposed to be ennobled sometime at the start of this century and would have got the status of Noble House of Granger in the next generation however the last lord Hector Dagworth-Granger who founded _The Extraordinary Society of Potioneers_ was heirless. He had a brother Jonathan who was a squib so he could not take the title of Lord. Jonathan moved away from the family sometime during his teenage years and sired his own family. That is the information available to us right now. The family tree might be able to tell us more".

Just then, the goblin who had gone to fetch the documents returned and placed them on the table before Griphook. He dug up the family tree and studied it for a long time. Then he turned to Hermione, "As it turns out Jonathan had a son who was named Hector after his brother. Hector who was a squib like his father who being a second generation squib, he likely knew nothing about magic". He turned to Mr. Granger, "I trust he was your father?"

Daniel Granger nodded, "So, what does it mean?"

"It means Mr. Granger that you come from a family of wizards and your ancestors were magical. Since she was born within 5 generations from the last magical ancestor, your daughter is a half-blood witch. She is the heir to the house of Granger. She will become the Head of House when she reaches the age of majority on her 17th birthday".

He picked up a wooden box, carved with intricate designs, opened it and presented a ring to Hermione, "This is your heir ring, Heiress Granger".

She accepted the ring and placed it on her finger. After scanning her for quite some time, the ring was satisfied and fit itself to her finger. The goblin was looking into a ledger, "Your family vault has gold just shy of 2 million Galleons since Hector Dagworth-Granger did not think to invest it at that time. He also sold off all the estates of the family since there was no one to take care of them. The family home is still in Plymouth under stasis charms. Your heir ring can take you to it when twisted rightwards".

He tossed the ledger to her, "your family vault number 250 is in the deeper levels of the bank. You can access it according to the wishes of the last Head of House. You will need to appoint a manager for your accounts however and I would recommend Ironjaw. While he is young, he has enough experience to deal with accounts such as yours. Is there anything more you want to ask?"

**Ministry of Magic**

Harry had arrived at the Ministry with Sirius this morning. Sirius had gone to his job while he went to meet with the minister. As Frank had asked, he had done Glamour on himself. He had brown hair falling down to his shoulders, a broad nose, beetle black eyes, short stature and a dense beard to rival Hagrid's.

Frank welcomed him warmly, "Harry welcome to the office of the Minister of Magic".

"Thank-you Minister. What may I do for you?"

Just then Frank's secretary brought in tea for them and after some idle chit-chat about the daily business of the ministry and efforts being made to ready the Aurors for Voldemort Frank sent for his Senior Under-Secretary.

His under-secretary walked in after a few minutes, "Mr. Weasley please take Mr. Peverell here to the Head of the Aurors, Alastor Moody and tell him that I will join him shortly".

Percy accompanied him to the Auror floor, "Lord Black" he started to say but Harry interrupted him, "I am always Harry to you and your family Percy".

Percy shook his head, "I want a favor from Lord Black and not Harry Potter".

Harry understood at that moment why Frank had sent for his Under-secretary to take him to Alastor Moody when it was clearly a job belonging to a secretary or to one of the guards of his office. He wanted Harry to hear out Percy while it was upon to honour his request or not to.

He straightened a bit and looking at Percy in his eyes authoritatively said, "If it relates to Family business, then you should come meet me in the current seat of Residence of House Black this evening at 7:00. You will receive the address this after-noon. However be warned, I do not tolerate insubordination under my roof or callous behavior either".

Percy nodded and by that time, they had arrived at the Auror Floor where Moody was in his office. Percy informed the grizzled old auror that Frank would join them shortly and left.

Moody offered a seat to him, "Take a seat, lad. A few more people will be joining us".

10 minutes later, Sirius Black, Frank Longbottom, Proudfoot and Rufus Scrimgeour had arrived. When they were all seated, Moody started addressing them, "You are all here because you believe the rumours and reports which have been coming in these last six months in addition to what Albus Dumbledore had said in June that you-know-who (Harry wanted to tell him to call him Tom Riddle but held is tongue) is back from the dead. As of now he is hiding so we cannot do anything actively against him or half the Wizengamot would be after our hides. You all know about the plan and this lad here will play a crucial role in it. He is the bait that will bring You-know-who out in the open. As we have discussed, we will keep the skirmish contained in the Atrium. We will not let it spill out through the lifts or to the floo entrances. We have about 50 Aurors with us under your command with each of you leading 10 of them except Proudfoot and Rufus who will have 15 each. Proudfoot will be in the back and would join it happens that we find ourselves on the losing side. I want to keep the backup as a surprise for him. I will be there and I will over-see the execution of the plan. We are to take as many of them captive as we can. Also, we are authorized to use lethal force because you can be sure that they will. Don't take any chances and kill them if they won't be subdued but I do not need to remind you that use of the unforgivable curses will still get you a one-way trip to Azkaban. Anyone who fails to follow my orders will be drummed out of the Aurors promptly. Any questions?"

Proudfoot asked, "Are we going to use a child as bait? Are you out of your mind Alastor? He would not be able to hold his own against him for a moment. We do not use children as bait".

Harry, who found it hard to resist a prank, did his best to look completely gormless while suppressing his urge to laugh out loud.

Alastor turned to Proudfoot, "'The child' is more than his match and no mere child. If you aren't willing to take my word for it, then why don't you duel with him, Proudfoot? You just might learn something".

Proudfoot was scowling, "I do not fight children".

Sirius looked amused and baited him, "What's the matter Proudfoot? Are you afraid of being shown up by a child? Don't you think you can beat him? You don't have to hurt him, disarming him will do".

Proudfoot looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "Alright, I will duel with him and if I win, he is going home".

Sirius readily agreed, "Of course. You win and you will be calling the shots".

The duel was set in the practice ring. By the time they arrived for the duel, all the Aurors who were there had arrived to witness it. Alice who had just come in hissed to Frank, "Have you warned him about what Harry can do?"

Frank shook his head, "No. Moody tried and Proudfoot would not believe him. I suppose that Harry will have to convince him".

**Duelling the Auror**

The two duellists took their stances and bowed to each other. Proudfoot, thinking that he could settle this before Harry made a move, did not waste a moment in lashing out with a disarming jinx at Harry which Harry sidestepped easily. Having seen his first spell miss, he started sending stunning spell, petrification hex, banishing charms at him. Harry side-stepped all of them effortlessly.

Moody who was watching, said to Frank in an undertone, "Proudfoot is about to embarrass himself badly today". Frank just nodded in response.

Proudfoot had started sending every non-lethal spell that he knew of like banishing charm, stunning spell, incendio, stunners but nothing could touch Harry who had yet to cast a spell. Harry, wanting to egg Proudfoot on, raised his left hand to his mouth and yawned. In response, Proudfoot sent a spell chain at Harry which Harry dodged with ease as if he was walking in a garden. Proudfoot was one of the best Aurors in the ministry but he was nowhere near to the level that Harry was used to.

"Is that the best you can do?" Harry taunted him, "Your aim seems to be off. Even my best-mate can cast better than that".

That was enough to get Proudfoot's dander up and he started using some lethal spells at him mixed with non-lethal spells and Harry kept side-stepping them like he was dancing. It had been 10 minutes since the duel started and Proudfoot was beginning to sweat and he was breathing hard. Harry didn't want the auror worn out before the real battle, so he decided that it was time to end this.

Finally he raised his wand and said, "Now, it is my turn, Auror warrior".

He sent a very powerful bludgeoner at Proudfoot which knocked the wind out of him. He was thrown back a few feet with the force of the spell. But to his credit, he tumbled and landed back on his feet instantly and sent an incendio which Harry caught on his wand and with a subtle flick of his wand, it was turned into a fire whip which he brandished to lasso the Auror. The Auror ducked and rolled to avoid getting ensnared. As he stood, he was met with the Glacius which he shielded and Harry shot a bone breaker at him which he dodged. Harry started sending fire bolts at him making him dodge without giving him a chance to retaliate.

Proudfoot was frustrated with a child keeping him on his toes and when he sensed a lull in casting, he sent an over-powered bone breaker at Harry which to his horror was sent back towards him however, having been trained by Moody in the last war, he had not lost his wits and raised a shield in time which stopped the bone breaker from disfiguring his face. Before he could decide what he was to do next, a spell chain of reducto-shield breaker-confrigno was rushing at him and he threw himself to the floor to save himself. The spells whizzed past the space where he had been a moment ago. Then he had to roll away to save himself from a stag galloping through the middle of the ring. He could not even begin to think where the stag had come from. After he was clear of the hooves, he stood up and found chains travelling towards him. He raised a shield to protect himself. While he was rendering the incarcerous ineffective, Harry sent arrows at him. Proudfoot had to raise a wall between them to take the arrows. There he made the fatal mistake. As the arrows embedded themselves into the wall, it suddenly came alive, grasping Proudfoot in its hold and even gagging his mouth. Harry lazily sent a disarming spell at him and his wand flew to Harry's outstretched hand. Harry released him from the bonds and returned his wand to him, "It was an honour to have dueled you, Auror Warrior".

Proudfoot hung his head low and said to him, "I am honoured to have crossed wands with you, Mr. Peverell and I take back my words which were said in ignorance of your prowess".

After that, they all talked some more about the plan and it was decided that they would meet on the day of Yule for the skirmish. Moody invited him to come over any day to practice or have a duel with Alastor. With the viciousness that Harry had shown towards Proudfoot, Moody was itching for a duel like that.

**Black Town House**

When he returned to the Townhouse, he remembered to ask Dumbledore to send the Fidelius Secret to Percy and floo called Susan, "Bones manor".

Susan was sitting in a chair in front of the fire. She perked up when she saw his head sitting in the flames. She bent at the rug in front of the fire, "Now you remember me, my handsome boyfriend?"

"I was caught up at the Ministry, my gorgeous girlfriend and when I came home I was expecting that you would be here waiting for me".

She shook her head, "Sorry Harry, I cannot come over".

"Why?" he asked. "Are you breaking up with me?" he asked raising an eye-brow at her.

She groaned, "Hardly. Auntie did not like the fact that we failed to inform her that we were not taking the train and she has me grounded till further notice".

"What?" he almost shouted, "But what about our plans for Yule? What about the holidays we were planning?"

"I do not know Harry", she sighed. "Auntie has asked Tweaky to ensure that I do not leave the manor and she has barred all the entrances and exits of the manor preventing me from going out. I have tried everything that I can think of but I cannot go out".

"Don't worry Sue", Harry said trying to calm her, "I will talk to Auntie. Has Hannah come over?"

Susan rolled her eyes, "She didn't. I expect she is giving an earful to Neville right now or may be mouthful".

Harry wrinkled his nose, "I do not need that image in my mind, Sue. I think I'll obliviate myself just to forget it".

She giggled at his facial expressions.

Percy arrived that evening in Black Townhouse and immediately went on his knee, "Lord Black, I have a boon to ask of you".

Harry authoritatively said, "State your wish, Percival of Weasley and I will grant it if it is just".

Percy took his time to form his words, "I had believed the words of the former Minister and acted under his authority against you and the Head Master. I even went so far as to defy my family and act against the patriarch of the family but he has been merciful towards me in not banishing me from the family tree. Lately I have been trying to ask forgiveness from my father after I realized the folly of my ways but he refuses to give me an audience. I beseech you to intervene on my behalf as patron of the family in your role of Lord Black and ask him to give me an audience so I can ask my forgiveness of him".

Harry thought for a while over his request before he acquiesced, "I will ask Arthur to hear you out but I will not command him. You will receive a portkey with an invitation to the Yule celebrations in a day or two where the extended family is invited. You may have your audience with him then".

Percy nodded and stayed for dinner after Harry insisted that he had dinner with him. Sirius had told him that he was going for a date with Emmeline today while Remus was surely busy in Rosier Estate so Harry was by himself in the townhouse. He could go to Bones Manor but he did not know how Amelia would react and he wanted to give Neville time alone with his parents. Weasley Manor was out because he knew Mrs. Weasley would have gone off on him for not taking the train and for failing to inform others that he was not taking the train.

**Next day**

Hermione arrived the next day saying that her parents had left for France. She also told them about having gone through the inheritance ritual and finding out that she was actually a half-blood and not a muggle-born. She had visited the family vault which was full of so many books that if her father had not dragged her out of there, she would have been there still. As it was, she was planning to visit again with a trunk with extension charms and get as many of them as she could manage.

Harry told her it would be a good idea if she waited to do that until she had an opportunity to see her family home when she could ensure that the house was in pristine condition. The house was sure to have a library and she could put all the books in there and then she should make a move to get those books out of the family vault. She had begrudgingly agreed to it and had asked Harry to take her in as a Vassal to House of Potter which he readily accepted.

He had also tried to talk with Amelia to convince her but she had not budged and told him in no uncertain terms that she would not change her decision. Harry could only wait for her to release his girl friend. In the meanwhile they had a long chat on the floo with each other. Seeing him in such desperate shape, Sirius handed him some hand-made notes about a product that the Marauders had made. Grinning from ear to ear, Harry had got on to make the said product.

**Christmas**

While Harry had learned the Wizarding customs and festivals and was celebrating Yule, he had sent gifts for Christmas to his friends and extended family like every year. In return he had received piles of gifts.

The morning started with a Snow-leopard ambling into Sirius's room and growling near his ear. Sirius opened his eyes a little, noticed the snow-leopard and jumped down from his bed yelping, "Merlin pup, you scared the hell out of me".

Harry changed back and hugged him, "Come down Padfoot, there are gifts waiting for us downstairs".

Hermione was already in the kitchen tearing through her substantially smaller pile while there was an enormous pile waiting for Sirius. To his surprise, Remus was also there with a mountain of gifts of his own.

The first one he opened was from Susan which she had probably ordered from Diagon Alley. It was a black dragon-hide jacket with red trimming and hints of gold thrown in between on the trims. Harry put the jacket on immediately. There was a pair of Dragon- hide boots from Amelia to go with it. Neville had sent him a dagger of goblin silver which he had taken out of the Longbottom vault and it could go through any kind of armour and cut through most of the major enchantments placed upon a door or a lock. Frank and Alice had sent him yet more books.

The next was from Sirius which was a grooming kit, something that he had not thought about. Emmeline had sent him a scarf of the finest wool. Remus had given him a set of books on defensive magic. Tonks had sent him a miniature version of his Firebolt. Hermione gave him a book on runes which was really ancient and she had found in her vault. Harry teased her as to why she did not send him a homework planner and she had scowled at him telling that they had come a long way from homework planners. Ron had sent him a big box of Bertie Bott's every flavor beans. Hannah sent him a big box of chocolates. Ernie sent him a book on defense. Terry sent him a book. Mandy too did the same. Justin had sent him a book. Professor Dumbledore sent him a pair of thick woolen socks, making him chuckle remembering the first year when he had asked Dumbledore about what he saw when he looked in the mirror of Erised. Professor McGonagall sent him a book on Animagus Transformation. Mrs. Weasley sent him the usual Weasley Jumper. This time, she had worked the Black crest into the right side on the chest and he had to smile at her thoughtfulness. There was a box of chocolates he assumed was from Mr. Weasley. There was also a framed photograph of his which was sent by the werewolves he had employed at the Rosier Estate. A silver bracelet with a radish which he suspected had come from one of Luna's ear-rings from Luna, a box of products bearing the mark of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes had come from the twins while a bracelet with a ruby had come from Daphne Greengrass, and finally a pair of seeker gloves from Fay Dunbar which was a surprise because he had not thought she would have sent him a gift. He had also received a painting from his elves and a t-shirt which proclaimed him to be the best master ever.

He had bought a jacket for Sirius since he had no idea about what else to buy for him, a massive Honeydukes gift hamper for Remus. He found a rare book on Metamorphmagus which he had sent to Nymphadora. The book had tips about how to get comfortable with the transformation and how to use it effectively. Since there had been no metamorphmagus in Black family for at least 300 years, the book was on a shelf gathering dust. He had found it when he was running through a catalogue and kept it to send as a gift to Nymphadora later. He had found a book on Arithmancy in Flourish & Blotts which he had heard Hermione had been wanting for ages and sent it to her. Keeper's armour to Ronald, Chaser's gloves to Ginny, some products laced with pranks to the twins, a ladies coat he had found in muggle London for Mrs. Weasley, a complete set of wrenches and spark plugs he had picked up from a store for Mr. Weasley with a note to have fun enchanting, a pair of ear-rings he had picked up in Diagon alley to Hannah Abbott. A book on dueling to Ernie. A set of silver ear-rings with diamonds for Alice since he was clueless and Sirius told him to give her something that would not offend her. A golden necklace to Amelia. A book on defense to Ernie, on transfiguration to Terry, on runes to Mandy and on defense to Justin. A book to DuVant about charms. A pair of woollen socks to Dumbledore. He had given gold to his elves to buy gifts for them since he could not give clothes to them. A silver necklace for Daphne. A framed photo of Blizz to Professor McGonagall hoping that she will make the connection. He had also ordered a set of duelling robes for Frank and a hat with golden lace for Augusta. He had not already bought a gift for Fay but he sent Dobby to buy a Beater's bat and gloves and to deliver them to the Dunbar residence. He had ordered a set of duelling robes for Neville too since he knew there was no plant that he could gift Neville that was not already in his greenhouses. He had also requested the mystics to get him a Byangoma, a legendary bird portrayed as wise, fortune-telling birds and native to India and sent it as a gift to Luna. He had sent diamond ear-rings to Emmeline and thank you for the scarf.

After the gift opening ritual was over, the elves served them a huge breakfast. Thereafter, Harry left for Potter Manor to spend the day there. Padfoot and Moony tagged along with him saying that they wanted to revisit the place. Today Harry was going to unveil the portraits spread throughout the manor.

When they entered the manor, the Marauders had wandered off in different directions to their personal favorite spots in the manor. They had spent a major part of their school vacations in the manor with James Potter. It was natural that they wanted to relive the memories. They both however had gathered in the dining hall after around 20 minutes with their eyes red and faces blotchy. It was obvious that they had cried their eyes out.

The first portrait that he unveiled was of Charlus and Dorea in the Lord's study. Charlus looked up at him critically, "Who are you young man? You are not my James, are you?"

Dorea kindly said, "He is too young to be James. You are Harry, aren't you?"

It confused Harry for a moment that they did not remember him from their time in limbo but then he realized that the Portraits only remembered what their occupants had experienced in their lives and not what happened afterwards.

Harry had talked with them at length about everything that happened in the last few years and they had been proud of him for how he had conducted himself during all these years.

After a heavy lunch, he unveiled the rest of the portraits which were of his other ancestors and he made small talk with all of them for sometime before eventually taking his leave. They had spent the entire day in there.

**Bones Manor**

Susan Bones had all of her usual haul that she got every year at Christmas. But this year, she was looking for Harry's gift in particular. His gift was a mirror which was etched and cut with a beautiful design around the edges. There was a note which briefed her that the mirror was a communication mirror made courtesy of the marauders. She could use it to talk with Harry without going through a floo call. He also wrote that he would call her on the mirror later that night. He had some chores to do all day. There was also a golden necklace which he had selected for her interlaced with charms with a blue stone matching her eyes embedded in the middle of it.

Hannah had finally come over today and told her that Harry had sent a pair of silver ear-rings for her while Neville had brought her a necklace. Susan had received a silver necklace from Hermione and a jumper from the Weasleys. Harry had told her the story of how Mrs. Weasley used to send a jumper to him every year at Christmas and that having received a Weasley jumper meant that she had accepted the recipient as part of her family. Ronald had sent her a box of chocolates. Apart from them, it was the usual haul of every year past.

Harry called her that night. They had talked at length and made plans to follow. Susan told him that Auntie had given her consent to allow her to go to the Yule Celebrations next night.

**Black Manor**

The Yule celebrations were supposed to take place in the Black Manor where the New Year party would also be held later. He had already invited everyone for it. Harry, Sirius, Emmeline, Remus and Hermione had flooed there in the morning and the elves in the manor worked with vigour to make it habitable for the party. As it was, none of them were planning to stay at the manor after the celebrations.

People started to trickle into the manor when it was nearing evening. First came the Tonks family. Andromeda hugged him and gave him his gift which she had brought to give him personally instead. Nymphadora hugged him tightly thanking him profusely for the book which was a great help to her in stabilizing and having better control over her powers now. The next to come were the Weasleys. Arthur came first followed by Ginny, Ron, the twins and Charlie at last. The twins immediately started laying into him about how their room was practically destroyed by the gifts he had sent. Thankfully the Weasley elf had been able to save them from any harm. Molly as he had expected had immediately started telling him off for failing to inform her that he was not taking the train while fawning over him at the same time. He led the guests to the meeting room in the manor while his elves worked on making preparations for Yule.

Harry remembered Percy was supposed to be coming and took Arthur aside, "Mr. Weasley, can I have a word in private?"

"Sure Harry", he said and followed him to a little room.

He started saying nervously, "Mr. Weasley, a few days ago Percy met me when I was at the ministry and asked a boon of me as Lord Black. I could not refuse to hear him out. He wanted me to talk to you to give an audience to him. I told him I would tell you about it but I would not force you to agree to it".

Arthur nodded, "And you have invited him here today? I cannot honestly say that I am over what he said to us last summer but I can understand what made him do so. I will hear him out but I will only forgive him if I feel he is completely sincere".

"You might want to talk to the family beforehand lest they start to torment him?" Harry suggested.

"Oh Merlin!" he exclaimed, "That would escalate things quickly. I'll go and talk to them right now".

Harry gave the Weasleys a room to talk and put some strong silencing wards around it. He was thankful for it when they came out at last. By the way their emotions were pouring out, Harry was actually glad that Susan chose that moment to come and he rushed forward, picking her up in his arms in a hug and twirling her around.

After a minute or two of deliberately prolonged joy making when he was sure that the Weasleys may have cooled down, he returned to the table in meeting room.

Bill came sometime later with Fleur and Harry noticed that Mrs. Weasley was not as warm towards her as she was towards Bill. That was so much out of character for her that Harry decided to ask her about it later.

He shook hands with Bill and Fleur kissed him on the cheeks asking how he was. Harry also noticed that her allure had weakened for him. Sure he could still feel it but he was not touched by it. Susan noticed how almost every other male had fallen before the allure but Harry was just slightly dazed by it and was rewarded with an ear to ear grin.

Percy came just before they started the celebrations. He bowed to Mr. Weasley, "Lord Weasley, I come to make amends for my foolishness and to seek your pardon".

Arthur said to him stiffly, "Speak Percival Ignatius of Weasley so we may know you carry no malice in your heart".

Percy spoke slowly and deliberately, "Father, I am ashamed of my conduct and of the words I said to you and the rest of our family in a time when I was blinded by my ambitions. I said some horrible things which I should not have even thought about and I do not know if you will forgive me or not. I would not be hurt if you chose not to forgive me but I thank you for hearing me either way".

Molly threw herself into his arms, "Oh Perce!"

But her other children were watching him sceptically.

Finally Bill asked, "What changed your opinion?"

"I was blinded by the idea of grandeur that Fudge wove around him and me. He tried to present himself as one who can never do anything wrong".

The twins said, "Why come back now? Is it because the family's social standing is higher than ever?"

Percy had the decency to look ashamed, "I can understand how you might believe that, since Lord Black has restored our family honour and fortune. But I alone carry the shame for the way I treated you. I am sorry to all of you for my words. I know I should not be forgiven for it and I am only presenting my apologies to you all. I will be going now".

However before he could go, the twins said, "While you were a git, a prat and thought of yourself like the Minister of Magic himself, how your head is always in the clouds yet you are our family..."

This time Charlie finished the twins' sentence for them, "And family never abandons one of its own."

That had been a tearful reunion which made Harry emotional. He felt a little longing to belong. Susan perhaps sensed that and hugged him a little more tightly and it was then Hermione noticed their hug, "Umm... when did that happen?"

Harry said cheekily in an undertone, "Perhaps when you were busy patrolling the inside of a broom closet with your fellow prefect". Hermione blushed and Ron who had heard the last part had his ears turn beet red.

Apart from the extended family, Neville had to refuse his invitation saying that he had his own celebrations to attend in addition to the invitation to a ball which the minister had received. As the heir it was his duty to respect the wishes of his lord. The said invitation was also received by Harry and refused to by his Steward saying that Lord Black was holding a family dinner that night and may be next year, he would be able to honour their wishes. It was the first such occasion for the Black Family in many-many years. Amelia also had excused herself but had agreed to send Susan.

Harry was also getting excited about the skirmish that was happening in a few hours. The minister had informed him that all those Aurors who had been selected for the task had been given leave for the last 2 days to have rest and to enjoy time with their families before they were to report back at the Ministry. It was planned that they would meet at 10:00 and news would be leaked to Tom Riddle's mole at 10:30. Just to be sure that news reached Voldemort, Frank had a couple of Aurors dressed like unspeakables saying something big was going to happen at the ministry that night. They would keep dropping hints and increased movements of the Unspeakables to and fro from the department would be enough to have his curiosity piqued.

For the celebration, they all went out of the manor house to the woods on the grounds. A huge birch log had been found and Dobby had it burning merrily when the guests gathered around it. There were mats around the log on the ground and everyone sat comfortably when Harry started distributing pieces of parchment and quills. After making sure that everyone had parchment and quill, he started addressing them, "I know that most of you are familiar with the celebrations of this day, I will still review them for your benefit and to make sure I am not forgetting something".

Sirius motioned for him to proceed and Harry started, "On this day, we thank Mother Magic for the previous year. We write about what we are thankful for on a piece of parchment no matter how little or how long. When you are done writing, drop the pieces in the fire of the Yule log. After that, take another piece of Parchment and write about what good you want in your life for the year to come while nibbling on bread which is made for this day and a specialty of the Potter Elves. When you are done writing what you want in the coming year, drop those parchments in the fire of the Yule log and take in a whiff of the scent emanating from the log. Then we would proceed to the feast soon thereafter. The tossing of parchments signifies that we are committing all our hopes and worries to mother magic. May she bless us with her mercy".

Everyone started writing things they were grateful for which had happened this year. Harry wrote about how he was thankful that he had a family now, had honorary siblings, a girl like Susan who loved him, a father in the form of Sirius, uncles like Remus and Frank, a grand-mother like Augusta, a brother like Neville, the new friends, for the mystics who showed him the path of his destiny and everything that had happened. Susan was thankful for the wonderful boy beside her who loved her and for all the good that he seemed to be doing in the world. Sirius had a lot to be thankful for like having a son, being free, living with his family which cared for him and Emmeline who had filled the void in his heart which had been left with Marlene's death. Remus like them gave thanks for the family which he had now. The werewolf's pack being intact and together and he was determined to keep it that way. Others had similar thoughts in their minds and they wrote them on papers. After they were done writing, they each walked up to the Yule log, tossed their parchments into the fire and then came back to write what they hoped to happen in the coming year.

While they contemplated, Dobby sent bread to all of them to nibble on. After they were done writing, they each tossed their parchment into the fire and took in a whiff of the fragrance while watching their parchment go up in flames. After everyone had done so, Bill wanted to ask him some personal favour but Harry told him to visit the Black Manor in three days time with Fleur and he would hear them out.

After a three course dinner which lasted for 2 hours, people started leaving. Nymphadora, who was part of the plan today and was in one of the groups led by Amelia which would wrap up any escapees, had left first telling Andromeda that she was being called into the office to patrol Diagon Alley. Harry also knew that if everything went well tonight then Frank would be calling an emergency session tomorrow.

Soon everyone had left except Susan who had been permitted by Amelia to visit Hannah and stay over tonight. Since it was really late by the time dinner was over, she opted to stay at Black Townhouse instead where Sirius had set aside a room for her. Harry was reluctant to let her know that he was going out so he decided to sneak out. Sirius and Remus had left at about 8:00 and Harry had to report to the headmaster at 09:45 and together they would enter the ministry from one of the floo entrances.

He went to get ready at 9:00. He wore the Duelling robes that Vari had gifted him on his birthday. He slipped the Elder Wand and the Sandalwood wand into his wand holsters. He strapped the sword on his back and put on his mask. He was just going to put the invisibility cloak on and go downstairs to disapparate to Hogsmeade when suddenly the door of his room opened with a bang and Susan entered, "Harry, where have you gone lea...?". Her words were caught in her throat as she looked at the formidable being in front of her, which she knew was her betrothed.

She put her hands on her hips and asked him, "Just where do you think you are going?"

Harry tried to be reasonable because it could erupt in a fight soon otherwise. "Sue, I have an appointment to keep today".

She seethed at him, "You are going to fight Voldemort, aren't you? This is your plan for him. You did not tell me that you will be participating in it".

Harry said to her a little sternly, "Sue, I have made it clear that I am destined to kill him. Our destinies are linked with each other. Please do not stop me today".

She resolutely said, "Either you are allowing me to come or I will holler for Hermione who will back me up. Together we will stop you".

Harry collected her in a hug and kissed her tenderly, "I am sorry, Sue. You are not ready to be in the middle of a fight like this yet. Don't worry. You haven't seen half of what I can do in a fight. I have 50 of the toughest Aurors in the ministry and Dumbledore backing me up. They will take care of his minions while I am supposed to duel him alone. I have to see where we stand in regards to each other but I promise that next time, you will be there. I will not march to meet his end without you at my side".

Susan had melted into his arms and the intensity of the kiss had her over-whelmed. Add his magic to it and she was on the verge of unconsciousness. He said to her in a soft and tender voice, "I promise you Sue that I will return to you".

With that he pulled on his Invisibility cloak disappearing beneath it and walked downstairs and out of the Townhouse. As soon as he was outside the wards of the house, he disappeared without a sound.

**Hogsmeade**

Harry arrived just outside of the door of the Hog's Head inn and there was Dumbledore, with fire in his eyes, his calm expression gone, and his silver hair tied back in a pony tail and reaching down his back. The usual grandfatherly demeanor was gone to be replaced by the vanquisher of Grindelwald, the victor of Bavaria. He took off his mask so Dumbledore could be sure that it was him. Seeing Dumbledore that way, Harry understood why death eaters had feared even his name in the last war.

He looked at Harry as if inspecting him and asked firmly, "Lord Peverell, is everything ready?"

"Yes Lord Dumbledore, let's start this war", Harry said to the older wizard eliciting a chuckle from him which however was gone in a moment. "Harry, firstly we will be going to one of the safe houses of the ministry where Moody is ready to brief the troops. After he is done, we will be going to the Department of Mysteries".

With a whistle from Dumbledore, Fawkes the Phoenix soared into the air and they grabbed onto his tail. In a whoosh of flames, they were gone.

**Unknown castle**

Voldemort was feeling uneasy. In the last few days, he had received word from Severus that the old fool was planning something at the ministry. In response, Voldemort had alerted his spies to keep a look out for anything out of the ordinary.

When he received no new intelligence from his spy, he was beginning to think that perhaps his gut feeling was wrong for once. But today, one of his faithful had sent him word that the unspeakables were seen openly walking through the ministry, going to the offices of the Aurors or to the minister and talking about an impending visit of a sensitive nature.

This was enough to have evoked his suspicion. He ordered his spy to keep his eyes on the ministry. He could not risk missing the moment if the boy came to pick up the prophecy. Severus had confirmed his suspicions when he reported that Dumbledore had told him to keep Voldemort's attention away from the ministry till the New Year because he had an errand to run.

Voldemort ordered 60 of his followers to be ready to go and storm the ministry and to take the prophecy from the boy if and when he came up with it. He would not let the boy escape with it. If the boy picked up the prophecy, he would learn what was in it and then he would face his foe one final time to crush him to death.

**Safe House**

Moody was briefing the men under his command, "Boys, today you are gathered here for a special mission. Information has it that Voldemort is going to raid the ministry sometime around mid-night. We are going to attack him and whatever men he brings with him. Let it be clear to you all that I do not want even one of those scum to escape our clutches. If you need to then kill them but make sure that your opponent cannot join the battle again once he is downed by you. It is entirely possible that some of you may not return alive from the battle and I must tell you that I am proud of you all. I could not ask for better recruits than you. My orders for this mission- Stay alive, do your duty and return home safely. Now let's give them hell".

The aurors raised their wands as one and fired red sparks into the air as an ode to their leader. Moody was a gruesome task-master but they loved him because he loved each like his own son. They would do anything to make him proud of them and if it meant killing some death-eater scum, then so be it.

The Aurors formed into their assigned squads and took up their positions in the Atrium. Harry was at last left with Dumbledore who turned to Harry, "Let's go tempt the fates, my boy".

Harry grinned in response.

**Ministry of Magic**

Harry and Dumbledore flooed into the ministry Atrium and walked up to the wizard on the desk who's duty was to register visitor's wands. The man stood up at once and bowed to them, "Chief Warlock, Lord Peverell".

Dumbledore said to him, "Go home, Aleric. Yule is meant to be celebrated with family and friends".

He tried to protest, "But chief warlock, Master Auror Moody would be angry that I abandoned my post".

Dumbledore waved him off, "I will talk to Alastor. Go home now and stay safe".

The wizard walked out of one of the entrances and they took the lift to the level of The Department of Mysteries. Harry distinctly noticed the spy lurking under a disillusionment charm in the corridor and had to resist the urge to stun him. Instead, he walked past him nonchalantly as if they had not noticed the man at all. Thanks to the glamour charms, the spy could not see that they were dressed for war. The glamour charm was done on their clothes so their duelling robes, the sword would not be visible to the mole.

When he realized who they were and what was happening, he swore under his breath and ran to the lifts to go to the Atrium and floo to his lord. If he failed to inform him in time, the dark lord would flay him alive.

The man found that the floo network was turned off and panicked a little but then disapparated out of the Ministry. Sirius had been watching him from where he hid under the Fidelius with the men under his command. With the man gone, he sent a patronus to Dumbledore, "let's lay the trap".

Harry and Dumbledore were just inside the entrance to the Department of Mysteries with Croaker who gave Harry a replica of the orb, "This is a surprise for him, Lord Peverell. I suggest you let him take it after some struggle. If he escapes, he will get the shock of his life".

Harry grinned at the Unspeakable's line of thinking.

Dumbledore however was still looking grim, "My friend, are all preparations ready?"

The unspeakable nodded, "Just as soon as today's skirmish is over, we will activate the new wards around the ministry. Starting tomorrow morning, we will have caught as many of them as would dare to attempt to enter the ministry after tonight's action".

Just at that moment, the dog patronus walked into the room and said in Sirius's voice, "Let's lay the trap".

Harry took off running towards the lift while covering himself with his Invisibility Cloak. When they arrived in the atrium, he sealed the lifts so no one could use them and then waited for Tom to arrive.

**Unknown Castle**

The man appeared outside the castle and ran inside, wheezing but not daring to stop and catch a breath. Lucius tried to stop him but the man shoved him aside and burst into Voldemort's chamber. Voldemort was in his chair reading a letter which Severus had just sent. The letter said that Dumbledore was going to get the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries with the brat along side. He was already furious and as he reread each line to make sure there was no mistake and the interruption irked him. He raised his wand and roared in cold fury, "What is the meaning of this?"

The man immediately went on his knees before him, kissing the hem of his robes and wheezed, "My Lord, Peverell and Dumble... Dumbledore are going to the Department of Mysteries at this moment. I have seen them in the corridor which leads to the Department".

Voldemort understood what he wanted to say in a moment and roared, "LUCIUS!"

Lucius, who had just walked into the room fell on his knees, "My Lord?".

He said in his cold, high-pitch voice, "Gather the faithful, Lucius. We are going to the ministry". He turned to the other man, 'You have served me well today. Come see me tomorrow for your reward".

The man who was frightened of the ire of his Lord turned tail and walked quickly out of the chamber, not daring to break into a run while trying to do so.

5 minutes later, 60 wizards were ready to storm the ministry behind their Dark Lord.

Voldemort and his band of fools appeared in the ministry using portkeys that he had made for them. They were portkeys of wizard make, not the goblin made variety. What they did not know was that with the wards that went up the moment the last group landed, this was a one-way trip. Neither disapparation nor portkey would work anymore. The Floo network was re-routed so that anyone who tried to use it would land in front of Amelia Bones and her team. The lifts had all been brought up to the atrium level and locked down. Even opening the elevator shafts and levitating through them could not be done. Of course, Dumbledore could still apparate using his phoenix and Harry could still use mystic apparition, but that was something that tom and his followers did not need to know.

The snake faced man told his troops to take their positions while he started to walk towards the lifts.

Harry Potter appeared out of thin air in front of him, "Going somewhere, Tom?"

* * *

**A/N- Sorry for the cliffhanger, guys. I know it is bad of me to do that but I promise you will have the next chapter within 48 hours. I am saying 48 hours because tomorrow I will be celebrating Deepawali, one of our biggest festivals so I am bit in the festive mood. This took long because I was busy with my other job and also *sigh* Iwasbusycleaningmyhome (Don't tell nobody),**


	43. Chapter 43

**Black Townhouse**

Susan was sitting in the meeting room. She was worrying and fretting as she looked at the door. Her betrothed was off to face the most feared dark lord in living memory. Even though he was the first war mage to be born in Avalon for a thousand years, there was still so much that could go wrong. She felt angry that he had left her on the side-lines while he went off to face his mortal enemy and worried that he may not return. Until he did, all she could do was sit, wait, and worry. She desired with all her heart that he would just walk through that door and that he would be unharmed.

Hermione, who was propped up in a nearby chair, looked up from reading a tome on runes. She noticed Susan fretting and asked, "Is everything okay, Susan?"

Susan shook her head miserably, "Harry has gone to fight Voldemort".

Hermione nearly fell out of her chair and the tome in her hands fell to the floor. "What?!" She exclaimed loudly, "and he did not tell us?"

Susan grumbled, "He was sneaking out and I caught him. I was suspecting something like this would happen".

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. "What did you notice?"

"Auntie has been a bit on edge since I came home for Yule holiday. She was often time lost in thought. I thought she was having trouble at work but when she told me that I could stay at Hannah's this evening I was immediately suspicious because she has always spent Yule with me as long as I can remember. Then there was the way Harry hastily ended the dinner and left. There was the look, Padfoot and Moony shared a look with him before they disappeared, I suspected something like this was going to happen".

Hermione looked worried, "Is there anyone else with him there? He should have asked us to join him. We would have been there for him. Why did he not tell us? What can we do to help him?"

Susan shook her head sadly, "I do not even know where he is. But he did say that about 50 Aurors and Dumbledore were backing him up. I also demanded that he take me with him. But he persuaded me to stay out of it this time".

Hermione just sighed. She had been drowsy a minute ago but sleep left her at that moment. She wished Ron was there so he could have assured her how Harry was the luckiest bloke around and that he would kick Tom Riddle's scaly backside and return to them before morning. She should have noticed when Harry snuck out of the Townhouse. She decided to stay awake and sit with Susan while waiting for any news.

Just then the floo roared and Susan ran towards it hoping Harry was back. But Neville Longbottom stepped out, "Is Harry here?"

Susan threw herself into his arms, "Neville, he is gone to fight Voldemort".

Neville awkwardly patted the top of her head, "I know Sue. I know and trust me that he will be safe". He was feeling very uncomfortable with the way Susan was clinging to him and hoping for a few words of assurance. He had come to think of Susan as a sister that he did not have. She had confided all of her fears to him and he had always helped her. They had known each other since they were small children. Since they all started time together since the summer, he felt protective of her.

Hermione asked him, "How do you know?"

Neville grinned sheepishly, "Mother and father have been a little skittish since I came home for vacation. They have been showering more affection on me than they have done before. Today, father was off to some official work after our celebrations. Before he left he got real emotional telling me that he is proud of me. I kept an eye on my mother and just saw her receiving a patronus from Father asking her to come to the ministry and that the fun is about to begin. I put the pieces together and wanted to see if my theory was correct or not".

Neville pulled up a chair and they started a vigil waiting for Harry's returned or some news about him.

**Ministry of Magic**

Voldemort stopped in his tracks at seeing the bane of his existence before him with a grin on his face and a wand in his hand. But this was not the same underfed, runty, terrified, bespectacled child of their previous encounter. This was a man, facing him without fear. And that was no twig of holly in his hand either. Such insolence! He would crush the whelp and take the prophecy from his cold, dead fingers.

"Harry Potter" he said in his high, cold voice, "Give me the prophecy and I will let you live". Of course, the last part was a lie, but why risk damaging or losing the orb if he could bully the boy into just handing it over?

Harry had the audacity to smirk, "Fat chance of that, Tom".

Voldemort thundered, "My name is Lord Voldemort".

Harry laughed in his face, "You are a coward, a charlatan who needed a made up name to improve his social standing. You are Tom Marvolo Riddle, a pathetic half-blood son of a squib and a muggle".

Lucius who had heard the entire exchange stepped forward, red faced, "How dare you address our lord as that, Potter?"

Harry turned to him coldly, "Lucius Malfoy, has no one taught you to hold your tongue when your betters are speaking?"

Lucius tried to open his mouth again and Voldemort stopped him, "Do not forget your place, Lucius. You do what you have been told to do. I will handle the brat".

Harry meanwhile had made a great show of patting his robes to make sure that the prophecy orb was where he had put it.

Voldemort turned to him and said in a sickly sweet tone, "I offered you a choice 4 years ago, Harry. You rejected it but now I offer you one again, join me and we will rule the world together".

Harry made another great show of scrunching up his forehead as if considering the offer. Then he shook his head, "Nah, no chance of that happening. You see Tom, I am more powerful than you and even if I were to accept your offer, I would have to be constantly wary of you that you would put a dagger in my back when I am asleep or something like that. Besides you killed my mother and my father in cold blood. There must be a reckoning for that. So I think I will just kill you and be done with all the trouble that would otherwise come to me".

Voldemort gave a harsh laugh, "Kill me? You? The champion of light? What would Dumbledore say about his golden boy becoming dark?"

At that instant, there was a flash of fire and there was Dumbledore looking like something else altogether in his dark robes, his hair tied in a ponytail, fire in his eyes and the phoenix flying above his head in a circle trilling. "I think I would not care about it unless he started to enjoy it because we both agree that you need to die for the greater good, Tom".

Dumbledore's appearance had made the death eaters wary and they were starting to fidget but none ran. Voldemort was saying, "You cannot kill me Dumbledore. I am immortal".

Dumbledore had the audacity to chuckle, "Tom, you will still be the foolish boy that you were. Every one born has to die someday".

Voldemort's temper was getting out of control, "I AM INVINCIBLE".

Harry raised his sandalwood wand, "Do you really think so, Tom? I would like to test that. Let's dance!"

Voldemort gave his cold laugh spreading his hands, "you two against 60 of us. Do you have a death wish, Harry?"

Harry smirked, "Really, Tom? Would you allow your minions to interfere in a duel of honour between equals? Dumbledore is my second. Whom do you name?"

Voldemort seethed, "Equals, Potter? You dare?"

Harry shrugged, "I admit that it is very generous of me to allow that a great snake such as yourself could be my equal, but I will allow it. The challenge has been issued. How do you answer?" Speaking of great snakes, Harry took a look at the assembled ranks of the death eaters and could not find Nagini among them.

With all the cold venom he could muster, the Dark Lord answered, "SIEZE HIM!"

But before his minions could move, Harry shot green sparks from his wand. Alistair Moody's voice roared out, "CHARGE!" In that same moment, a good chunk of Voldemort's followers went down to well aimed stunners as the Aurors broke cover and began to annihilate the death eaters. None of the Aurors were so naive as to think that any of those stunned were out of combat, but it made for an impressive show. Sirius with Remus and Frank with Alice led their groups and engaged the remaining death eaters while Moody led the effort to chain the downed death eaters and send them off to Amelia's group for incarceration.

Voldemort was stunned. He had acted in his arrogance and walked straight into a trap. There was Sirius Black leading a column of the Aurors from one side of the Atrium. His group had the most experienced Aurors like Dawlish, Williamson and even the werewolf Remus Lupin was a part of it.

There was another led by the Minister and his wife. Tom seethed internally. He had tried to kill them no less than three times but they had escaped his clutches. Today, it looked like he would kill all of his enemies together.

Meanwhile, the sandalwood wand spoke as Harry raised it against him and sent a powerful bludgeoner at Voldemort knocking him flat.

But Voldemort stood up almost instantly sending a killing curse at Harry who had already conjured a flock of canaries which collided with his spell.

Harry goaded him, "Is that all you can do, Tom? I fear you will have to do better than that to get the best of me".

Voldemort was immediately enraged. He spun on his heels in an attempt to disapparate and to appear behind Harry but he went nowhere. For the first time in his life, Tom Riddle panicked. The ministry had laid anti-apparition wards over the atrium. In that moment, he also understood why the floo network was down. He and his followers were trapped like fish in a barrel to be shot at will.

Knowing there was only a slim chance to escape for him and his followers, he sent two more killing curses at Harry in rapid succession.

Harry conjured a stone wall which crumbled under the killing curses. Harry had the audacity to goad him again, "Tom, what happened? How did you become the dark lord when all you know are unforgivables? Even Lucius knows more curses than you".

At that moment, Tom came to two realizations, the killing curse takes a lot of energy and it was going to tire him rapidly if he kept using it and he had to shout the incantation at the top of his lungs, announcing what he was doing, giving the boy far too much time to react. He changed tactics. He gave a guttural cry and lashed out with non-verbal blood boiling curses, entrails expelling curses and the likes.

Harry started to side step them. He was also leading Tom away from the others so that his stray curses would not kill an Auror.

Sirius had directly engaged Lucius. He saw Lucius, bellowed and ran towards him, "Lucius, today you will pay your reckoning".

Lucius had his wand out and sent a curse at Sirius but the Marauder had side stepped it the moment he saw the wand flick. It was a little trick he had learnt after watching Harry do it so many times. While he was not as fluid as Harry, he could ward off the likes of Lucius Malfoy. As Lucius's spell went astray, Sirius started raining down bone- breakers, bone crushers and bone exploders on him making him hide behind a shield however Sirius was unrelenting and kept him under fire. When he realized Malfoy would not come out, he took another leaf out of his son's book and sent a shield-breaker and a cutting curse in quick succession. As Lucius's shield shattered, the cutting curse severed his wand hand and his wand was cleaved in two. Lucius stood, stunned for a moment, trying to understand why his hand no longer obeyed him before the pain hit him and the blood started pulsing from the severed stump of his wrist. He fell to the ground, trying to stop the bleeding from the stump where his hand had been. Sirius had just shot a bone breaker straight at him but at the last moment, Lucius was banished to the side by another death-eater thus saving him. Sirius turned to find that one under his mask and in a moment of fury at having his prey snatched from him, Sirius sent a cutting curse at him which the man could not defend against as his wand hand was cleaved in two. He followed up by sending a bone-breaker at his temple which stove in his skull, killing him instantly.

Sirius turned to Lucius again who was fidgeting with a quill and a back-up wand. Sirius again hit him with a bone-breaker which broke the bones in his other arm and Sirius menaced, "If I did not care so much about not making Narcissa a widow that would have been your last breath. Now you will live the rest of your life in Azkaban". Leaving Lucius in pain and agony, Sirius went in search of another.

Frank and Alice were standing back to back in the Atrium and fending off three at once. They both had known each other's moves since forever and could communicate through their actions without talking. It was easy enough for them to fight together with three to four at once.

Frank had sent a nasty red coloured spell at his opponent who failed to dodge and a gaping hole was open in his body which anyone could see through. Alice meanwhile was directing her opponents curse away from her with a flick of her wand and raising a shield to protect herself and Frank from any curses which he could not see coming at them. Her opponent had been relentlessly casting at her but he was a novice whose casting speed was nowhere near her own. She kept deflecting his curses. When he sent a blood boiling curse at her, she raised a reflector shield at once and suffice to say, her opponent could not even see when he fell victim to his own curse.

Dumbledore meanwhile was protecting the Aurors from nastier spells or disabling those who tried to sneak up on the fighters. He had not fired a lethal spell yet but was ready to fight if Harry needed some assistance. He had stunned a couple of them and even disabled a couple who were trying to sneak up on the Aurors but he was yet to actively engage himself in the tactics.

Rufus was fighting two of them and was enjoying it. One of his boys had fallen to a bone breaker and Rufus stepped in to engage his opponent too. He was fighting with grim determination and as they fought, he kept them on their toes. When he saw his opening, he sent a reductor at his opponent which he could not shield against in time and with the well aimed curse in the lower portion of his body, there were only pieces to be cleaned up with a mop later. The other who had blanched at such a gruesome death found himself with a bombarda which blew open his chest.

Moony had already killed one and was fighting two more. His power which came to him due to being a werewolf was enough to give him leverage against his enemies. He was casting at a faster rate than others and his opponents could not dodge in time. Truth was that they were never trained in battle and certainly they never expected to find themselves in a trap. Remus finished one with a spear through his heart when the other sent a bone breaker at him which hit him in the ankle shattering his ankle instantly. Remus let out a howl and Sirius who had seen the werewolf falling sent a cutter at the foe decapitating him at once.

Moody, having ordered five of his men to continue the clean-up effort was having the time of his life. He had fought these vermin all his life and had a lot of grudges from the past war. He wanted to engage snake-face himself but the lad had taken it on him. Moody was himself engaging four of them at once. He had the protego maxima erected with his staff as a precaution, while he was blasting his foes away with his wand. His prosthetic leg was working better than he could have ever hoped and he was dancing out of the way of the spells.

Similarly others were engaged in different duels and the number of enemies was getting reduced. There were only a handful remaining who were otherwise cornered and being hit by spells off to one side and falling to the assault they were facing. The Aurors were superior to them in strength, in spell repertoire and they were admittedly better duellists after being put through the gauntlet for months now.

Finally as Frank finished his opponent with the nasty red spell, everyone turned to the last pair of fighters still engaged with each other. Moody roared out some orders and the Aurors started picking through the bodies of the fallen, looking for survivors. A number of Aurors were injured, but no fatalities.

Harry and Voldemort were still fighting with each other, circling and watching each other's move. Voldemort was still firing spells at him. Harry neatly side-stepped everything while taunting him continuously, "What's the matter Tom? Looks like you can't hit the broad side of a castle". Yes, Harry was humiliating the big, scary dark lord and that was with a single wand and without even having to properly dodge, never mind resort to the slippery fish.

Voldemort raised his wand and roared, "Fiendfyre" and the burning hot fire spewed out of his wand taking on the appearance of his slit-like face and racing towards Harry. Harry was standing casually. He chanted something in a language none recognized. A jet of fire erupted from his wand, this one even hotter than fiendfyre and taking the form of a leopard, it started attacking Voldemort's fire. At that moment, it became a battle of wills between the two wizards. The two fires were fighting for some time before the Leopard took a little step back and pounced upon his enemy. He had it under his mighty paw, the fire crackling as if the animal was roaring. Suddenly Voldemort staggered and the fiendfyre vanished. The leopard ran towards Voldemort but Harry ended the spell before it could run through him because it was starting to tax his magic. This was family magic of the Rosier family which Harry had learnt and saved for this occasion. He had substituted Sanskrit words in the incantation for this one.

Voldemort was still dazed and Harry roared, "Krishanu" and the mighty fire whip erupted out of his wand and Harry started swinging it to lasso Tom but Tom was artfully avoiding capture by conjuring objects to block Harry's fire whip. Harry realized that the whip would do no good and shutting it off, he yelled 'martandam'. A huge ball of fire left his wand and encircled Voldemort who was starting to scream in agony from being roasted alive. But somehow he was able to come out of the ball of fire by overpowering the spell with one of his own.

As Voldemort stumbled out, Harry roared again, "Taditam". A lightning-bolt erupted out of his wand and would have smote Voldemort. In an impressive show of fortitude, the dark lord at the last moment was able to raise a mage-shield which made a horrible sound of, "CLANGGG" and the spell was ineffective. Harry started sending bolts of fire at the Dark lord but he was maintaining the shield for a good 5 minutes. Harry knew that Voldemort had already spent a major portion of his power duelling him and would not be able to keep the shield up for long. So he was casting to wait him out and then he would take him captive.

Voldemort had severely underestimated the young mage. He had gone for the quick and spectacular kill, using his energy recklessly early in the battle. Being forced to raise that mage shield had nearly finished him. He wondered why his followers were not attacking, but one quick look around confirmed that he was the last one standing. And there was Dumbledore, standing by even if he (Voldemort) did somehow manage to gain the upper hand and would have no problem in subduing him if he somehow overcame the brat. It was time to escape if he was going to have a chance to repay this insult. But the boy had the prophecy. This was his last chance to obtain it or he would never hear of it again. It was time to pull a trick or two.

Meanwhile Harry chanted a spell none had heard and all the water in the fountain of magical brethren erupted to trap Voldemort taking the shape of a cage. Due to being trapped like this, Voldemort's concentration was broken and he dropped the mage shield. Harry instantly ended the spell, started peppering him with 'pavakam' setting his cloak on fire and scorched him more than he was already burnt from when Harry was trying to roast him alive.

Tom had little fight left in him but he knew that if he was captured then it would be the end of his life and his campaign. Gathering all his strength he somehow was able to stand again and sent Crucio at Harry. But the spell hit nothing but a big piece of conjured stone, rendering it ineffective. In that moment Tom finally slumped to the floor, exhausted, burned, bloody, defeated.

The duel had gone on for over two hours. Even Harry, after duelling with high-powered spells for that length of time, was feeling tired and it was only his practices that he could still fight. Feeling victorious, Harry walked cautiously toward Tom's prone body. When Harry was close enough, Tom fired a non-verbal bone breaker from under his cloak which struck Harry's off-hand.

Harry hissed in pain but neatly side-stepped the follow-up bone breaker that would have cracked his skull. Voldemort had levitated back to his feet as he cast and fired a third bone-breaker at Harry's wand hand. That was a mistake because Harry caught the spell on his wand and sent it back at Tom's shoulder with an additional boost. The impact shattered the bones in Tom's shoulder, making his off-hand and arm hang uselessly. Any ordinary man would have passed out from the pain, but the dark lord was not an ordinary man. He was swaying and in a bad state, but still up.

Harry peppered his opponent with a rapid series of bone-breakers, forcing him to dodge and roll out of the way. Some of the spells found their mark and did their damage. Voldemort was not faking it. He was too exhausted to raise a shield. He tried catching some of Harry's spells on his wand and sending them back the way they came, but he did not know how. If this kept up much longer, Voldemort would either pass out from his injuries or exhaustion or be unable to move because too many bones were broken. Finally, as there was a lull in casting Voldemort disappeared.

Dumbledore had seen this before and tried to alert him, "Harry!"

In that moment, Harry heard a cold voice in his head, "Think you can defeat me Harry?"

Harry had fallen due to the sudden attack but during this, he had let the prophecy roll away out of his robes. Harry could feel Voldemort attempting to enter his mind. He continued to lay prone on the floor of the atrium while very carefully letting the invader think he was getting the upper hand and rifling through Tom's mind for his most important secrets: Where is his headquarters? Where is the lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Where is Nagini? All this behind his shields while he let Tom explore a diversion, a collection of meaningless, childish pranks and endless castle corridors. As it turned out, the headquarters and the snake were at the same place. But for the diadem, he found an image of a huge, dusty, cathedral-like space, filled with mountains of junk.

By that time, the invader was getting wise to what Harry was doing and started his attack in earnest. He could feel Tom trying to enter his mind and it was very hard to keep him out of it. Harsh had taught him this art by invading his mind again and again but he never used brute force like Tom was doing at that moment. However Harsh had taught him what to do if he could not throw someone out of his mind.

Harry decided to play him, "You want to see my secrets, Tom? Welcome to my world".

In that moment, Harry started pulling up memories full of love, empathy and compassion of the people around him. Of his friends who loved him, of Sirius who was always there for him and had become his father, of Moony who had been there for him but never asked anything in return, of Dumbledore who had started to love him as his grandson, of Susan who loved him more than anything in the world.

This was all too much for Tom Riddle, who had scorned love as a weak feeling. He was facing true agony now while Harry experienced those memories, happiness, giddiness and love flowing through his veins. Tom started roaring in pain as if he was being boiled in a vat of acid and tried to escape but Harry held on to him. He said to him in his most menacing tone, "What's the matter, Tom? Let me show you my secrets".

When he released his hold of Tom, he was standing in front of the Hungarian Horntail who let out a stream of the hottest fire that Tom had ever seen. That was the final straw. Tom could feel that his consciousness was being erased and he would die if he remained there for a second more. Harry released him at that moment knowing that he could not keep up the torture for much longer in his own mindscape. To have been able to do that for as long as he did was a feat in itself. Tom hastily made his retreat.

Tom was thrown in a heap on the floor of the ministry and by some luck the prophecy was just a hand's breadth away from him. With his final bit of strength, he performed a non-verbal, wandless 'Accio'. The orb rolled into his nearly nerveless left hand. With a final twist of his ring, the dark lord vanished from the atrium and letting go of his iron will, let darkness engulf him.

Before anyone else could figure out what was going on, Tom Riddle was gone.

"Where did he go?" asked Frank, bewildered.

Harry said, "He must have had a goblin made portkey on him".

Croaker who had just come up from the Department of Mysteries, said, "But we laid wards similar to Gringotts".

"He must have a goblin made portkey which he made with all his power to overpower the wards and take him back to whatever hole he is hiding in", Harry said.

Just then Sirius came levitating a quill with him, "All of them had a port-key on them but I suppose theirs were not able to work past our wards and take them away".

Harry lunged to Sirius hugging him fiercely, "Are you and Moony okay?".

Sirius nodded, "He has a broken ankle. He'll be fine by morning. Are you okay?"

Harry nodded, "Just a bone-breaker to my off-hand. I can't believe that I fell for the old playing possum trick. I suppose I could heal it myself, but right now, I'm just too tired to care".

Harry turned to Moody, "Master Auror, was I good enough to be one of your Aurors?"

For the first time, Harry heard the Master Auror guffaw, "Good enough, he says? Lad, if you were out of school, I would have signed you up straight away".

Remus came hopping up to them in that moment and Harry pulled him up in a hug with Sirius, clutching them fiercely.

Dumbledore who had been silent till then turned to Frank, "Minister, if it is alright with you, I will take Harry and Remus off your hands. You tend to your men in the meanwhile and see to it that your injured are looked after". He turned to Sirius, "Return to Grimmauld Place. Harry and Remus will be spending the night in the Hogwarts infirmary. I presume Miss Bones and Miss Granger are at Grimmauld Place and will be worried. Tell them he is fine".

**Hogwarts**

Before Sirius could say anything, Dumbledore had caught Harry and Remus's arms and whistled to Fawkes. The Phoenix swooped in and Harry caught his tail. A moment later, they were in the Hogwarts infirmary where Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall were waiting. She levitated Remus to his bed while Minerva escorted Harry to his.

Madam Pomfrey cast some diagnostic spells while looking at Harry disdainfully, "Could you not spend a year away from the infirmary?

Harry gave her his lop-sided grin, "I tried very hard but an idiot named Voldemort got me with a bone-breaker".

She clutched her heart and even Minerva gasped for once. Then she turned to Albus, "Does that mean that he is now out in the open?"

"He has certainly been exposed. There can be no doubt now that Harry and I have been telling the truth all along". Then Dumbledore turned to Poppy, "What is the diagnosis, Poppy?

"He has broken bones in his left hand and his magical core is quite badly depleted. Other than that, he appears to be fine. I'll fix up that hand and with a good night's rest, he will be good as new by dawn. If anything else managed to hit him, his armour absorbed it". She healed the broken bones with some wand work, then handed Harry a set of pajamas to change into as she erected a screen around his bed.

Harry cheekily asked her, "Are you sure you are not saying that because you missed my company?"

She whipped her wand out and levelled at him menacingly, "Say that again and I will keep you here for a week".

Harry cringed, "Sorry and please don't keep me here for a week or the parade that will go through the infirmary will make this place look like King's Cross station".

She looked after Remus's broken ankle with hardly more trouble than a muggle would take to bandage a cut finger while Harry removed his armor and robes, then put on his pajamas. Then, threatening Harry at wand-point, she made him lie down on his bed and shoved a vial of dreamless sleep potion down his throat. He dozed off almost instantly.

When Remus tried to leave straight away, she tied him to his bed and took his wand away telling him that he would get it back when he was discharged in the morning. Remus wanted to leave because the Full moon was only two days away but knew it was useless to fight against Poppy Pomfrey.

**Ministry of Magic**

Healers and trainee healers were in the atrium, tending to the Aurors and the death eaters. Most of the injuries to the Aurors were minor. They were treated on the spot and sent home. Some Aurors were not so lucky. They had been hit with dark curses that required more treatment. They were being moved to St. Mungo's. Most of the death eaters were dead. A few who were not dead but injured were being tended to. Malfoy had lost his wand hand. His other hand was broken with a bone-breaker. The healers were confident that they could re-attach the severed hand. After all, even muggle surgeons could do that. The injury to the other hand was no more than a nuisance. A dose of Skelegrow would take care of that. Mr. Malfoy's real problem was a one-way trip to Azkaban. There were very few death eaters who were caught alive and most of them were members of what was called "Voldemort's new inner circle".

As they were being rounded up, Frank turned to Moody, "Alastor, report".

Alastor stood straight looking proud of the performance of his boys who were exemplary, "We have lost none. A few are critical. If they live through the night they will survive. We managed to ship five of the death eater scum in chains to Amelia's team early on. Of the rest, ten of the Death eater scum are alive, most of them grievously injured. Can we not toss them through the veil and be done with it?"

Frank shook his head, "No Alastor. Since the International Wizarding Convention of 1608, we can't do that without emergency powers and some form of a trial. I'll call an emergency session of the Wizengamot tomorrow if Lord Peverell and Regent Potter are up for it. I have no doubt that we will be able to invoke the Emergency War Measures Act with more than 50 eye witnesses to Voldemort's return and a raid on the ministry itself as a blatant act of declaration of war".

Moody grinned, "Harry was something, wasn't he? He made that maniac bow to his will".

Sirius puffed out his chest, "He is my son after all".

Alice rolled her eyes, "Get your head out of the clouds, Sirius. He is my godson".

Leaving the minister and others to look after the business in the ministry, Sirius left for the Townhouse to face Susan and Hermione and to tell them that everything was fine.

**Black Townhouse**

Sirius stepped out of the floo to find the three passed out in the chairs they had been sleeping in. He wondered how Neville came to be here but decided that the three did not need to wake up at this hour of the night. Besides he was tired and wanted his rest before he faced these three.

"Kreacher, Winky" he called softly and the elves appeared, "What we bes doing for Master?"

"Take Heir Longbottom to the guestroom and Heiress Bones to the other guest room. After you are done doing that take Hermione to her own room and try not to wake any of them up".

After sending them to sleep, he floo called at the ministry to inform Alice and Frank that Neville was at Black Townhouse tonight. With that done, he strolled up to his room to crash in his bed thinking of Emmeline who was with Amelia on duty tonight. She would be grumpy that all she got to do was store a few pre-packaged death eaters.

**Weasley Manor**

Arthur was just getting ready to go to the ministry this morning. Percy had returned with them to the manor last evening and it had been the best thing so far. They had given Percy a room of his own and told him to move in this evening.

Arthur was sitting at the table when Molly joined him, yawning, "Morning Arthur".

Arthur grunted in reply and turned to breakfast which was being served by the family elf when the owl with the morning newspaper flew in. The Elf brought the paper in and handed it to him.

Arthur had just picked up his cup of tea when his hand shook badly and the cup fell to the floor shattering.

Molly rushed to him, "Arthur, what happened? What did you read?"

With a shaking hand, Arthur pointed out the front page news to her. There on the front page was the headline in bold, _**"You-Know-Who Returns" **_with a photo of Harry Potter and Voldemort engaged in a duel with Harry peppering him with fire bolts while Voldemort was writhing in agony. Underneath the photo was written, "Harold Peverell engaged in a duel with Voldemort".

Molly let out such an inhuman shriek that it brought all her children to her at once. They all looked concerned and the twins had their wands in their hands, ready to begin casting if needed.

Arthur showed them the news and the twins whistled in appreciation while Ronald muttered something underneath his breath which sounded like, "Wicked!" Ginny was shocked with the photo. She was impressed and worried for the boy at the same time.

The story was an account of praises, over-done at times that painted Harry as the Merlin incarnate for making you-know-who look like a child.

_**You-Know-Who Returns!**_

_**In a bizarre turn of events yesterday it was revealed that what Dumbledore had been saying since last summer about you-know-who returning last June was true. Yesterday, you-know-who better known as Lord Voldemort was seen alive and back in action in the atrium of the ministry engaged in a duel with the boy-who-lived.**_

_**It is rumoured that the boy-who-lived had arrived there to pick up a prophecy from the hall of prophecies when he was ambushed by Voldemort. The contents of the prophecy are not known but most sources suggest that it may have been about the boy-who-lived being the chosen one to defeat Voldemort for good.**_

_**Eye-witness accounts state that the duel between them was fierce and the boy-who-lived kept Voldemort on the defensive for most of it while the Aurors forces led by Senior Aurors and the Minister of Magic himself engaged his followers in duels. Out of approximately 60 death eaters who followed Voldemort to the ministry, only 15 survived the battle. Five more succumbed to their injuries during the night. Five more are undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during the battle. All of the survivors will be tried as death eaters for multiple counts ranging from treason, acts of terrorism, murder and coercion. It is also reported that an Auror John De Vant succumbed to his injuries early this morning.**_

_**With Voldemort being back, it is possible that the minister will call an emergency session of the Wizengamot to assume emergency powers for what can clearly be perceived as another war on the door step.**_

_**The minister was quoted as saying, "It is true that the terrorist otherwise known as Lord Voldemort has returned to Wizarding Britain and is operating among us again. The ministry had got a tip-off last night that he was going to raid the ministry to seize power. We acted to pre-empt the attack because there was no way that we could not be certain that he was back again. But the ministry had seen some signs well in advance. The attack last night dispelled all doubts. That is why we have been making preparations to this effect. I assure the wizarding world that we will not bow down to that megalomaniac and his terrorist followers.**_

_**With all the chaos and destruction that is sure to come in the coming days and the entire wizarding world looking to the boy-who-lived who is being proclaimed as the chosen one by some, we can only hope that the blood-shed and violence will not set back our society which has just started to heal from the last war.**_

_**We tried to speak to Lord Peverell or Chief Warlock Dumbledore but they were not available for comment before this printing. **_

After Arthur finished reading the article, he turned to Molly who looked pale and shaken. He gently took one of her hands in his and started to caress it lightly. Percy brought her a cup of tea mixed with some fire whisky. While she sipped the tea, he kept speaking to her in a low, soothing voice, "Molly, Harry is fine. We will go see him now".

Percy headed off to the ministry with haste. Frank may need him and it was a moment where he could absolve himself of his guilt of having worked for the idiot Fudge and following him.

**Hogwarts**

Harry woke up early in the morning to find that Remus was also up but was tied to his bed and chortled, "Did she get you too, Moony?"

Remus made a sour face before saying, "Yes, she got me too. She seems to be an expert at it after having done it to all of us and now you too".

Harry grinned, "Yeah, sure. But I'll bet that you don't have a personal bed, do you?"

Remus raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know that you liked it so much. May be I can convince Dumbledore to name the infirmary after you?"

The revulsion on Harry's face was enough to set him off laughing bringing Madam Pomfrey out of her office, "Oh good! You both are up.". She cast some diagnostic charms at them and then set a light breakfast before them. She muttered under her breath, "You can be off as soon as you finish it. The Headmaster warned me that the infirmary might be overrun if I kept you here for too long of a time".

Wolfing down the breakfast as soon as they could, they finished it and then flooed out of her office to the Black Townhouse (Poppy told him that Dumbledore had arranged a one-time floo connection from the Hospital Wing to the Black Townhouse).

**Black Townhouse**

Harry almost fell on his face when he exited the floo. There were so many people in the meeting room that Harry was astounded. There were the Tonks's, Augusta and Neville, the Weasley's, Susan, Hermione, Hannah Abbott, many of the order members and Dumbledore. They all were clapping and cheering for him however Harry knew that some of them would be going to have a go at him later. His eyes searched out Susan and found her wanting nothing more than to be with her and to bare all his feelings to her but restrained himself when he thought of the company present.

Molly Weasley hugged him muttering, "Oh Harry, I was so worried. I hope you are fine, dear".

He gently extricated himself from her embrace, "Mrs. Weasley, I am fine. I am not even hurt".

Susan lunged for him and gripped him in a hug with all her strength as if to squeeze him while murmuring, "Do that again and I will kill you. Damn it, Harry. I was so worried".

Hermione looked on the verge of tears, her eyes watering but she also looked proud of him.

Neville and Ron were beaming at him looking proud for his deed.

After that Harry sat all of them down to a heavy breakfast and they made idle chatter while everyone had something to say about the news in the papers. Kingsley was grumbling that he was kept under the command of Amelia when he wanted to be in the thick of things. Hestia was miffed that she was stationed in Diagon Alley on Auror Patrol.

After breakfast, Dumbledore convened a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix while the students were sent out of the meeting room. Augusta had returned to Longbottom Manor after she made sure that he was fine.

When the meeting started, Harry asked Dumbledore, "Headmaster what are we going to do now?"

"The minister has plans to call for an emergency session today and I suppose we will be getting notified of that shortly. In the meanwhile, 10 seats of the dark faction will be vacant because the heads of house for those seats are in Azkaban or dead. I suppose they may appoint Regents for them but that will not be until the regular session in January. Also, the new wards that will identify and disable those branded with the Dark Mark were made active yesterday just an hour after the skirmish. As many as 40 employees of the Ministry of Magic were found branded and have been taken in for questioning or have already been charged with treason or espionage. I have also received credible information from one of my spies among his followers that Voldemort is greatly inconvenienced from the injuries that he sustained in the battle. It is reported that he is being kept on a potion regimen of up to 20 potions every day and being tended to by some healers. Ever since he returned from the ministry, he has been unconscious. If an ordinary man had sustained injuries like that, he would not have survived. He may remain out of commission for a long time, giving us time to find his links which enable him to exist".

Harry adopted a grim demeanor, "Sounds like I gave him something to remember me by. As to those links, while he was trying to invade my mind, I turned the tables on him. I have a fairly clear image of the castle that he with his followers are using for headquarters. The snake, Nagini is there. I was also able to confirm that the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw is the last artefact we are looking for. It is hidden in a cathedral-sized room that is very dusty and filled with small mountains of junk. I'll know the place when I see it. In that room is a cabinet that looks like it was burned with acid. The diadem is hidden in there".

Everyone in the room just stared at Harry in stunned silence. Clearly, even Dumbledore was impressed, "You rifled Voldemort's mind and discovered his most closely guarded secrets?"

Harry stared directly into the Headmaster's eyes, "When Tom was so foolish as to try and invade my mind he opened the door and invited me in. He made it easy".

Dumbledore looked away first. He had seen what Voldemort could do to people who lied to him or he just wanted to torture. With the exception of Dumbledore and Snape himself, nobody had ever been able to resist a mind attack from Voldemort. But, Dumbledore also remembered what happened the last time Snape tried Legilimency on Harry. The boy was telling the truth.

Dumbledore asked, "Can we use this insight to locate and destroy the final two horcruxes?"

Harry shook his head, "He is crafty. I did not get anything like a clear location. The entire castle is hidden under a Fidelius Charm and Tom made himself the secret keeper. As for the hiding place of the diadem, I only know what the room looks like. I have no idea where it is".

Sirius spoke up, "All right then. Lets' get your best artist's rendering of what these two places look like. Then we'll get everyone to have a look and tell us if they have ever seen anything like them. We'll track them down and destroy them".

"Until then, we make no direct move to attack Voldemort directly?", Harry asked.

Dumbledore answered, "My boy, it would not be wise to try. For one, he is not likely to underestimate you again. For two, he will remain impossible to kill until his tethers to this plane are destroyed. For three, until we receive our commission from the ministry, it would be illegal. He is hiding in his secret lair, licking his wounds. He is not likely to fall for another trap. Next time, we shall have to meet him in force. What you can do is to get ready and may be contact some friends of yours to bolster our numbers because I feel that when all is said and done, we will need more wands at our side. I believe you made some friends during the tournament".

Remus asked Dumbledore, "Albus what are we going to do while we wait?"

"We will continue to live, smile, love and do what we have been doing. A war on our doorstep is not a reason to stop living" said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

Just at that moment, a few owls swooped into the meeting room and sat in front of their intended recipients. Harry noticed the seal of the Ministry of Magic and untied his while others did the same with theirs. The letter was about an emergency meeting.

_"Dear Lord Peverell_

_It is under the authority of the Ministry of Magic that I am sending this letter to you to invite you to an emergency session of the Wizengamot this afternoon at 12:00 in light of the recent event where the long thought dead terrorist Voldemort was found to be alive in the premises of the Ministry. _

_Percival Ignatius Weasley_

_Senior Undersecretary to Minister of Magic"_

Harry read the letter and turned to Dumbledore, "It looks like the minister is not one to wait and watch but rather act".

Dumbledore dismissed the meeting because it was already 10:30 and they all needed to be ready for the session ahead.

**The Wizengamot**

When Harry flooed to the Wizengamot with others he noticed how things had changed in just the last few hours. Instead of taking him directly to the chambers of House Peverell, the floo routed him to the Atrium of the ministry. To his amazement, all evidence of the carnage from last night's battle was gone. Everyone had to queue up and go through wand check and blood identification before they were cleared for the Wizengamot. The ministry employees were forced to come through designated entry points fixed for them by the ministry which had prohibited apparition and floo entry for them within the ministry. Every one irrespective of their status was forced to come through the same entrances and was going through the same security check. The officials of the ministry could floo directly into the ministry but all of them were forced to go through the same security checks. The members of the Wizengamot could use the floo but all the floos were redirected to spew them into the Atrium.

There was an unspeakable with an Auror manning one desk where the Auror was registering their wands while the unspeakable would take a drop of their blood to ascertain that they were who they claimed to be and give them a thorough check with the secrecy sensor to see if they were concealing anything. The employees of the Ministry were forced to queue in a line which was quite long already and made to go through the security checks. Another shorter line was for the Lords manned by another unspeakable and an Auror. Whenever one was cleared to go ahead, they were given a parchment slip with green or black writing on it. They were warned to hang on to their parchments because they would be escorted back to the check point if they ever failed to produce them. The writing gave the name of the witch or wizard, stated that they had passed through the inspection and had the names of the Auror and Unspeakable signed on the bottom. None of them thought to question as to why the inks were different colours.

Harry joined in the line behind Lord Greengrass and Daphne who had come to attend the emergency session. Cyrus beamed at him, "Harry, I must extend my congratulations to you on the duel. I have heard from people that you were truly terrific and even the Senior Aurors were dazed at your performance".

Harry gave him a bow, "Thank you for the appreciation Cyrus but everyone played his part. Voldemort just walked into the trap by himself".

Daphne gave him a wide smile which he returned but before he could say anything, she was cleared to go by the unspeakable. Anyone once cleared was proceeding to the lifts where one lift was set apart for the Lords and the Department Heads. Other lifts were for the employees of the Ministry.

After he was cleared to go ahead, he got on a lift with Remus and Sirius. When they arrived in the assembly hall, Harry noticed that the chamber was quiet for the Wizengamot. Now that Harry looked properly, a lot of seats in the dark faction were empty. He supposed most of them were in the skirmish last night.

Finally when the session convened, most of the dark faction was absent. A few of the lords from the neutral faction were also missing.

Dumbledore walked in to his seat at the proper time and ascended to his position. He took his place on the dais and rapped his gavel, "Close the doors".

The doors closed and he started speaking, "Let this emergency session of the Wizengamot begin. The agenda for this session is as follows: firstly we will hear a report from the minister about the skirmish which took place last night in the heart of the Ministry of Magic. Then Minister Longbottom will be presenting a motion to invoke the Emergency Powers Act".

Frank stood, "The ministry has been receiving credible information since the beginning of this summer that the terrorist otherwise known as Lord Voldemort has returned from the dead and is operating among us again. We are not yet sure what he did to achieve this but it is rumoured that he used some very dark magic to this effect. Since he was keeping a low profile, it was not possible for us to find out what he was doing except that he intended to pick up where he left off in the previous war. When I assumed office, I was told of the dire conditions in which the ministry was and how we had no resources or numbers to fight back if he moved to seize power so the ministry has been augmenting its strength for months now. A few days ago, we received information that he was going to raid the ministry sometime in the winter when the ministry would be empty and so I entrusted Master Auror Moody with the duty of preparing an ambush for him. Yesterday, he raided the ministry with the intention of obtaining some sort of weapon from the Department of Mysteries. He ran afoul of Lord Peverell who was visiting the Department to get the authenticity of one of his family heirlooms tested. I do not know where the rumours of a prophecy came from".

As Frank sat, Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "Minister Longbottom has called this session to assume emergency powers- To assume the title of General of the forces of the ministry. To give him unbridled powers in connection with dealing with death eaters. In addition to the proposition of assuming emergency powers, he has also proposed to make it a criminal offense for anyone to bear the dark mark which will be punishable with imprisonment in Azkaban. The Emergency Powers Act authorizes the ministry to form a war tribunal with selected members of the Wizengamot serving as the judges to deal with and pronounce judgment upon those found to have the dark mark or indulged in any war crimes. He will speak for the motion first followed by anyone who wishes to present opposite views".

Frank stood and started speaking, "As many of you know, during the last war, I served the Ministry of Magic as an Auror. For many years, we were not allowed to use lethal force against the death eaters. So we kept losing and many esteemed members of our society lost their lives in the war, entire families were wiped out of existence. The Emergency Powers Act was created to deal with those instances where the minister would need unbridled powers to act in defense of the wizarding world without having to bring every action to the Wizengamot for approval. This Act also authorized the Aurors to use lethal force against Voldemort and his followers, recognizing them as the army of the ministry with the minister being the General of this army. While these powers are not to be casually assumed but only in the direst circumstances but Voldemort having returned from the dead certainly qualifies.

It is certain that there will be violence of the magnitude that we saw in the last war and our world cannot sustain violence of such magnitude again without bringing about the ruin of our world. Therefore I beseech you to grant this motion to unleash the full might of the ministry. To combat, defeat and eliminate this enemy that threatens our way of life and in fact our very existence!" Frank paused while the assembly broke out into applause. Nearly all were cheering. Some were clapping, some were thumping the table in front of them and others were shooting coloured sparks into the air with their wands.

But Frank was not done. He was still standing and looking grim, "We learned from interrogation of the death eaters who were captured during the thwarted attack last night that no one can take the dark mark while under the Imperious curse". Again, Frank paused while all the implications of this sank in with the members of the Wizengamot. He continued, "This means that no witch or wizard has been branded in this manner unless it was by their own free-will and choice. For this reason, I am repealing amnesty for all death eaters who claimed the Imperious curse as a defense when they were tried for their crimes. Additionally, it is an offense to bear the dark mark. Finally, there will be many offenders brought in when these measures take effect. Trials before the Wizengamot are costly and time consuming. For this reason, we will establish war tribunals, as needed, to process these offenders quickly and efficiently. To avoid any repeat of the miscarriage of justice such as what happened with Sirius Black, all of these proceedings shall be a matter of public record except where matters of war-time secrecy are involved, in which case the sensitive information shall be redacted in the public record."

When Frank sat, Dumbledore started to address the assembly again, "Is there anyone who wishes to speak to the motion?"

Lord Rolando Lestrange raised his hand. Rolando Lestrange was the father of the infamous Lestrange brothers, Rudolphus and Rabbastan Lestrange and former father-in-law of the infamous Bellatrix Nameless. He was not a marked death eater, but it was well known that his sympathies leaned toward Voldemort's ideals. He usually did not participate much in the proceedings of the Wizengamot but today, there was no one else who could speak for the dark faction in this meeting. Lucius Malfoy was cooling his heels in captivity and a few more lords were with him. Many more marked followers had come with Rolando to the Wizengamot today but they all seemed to have been redirected somewhere between the atrium and the assembly hall. So it was upon him to represent their interests.

Dumbledore said, "Lord Lestrange, you have the floor".

Rolando started addressing them, "I agree with the minister's assessment that our society needs to be saved and that another war would tear our world apart. But, I ask you, is it really necessary to give the minister unbridled power? The Aurors are better prepared and greater in number than they have been for over 14 years. The outcome of the battle last night clearly shows that our Aurors are far more effective in combat than the death eaters. I dare say that we are already well enough prepared to meet this threat and defeat it. Every witch or wizard is entitled to due process. Should we really allow a tribunal to toss some of our own into prison? Maybe one of you will be next. Furthermore, I ask the minister if he has any evidence that is more credible than the word of a death eater to verify this latest intelligence regarding the dark mark. The previous administration looked into this and found that these people were acting under the Imperious curse".

When Rolando sat down, Amelia raised her hand, "Chief Warlock, I would like this opportunity to answer his statement".

Dumbledore nodded, "You have the floor, Madam Bones".

Amelia stood, "Lord Lestrange pointed out that we are better prepared but he conveniently forgot to mention that the real confidantes of Voldemort are not ordinary wizards but those adept in dark magic. Even his sons were incarcerated in Azkaban after they were found guilty for their role in torturing the minister of magic and his wife so much that they had to be kept in St. Mungo's for 14 years for recuperation. Most of the members of his inner circle who are incarcerated in Azkaban as of this moment were adept in dark magic and wrecked havoc with their knowledge. We lost a lot of families who dared to defy Voldemort and fought for their rights in the last war. I daresay that those who love their freedom and do not want to live under the rule of a megalomaniac will not surrender to him so there will be an all out war. As to the ministry being better prepared, we hardly have enough to fight a war if it comes to our door and as such, we need something on our side so that we can even these insurmountable odds. Now as far as the dark mark is concerned, if he feels that we need to show more to convince the Wizengamot then we can bring in the said death eater and question him using Veritaserum".

When she sat down, Dumbledore asked again, "Does anyone else want to speak for or against the motion?"

When nobody raised their hand, Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "Very well then. We will now vote on the motion".

Rolando Lestrange stood at his place, "Chief Warlock a lot of members of the Wizengamot are not present in the chamber today so we are not properly represented for such voting".

Dumbledore turned to Percy, "Court Scribe, do we have quorum?"

Percy stood, "Chief Warlock, we need to have a minimum of 51% of the total strength of the Wizengamot to have quorum. This would be a minimum of 82 seats. Since there are 102 seats represented by their lords or properly appointed regents today, we have quorum".

Dumbledore turned to Lestrange, "Your objection is overruled, Lord Lestrange. We have quorum. We will now proceed to vote on the motion".

It is said that fear is a strong motivator. Many of the wizards and witches sitting on the Wizengamot were old enough to remember the havoc Voldemort and his followers wrought in the last war. The lack of action on the part of a very passive ministry had cost them the lives of many loved ones. They were not willing to live through that again. Here was a minister, a war hero, who was willing to do what it takes to protect his people and put his own life on the line to do it. All he needed was permission from the Wizengamot to "Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war" and he would put a stop to the dark lord before he even got his campaign properly rolling. The vote was 82 in favor with 20 opposed and none abstaining.

When the votes were counted, Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "Congratulations General Longbottom. We are in your hands".

With the motion passed, Minister Frank Longbottom was now also General Longbottom, supreme commander of all of wizarding Britain's military forces. In addition to his emergency powers, this motion also made it an act of treason to be branded with the dark mark. Due process for suspected death eaters was suspended. They would be heard before a war tribunal instead of the Wizengamot and the death penalty was very likely. The vaults of convicted death eaters would be seized and used to fund the war effort. The first tribunal would consist of Minister for Magic and General Frank Longbottom, The Head of DMLE Amelia Bones and Chief Auror Alastor (Mad-Eye) Moody and they were not likely to go easy on people branded with the dark mark.

With the voting over and the Emergency War measures act in force, the session was adjourned. The members of the Wizengamot began to file out of the room, lead by the new war tribunal.

What many of the members did not know was that several ministry employees who were branded with the dark mark were stunned on arrival at the ministry that day. They were promptly rounded up and moved to the Auror floor where they were being held for trial. The members of the Wizengamot who arrived by floo were checked for the dark mark at the security check with purpose-built secrecy sensors by the unspeakables. The ones who were found to be branded with the dark mark were issued a pass written with black ink. The people with passes written in green ink were allowed to proceed to the assembly hall. The people with passes written in black ink were sent to the Auror floor where they were stunned the moment the lift doors opened. Three Auror trainees cheerfully volunteered for this assignment while a few senior Aurors backed them up. Once the suspects were stunned, Alice tore back their sleeves to double check for the dark marks and make sure that no mistakes had been made. She was standing in for Moody on this detail because the Chief Auror was busy "interviewing" the prisoners. The death eaters who were captured this morning would be the first to be tried by the new tribunal.

Teams of Aurors had been dispatched to round up those who were suspected death eaters and had not come in to work today. Those who had been heard voicing pro-Voldemort sentiments were also rounded up and brought in for questioning. To quell Kingsley's whining that he missed on the fun, Amelia had sent him to capture '_the mole'_.

By the time the emergency session ended, the rest of the Ministry was already on a war footing. The department heads got on with the business of securing sensitive information and re-organizing their staff with fewer people. Most of the employees knew that their missing fellow workers were death eaters and would be tried. A press note was being written to be sent to the Daily Prophet today.

Harry had made up his mind to expose Tom's identity to the Wizarding World. Harsh had told him to compose an article on him and send it to the premier publications so that the entire Wizarding World could know about his original identity. For that purpose, he had the perfect person in mind to put his words on paper and which publications to publish it in addition to the Daily Prophet.

When he returned to the Black Townhouse, he would write a couple of letters inviting two of those people to come to the Black Townhouse and he would give them a story. The story which would be the biggest story of the year and perhaps would shatter a lot of perceptions.

**Black Townhouse**

By the time he returned to Black Townhouse after meeting every Lord who wanted to congratulate him, his friends at Hogwarts who were heirs or scions to houses and many of the ministry employees, Hermione was gone to Weasley Manor where she had promised to spend a part of her vacation. Remus was at the Rosier Estate in Dorset. Sirius was yet to return from the Ministry. With everyone being so busy, he was beginning to doubt if he and his friends would get a chance to go to Ireland for the holidays they were planning.

That evening, Susan finally had a talk with him before Amelia dragged her home. She had found him in the Lord's study working on some papers. She took a seat across from him.

"Harry", she said firmly, "we need to talk".

"Yes Sue, I am listening", he said while not looking up from what he was doing.

"I did not like the fact that you left me here and went to face that monster alone. It was not right. We are together now so it means that you have to include me in everything that you do. It does not work this way where only you are making the decisions and I have to follow you. If you get another insane idea such as this in your mind, you need to confer with me first. In fact, all of our friends are miffed that you did not call upon them when we have been training so hard for this opportunity".

Harry took a deep breath before facing this woman he had come to love, "Sue, I know that you would have stood and fought by my side if I had allowed it. Even though we achieved complete surprise, many of our top Aurors suffered severe injuries and one of them lost his life in that battle. Those were Aurors, not students. It is a very dangerous business and I did not want you or any of our friends to get hurt. I would not have been there myself if anyone else had a chance of taking on Voldemort. You have seen what I can do. Even with my formidable skills, he still managed to break my hand and wear me out. That is why I did not come straight back here when the battle was over".

Susan's eyes grew wide as she tried to comprehend how any spell could have found its mark on Harry. Then she stammered, "B-b-but if it is so impossible to fight them, why are we training at all?"

Harry said firmly, "I can think of two reasons for that. First, good training is never wasted effort. I would be happy to match any one of you against one of his followers and be sure that you would come out on top however I could not have said that six months ago. And second, as I have promised, when the final confrontation comes, you and all the rest of our friends will be there".

She glared hard at him, "You would do well to remember that. I do not want to spend another night waiting for you or news of you to come. I want to be there with you and help you every moment of it".

He nodded, "I will remember that, my lovely girl friend. On a different note, I wanted to ask if you would come over tomorrow."

She gave him a bright smile, "Of course I will. Auntie is so busy now that she would hardly notice that I am gone".

As she was leaving, he pulled her into a deep kiss and they broke it when someone cleared his throat behind them. He looked up to see Neville in the door way who was looking quite uncomfortable and said meekly, "I always seem to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, am I not?"

Susan walked out while elbowing him and muttering, "Bloody Gryffindor".

**Unknown Castle**

Severus Snape had been in the castle since last night when Voldemort had summoned him through the dark mark before he went to storm the ministry. 60 death eaters had followed him to the ministry and Severus had a moment of vicious pleasure thinking of what awaited Voldemort at the ministry. If he could make a guess, Voldemort would not be very happy with the outcome. What followed was worse than what he had thought would happen.

After more than two hours, Voldemort returned but none of his 60 followers returned with him. The dark lord collapsed unconscious to the ground, bloodied, the tattered remains of his robes still smoking. The smell of blood and burnt flesh filled the air. The snake faced man lay crumpled where the portkey had stopped pulling him by the main entrance to the castle.

Snape was the first to find him. He conjured a jet of water to stop the burning as he yelled for medics. By the time the medics arrived, Snape had already stopped the burning, vanished the charred tatters of robes that remained and wrapped the dark lord in bandages soaked with a potion for healing burns. As the medics levitated their dark lord into a stretcher, one of them ran diagnostic spells.

She asked, "What happened to him? He looks like he has been in a fight with a dragon".

Snape intoned in his slow drawl, "I know not. But, if you value your life, you will heal him with a minimum inconvenience of pain".

They levitated him inside on a stretcher and the healers went to work on him immediately. Seeing the condition Voldemort was in, Severus felt a moment of pity for him but banished that thought at once when he remembered the crimes that he had perpetrated, the murder of Lilly Potter included.

He looked like someone had worked him over with all the curses and jinxes that they could think of. His body looked charred as if someone had repeatedly burnt him, panic and horror was etched in the expression on his face. When the healers finished diagnosing his injuries, one of them turned to Severus, "The dark lord is unconscious due to a combination of someone torturing him mentally, disabling his consciousness and magical exhaustion. He has about 100 broken bones. He has 2nd and third degree burns to over 70% of his body. You were right to treat them right away. We can heal most of the physical injuries in a couple of days if all four of us work around the clock. But with the damage to his mind and magical core he won't wake up for at least a week and he will not be fully healed for about a month. He will need a massive regime of potions, including some necromantic potions to treat the injuries to his mind". She wrote out a list and handed it to Snape, "You are the Potions Master in residence. Here's a list of what we need".

Severus nodded, "Do as you see fit, Healer. I daresay he is not going to object to it".

Severus wished to but knew he could not kill the Dark Lord because the castle was teeming with death eaters and it would be a fool's errand to try and finish him when there was a possibility that he could return to life. He could again use whatever means he had used previously to return to a body and then they would not know if he returned. He had only one option that being to resume the Dark Lord's duties in his absence until the school holiday was over. Then he would have to delegate the duty to someone else.

He had also wondered what happened to the 60 death eaters that accompanied the dark lord on his raid until he read the morning edition of The Daily Prophet. He was in awe of the teen who gave Voldemort the thrashing of his life. He could understand how Voldemort had got those injuries. He also winced when he read that all 60 of the death eaters were either dead or in captivity. Greyback had sent word that he would be returning post-haste to rein in the followers of the Dark Lord who might attempt to dessert while the dark lord recovered. Severus knew that no one who once entered his service could escape unless the dark lord was dead which he was not.

He had also retrieved a prophecy orb from Voldemort's clothes and had to resist the temptation to try and listen to it. This was the wretched thing that had taken Lily away, the same wretched prophecy that had brought him to the predicament he was now in. He could easily listen to it and know what was in it but then it would make him a target because Voldemort knew he had the prophecy with him. He decided to let the wretched thing be kept in safety till the Dark Lord woke up. He gave it to Parkinson, "Keep it safe till the Dark Lord wakes up. Guard it better than your life and he may reward you for your efforts. If you fail, I will send flowers to Pansy with my condolences".


	44. Chapter 44

**London **

Before the day was done, the ministry released a press release to be published in all the wizarding Daily Newspapers across Wizarding Britain and Europe. The world would know what Wizarding Britain was facing.

The article was written by Percy Weasley and proofed by Frank before it was released to the public. It was brief, precise and to the point. The version which appeared in the evening edition of The Daily Prophet was as follows:

_**"WIZARDING BRITAIN AT WAR**_

_Last night, an attack on The Ministry for Magic by the self-styled Lord Voldemort and 60 of his followers was thwarted by ministry forces led by the Gead of Aurors Master Auror Alastor Moody. Of the followers known as death eaters, 50 were slain and the remainder are in custody. Voldemort himself was the only one to escape. He is still at large, location unknown. In direct response to the return of this terrorist, new security measures have been put in place and The Minister for Magic, Frank Longbottom, a veteran of the previous war, called an emergency session of the Wizengamot. (For a transcript of this meeting see Page 8)_

_Minister (now General) Longbottom introduced the motion for invoking emergency war measures. In his impassioned plea, he outlined the ministry's efforts to prepare to meet the threat of the returning terrorist. He pointed out that the threat was real and present and asked the members of the Wizengamot to grant him the powers he needed to act and stop the threat before it could grow any further._

_The debate which followed was brief and was concluded quickly. The only member to speak against the motion was Lord Lestrange. His objections were addressed most eloquently by DMLE Head Madame Bones. A motion to invoke the Emergency War measures act passed with 82 in favour, 20 opposed and 38 absent. (More about the absentees on page 4)_

_By this act, Wizarding Britain has formally declared war on the terrorist Lord Voldemort and his followers known as death eaters. Minister Frank Longbottom is now General Longbottom, in command of forces engaged in this conflict. Unlike the previous conflict with this same dark lord and his forces, ministry Aurors are fully authorized to use deadly force to defeat or capture enemy troops although use of the unforgivable curses will still result in a one-way trip to Azkaban._

_It was also revealed during this session that no witch or wizard can be compelled to take the dark mark under the Imperious Curse! As a result of this revelation, amnesty has been revoked for all persons who claimed the Imperious Curse as a defense for being branded with the dark mark and engaging in death eater activities in the previous war. They are being located and will be brought in to stand for trial for their crimes._

_In addition to the usual war measures, all enemy forces captured alive will be interrogated under Veritaserum before a war tribunal to determine their guilt or innocence with regard to war crimes, treason and espionage. In a reversal of previous war tribunal policy, these proceedings will be a matter of public record with only details vital to war-time security redacted. (For more details about how the new war tribunal will work, see Page 10)_

_Finally, the assets of those who are found guilty of war crimes against Wizarding Britain will be seized by the Ministry and used to fund the war effort and pay reparations to victims of acts of terror._

_We at the Daily Prophet wish Minister Longbottom and his forces good fortune in this conflict"._

There were a few more stories which were equally exciting, if not so long.

_**"DEATH EATERS FLEE JUSTICE**_

_After the failed attack on the Ministry the night of Yule, many known and suspected death eaters have disappeared. As ministry officials have called at their homes and places of business, many of them are suspected to have fled in an effort to avoid being brought in for questioning or being placed under arrest. Little is known of where they have gone. Friends and family left behind claim to know nothing about where they may have gone or if they are gathering at a central location. The Ministry is investigating._

_Officials at Gringotts have refused to comment. From the expressions on their faces, we can speculate that a number of vaults have been emptied recently"._

**"WAR TRIBUNAL FORMED**

_The Ministry released a press note last evening whereby it informed the Wizarding World that a three member war tribunal to deal with the threat of Death Eaters has been formed consisting of General Longbottom, Head of DMLE Madam Bones and the Head of Aurors Master Auror Alastor Moody._

_The Tribunal will act in place of the Wizengamot in matters of war crimes, espionage and treason. Those brought before the tribunal will be given the opportunity to present their defense, retain counsel as per normal legal proceedings. _

_In another unprecedented move, the ministry has made it mandatory to interrogate every accused under Veritaserum so that there is no room for error or of justice being denied to someone like it had happened with Sirius Black, Regent of House Rosier._

_There is a debate going on about what procedure will be adopted with those who were granted amnesty at the end of the last war. There is speculation that they will be brought in for questioning and heavy penalties will be levied against them for being involved in terrorist activities while those who are found guilty of heinous crimes such as murder will be executed."_

There was another article which covered the arrest of the ministry workers and the Lords of the Wizengamot.

**"DEATH- EATERS IN THE MIDST OF THE MINISTRY**

_The ministry released another press note last evening whereby it informed the press that at least 40 employees of the ministry in addition to 20 Lords of the Wizengamot have been arrested for being branded with the dark mark. _

_These individuals were identified and arrested by measures which were put in place within an hour of the attack on the ministry. Details of these measures are not available as they are considered to be top secret._

_The prisoners are being held for questioning. The lead investigator, Gawain Robards, who was appointed the chief investigator for the ministry immediately after the emergency war measures came into effect will make recommendations as to who will stand trial before the war tribunal._

_Many more suspected death eaters have failed to come to work. It is suspected that they have all gone into hiding in an effort to avoid facing justice. Aurors are looking for them, questioning family and known associates._

_General Longbottom has made it clear that none will be considered guilty by association. However, those who are found to be harboring or hiding death eaters will be charged for obstructing justice."._

**Black Townhouse**

A meeting of the order was in progress where most of the members were busy reading the paper. After about an hour, Harry turned to Dumbledore, "Professor, what are we going to do now? It looks like General Longbottom has everything covered".

Dumbledore took a deep breath before he started speaking, "The Order of the Phoenix will not be doing anything openly. We will continue to gather intelligence, recruit and train quietly. We will leave the battles and arrests to General Longbottom and the Ministry forces. Should we discover anything important, we will report it. Should we be called upon to fight, we will be ready. Our purpose is not to fight in a war but rather to put an end to Tom Riddle. To that end, we must find the last horcrux. What's more, we must do so quietly. Tom must not realize the true threat to his continued existence until it is too late. The new war tribunal has their work cut out for them. Besides the prisoners we took during their raid on the ministry, there were 60 more identified and arrested the next morning.

They are also looking for alternatives for Azkaban to start shifting as many of those as they can because there are many prisoners who were sent there for petty offenses. It would be a shame if Tom rescued them to make them do his bidding. It is almost a certain thing that the Dementors will defect to his side once he shows up there so we need to have alternate facility to hold the prisoners".

Harry asked him earnestly, "What are the orders for me then? I attract far too much attention to do any espionage for the Order. Neither do I hold a place in the ministry to be eligible to sit on the tribunal".

Sirius spoke up, "As far as anyone can tell, you will do what a boy of your age is supposed to do. You may be a war mage but you are also still a 15 year old who goes to school. You will go on the holiday that you were planning after the New Year ball and have fun. I have made all the arrangements. The only thing for you to do is to decide who, of your friends, will accompany you".

Harry eagerly asked him, "When are we going? Will you and Emmeline be coming along? Who else is coming?"

Sirius shook his head, "I presented an application for leave to my boss, Alastor Moody. He flatly refused it saying that the trainee Aurors need me more than I need a vacation, especially when things seem to be heating up at the moment. As it is, Moony and Nymphadora will be your chaperones for this trip since there are no other elders who can be spared at the moment. I will try to find a couple more chaperones for you though, if I can".

Harry deflated a little but Sirius cheered him up, "Don't worry, Harry. When we are finally free of Tom, we will go for a world tour. Right now, dealing with Tom and his band of fools is important".

The meeting was dismissed a little later because most of them had work to do. Dumbledore announced that there would be no more regular meetings. Members would receive weekly updates about what the ministry was doing. Emergency meetings would take place only if something of bigger magnitude was happening.

Susan came at about 11:00 and he immediately hugged her, taking in her fragrance and kissed her tenderly. After having expressed his joy, he took one of her hands and guided her to the meeting room.

After Kreacher had served them with enough refreshments for an army, Harry turned to her, "Sue, let's plan our holiday".

She was excited, "Really? What do we need to plan? Where are we going?"

"Padfoot told me this morning that he cannot come with us because Moody is not ready to grant him leave but Moony and Nymphadora will be escorting us and be our chaperones. We are to decide the guest list though".

She nodded, "Let's do that then. You start with people you want with us on this trip".

"The first ones on this list are of course Ron and Hermione with Neville and Hannah. I would also like to call Ernie but I do not know if I am ready to bring Lilith Moon along. I would definitely call Terry and Mandy though and may be, if she would consent then Luna Lovegood".

Susan beamed at him, "My list is much the same as yours. But I must admit that I had not thought about Terry and Mandy. They should be there, having been associates in pranks with us. I thought you would have called the twins though".

Harry shook his head, "Sorry, no. Those two would not give me a moment's peace if they came. I want to spend a week in peace with my friends. I do not know when will be the next time that we will have such peace again".

She nodded, "So when are we leaving?"

"The morning after the new year ball that will be 1st January. I suppose Sirius has arranged portkeys for us to go. Now we only need to inform our friends about this. We are not going to floo there because we are keeping the location a secret in case we need to use it to hide".

She readily agreed, "We will call our friends on the floo later today, then. For the moment, what do we have on the agenda?"

Harry smirked, "Today, we are going to tell the world about the story of an obscure half-blood known as Tom Marvolo Riddle. I sent letters to Luna and Professor Hughes. They will help me to write his story and spread it to the world. In fact, I asked our friends to be here because you all deserve to know about it".

She nodded, "Harry, I understand why you are doing this. Will you also talk about that night in the graveyard?"

He nodded grimly, "Since he has been forced into the open, I believe that now is the time to do so. I am not ashamed of it. If it will help people despise him more and abandon his cause then all the better".

She caught him in her embrace tenderly, whispering words in his ear, "I know it is the hardest thing that you can do. I have seen the pain you are in when you mention Cedric and how he died because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I promise you that I will be here with you the entire time helping you anyway I can".

**Unknown Castle**

Severus was annoyed. Since the Wizengamot session the previous day, there were many more death eaters who had taken up residence in the castle. He had wanted some solitude to find a way to slip a potion to the dark lord and may be finish him in his sleep but there were some complications with that line of thought. Firstly, there were healers around the dark lord at all times. Secondly most of them were excellent potioneers. They would have known if he tampered with the potions. Thirdly, if he killed the Dark Lord now, there was no way to ensure that he would not obtain a body again. If that happened, they would not know of his return. Fourthly, once he was branded with the Dark Mark trying to betray the Dark Lord could be fatal. The Dark Mark was a way to ensure that his faithful never wavered in their faith towards him.

He wanted to make these new residents leave the castle but one look at today's newspaper and he understood why they all were suddenly eager to stay near their lord. The ministry was hunting for them. This was the only place where they could be safe because the secret of the location was safe with the Dark Lord.

He was unconscious in the Master Bedroom being tended to by the healers and they had made very little improvement so far. They had only been able to treat the burn injuries that he had received. They were planning to treat his bones next. This was a delicate task because he had so many of them broken. These were not mystics or the healers at St. Mongo's so they did not have the skill to mend fractures to the spine, skull and femurs without causing further damage to the delicate nerves and blood vessels running through them. They decided to use a muggle technique called traction, vanish the bones one at a time and re-grow them using Skele-grow potion. The process was going to take days rather than hours. It would have been immensely painful if the dark lord was awake. After about five days of re-growing bones, then and only then would they try the necromantic potions to try and bring him out of his coma. The good news was that with their dark lord unconscious, at least he wouldn't try to kill them while they were working on him.

Greyback had returned from the continent this morning and his return had stemmed the flow of werewolves abandoning the Dark lord. Right now, they were planning some payback for the ministry for taking out 60 of their numbers. Severus was encouraging them to do it. He was planning to send a patronus to Dumbledore with the information. In a single sweep, another chunk of the Dark Lord's forces will be off the streets.

When they held their council in the dinner hall of the said unknown castle, Irwin Yaxley, one time candidate for Minister of Magic was saying, "I say we annihilate Diagon Alley. That will send a message to the ministry that we are not going to sit and watch".

Walden Macnair, the erstwhile executioner for the Ministry said, "Don't forget that at this moment we are no match for the Aurors who are given free rein to deal with us. They can use lethal force without thinking twice. They are better trained and disciplined than we are. The Dark Lord was going to train his troops starting next month but the Ministry forced our hand before that".

Snape said in his deliberate low tone, "Do you expect us to sit here while they keep calling the Dark Lord by his name and mock us? The ministry is deliberately egging us on to see if we will avenge our Lord".

Selwyn said, "No. They will pay for it. I agree that we need to strike back at the ministry. Until we can improve our capabilities, some targets are out for obvious reasons. Hogsmeade is out because it is too close to Hogwarts where Dumbledore can face us alone and win. Then there is the Order which has always stood in between us and Wizarding Britain, even at the cost of the lives of its members. The Ministry is out because of the wards which we cannot even begin to analyze unless we are going to risk being stunned and caught. I for one do not fancy being tortured by Alastor Moody. The last time I heard, he is using Dark Arts liberally on many of the Dark Lord's followers. We cannot attack Harold Peverell or the Minister's Manor or Bones Manor because they have protections around them that rival Hogwarts. Without the Dark Lord to lead us, we will be like lost sheep ready to be slaughtered. The only option is Diagon Alley because the general Wizarding Populace is still not ready to face and stand against us".

Severus replied, "It is settled then. We will raid Diagon alley but we will have no more than 20 death eaters involved. This will be a lightning raid. We will apparate in, cause as much havoc as we can and disapparate out before the Ministry can respond. Shock and surprise will be our main weapons. A small contingent will be sufficient for the best effect".

Greyback growled, "I don't care how many you send but I want to be part of the group".

Severus shook his head, "You are not going. You are the one who can keep the rest of his followers in line. Force them to stay if you have to. If by any chance we lost you, the Dark Lord will be furious and we will lose a major chunk of our forces".

Others nodded in assent and it was agreed that after two days, 20 death eaters would raid Diagon Alley. That evening Severus sent a patronus to Dumbledore telling him about the plan. Dumbledore relayed the information to Moody who selected twenty Aurors for this mission. The plan was relatively simple. 4 groups of Aurors with 5 Aurors in each will be hiding in selected shops in the Alley waiting for the raid. When the death eaters arrived, anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards would go up instantly while a team of 10 Aurors would evacuate people through the floo network. The Aurors would be using lethal force and they would duel to kill rather than take prisoners. The ministry holding cells could not take more than those who were already in there. Moody wanted to lead this mission personally, but Frank had to remind him that he was part of the war tribunal and as such, they could not spare him. Alice was put in charge of the mission. Proudfoot and Kingsley would be her sub-commanders with groups of ten Aurors each.

**You want a story?**

Harry, Susan, Hermione, Ron and Neville were sitting in a little flat in the suburbs of London waiting for their guests. The apartment that they were in was not theirs. He had rented it through the goblins. The Black Townhouse was under a Fidelius Charm and spreading the secret too much could compromise their safety so they had made this arrangement. A group of 5 hired hit-wizards were stationed nearby to deal with any threat which may manifest itself. The hit-wizards were hired for the security of the greenhouses. Remus had freed up a few of them to act directly under Harry's orders.

Harry had floo-called his friends asking them to join him this afternoon. The apartment was within walking distance from 12, Grimmauld Place so it was easy for them to walk there without getting worried about their safety. In addition to the hit-wizards, the room was laced with all sorts of protective charms and enchantments.

A knock on the door attracted their attention. Harry looked at the foe glass on his table. The images in it were distant and blurred which meant whoever was on the other side of the door was not an enemy. He walked up to the door and asked loudly, "Introduce yourself".

A melodious sing-song voice answered, "It is I, Luna Lovegood with Professor Martha Hughes at the door, asking for an entrance. I had met you first time on the train at the start of this academic year and you found it funny that Sirius Black is actually Stubby Broadman, as was reported in an article published in the Quibbler".

Harry cautiously opened the door. He was relieved to see Luna and Hughes on the other side of the door, "Welcome Professor and Luna. I am sorry for the inconvenience but I had to check you are who you claim to be".

They entered behind him. As they sat, refreshment arrived on the table by itself. When they had made idle chatter for a few minutes, Professor Hughes turned to him, "I must say that I was curious and excited at the same time when I got your letter. Voldemort's past has been a murky subject. There is no information available about his life prior to what is generally known. I would bet that only a handful of people know his origin".

Harry nodded, "I can understand your curiosity. I could not think of anyone better than you two to tell this story. I called you here because I want to tell where he came from and what his history is. This way, the morons who follow him would know who they are following in their pursuit of idiocy. I also think that the world should know what happened on that night when he returned. After I am done with my narration, there will be no doubt left that he does not follow any ideals other than his own relentless pursuit of power".

Martha Hughes nodded, "Do go on, Mr. Peverell. We can do it this way. First you can tell your side of the story. Then I will ask any follow up questions to cover topics which might have been left out or to get clarity for some of the topics which need attention".

He nodded, "Alright then. Let's do this. Let's start with his real name and his blood status. His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. He is a half-blood. His father was a muggle named Tom Riddle. His mother was a squib, Merope Gaunt of the infamous house of Gaunt. We believe that she was a squib because there is no record that she ever attended a magical school. His father was the son of landlords in the pleasant village of Little Hangleton. The Gaunts had family gold ages ago. They only married among their family to preserve their blood purity or so they say. Insanity is a trait which ran in their family. The Gaunt family gold was long gone, squandered generations ago. Merope lived in a squalid shack with her father Marvelo and her brother, Morffin just outside of Little Hangleton. They treated her worse than a slave, constantly baiting her because she could not use magic. She had taken a shine to Tom Riddle, a handsome muggle who was the son of the Riddle family which owned most of the land in Little Hangleton.

"When Marvolo and his insane son, Morffin were arrested and convicted on charges of muggle baiting and assaulting a Ministry official that left Merope alone in the shack. She seized the opportunity to make a bid for freedom. Without her father and brother bullying her, she successfully brewed a love potion and bewitched the handsome son of the landlords. They eloped.

"About a year later, Tom Riddle showed up in Little Hangleton saying that Merope had bewitched him. Merope was left alone in London and she lost her will to live. Sometime in December that year, her son was born in an orphanage and she only lived long enough to name her son Tom after her husband and Marvolo after her father".

"Abandoned by his father before he was born, bereft of his mother just after his birth, he was raised in the orphanage. Even before he had a wand or any formal training, he was able to do enough magic to terrorize his fellow residents there. He stayed there until he received his letter from Hogwarts".

"He attended the school from 1938 to 1945 where he was sorted into Slytherin. At the beginning of his fifth year, he was appointed as one of the prefects and that was the year when the Chamber of Secrets was opened and Myrtle Warren died when she was in the wrong place at the wrong time from the basilisk glare when the chamber was opened. He was given an award for special services to the school, supposedly for helping to identify the student who opened the chamber. Only Professor Dumbledore suspected that Tom had opened the chamber himself and had framed an innocent boy. He left the Chamber of Secrets sealed. Opening it again while he was still at school could have drawn attention to him".

"In his seventh year, he went on to become the Head Boy. His school friends later went on to become the first death eaters. His teachers generally agreed that he was very bright, quite talented and could do most anything he wanted to after graduation. Some even speculated that he could become Minister for Magic if he wished to. After graduating from Hogwarts, he worked for a few years with Borgins and Burke. A few years down the line he quit that job to travel abroad. That was the last anyone heard of Tom Marvolo Riddle".

"Very few facts are known about the years that he travelled. A few things which have come to light are that he went to practitioners of necromancy and other dark arts to study under them extensively. When he re-emerged years later, calling himself Lord Voldemort, his appearance and personality were so changed that nobody connected him with his former identity. He also went about and actively eliminated anyone who knew him before his transformation. The few exceptions were those who were too powerful or too well protected for him to destroy outright".

"He was vanquished, ending the first war by some ancient forgotten magic. He did not die outright because he had some fail safe to ensure that he would not die so easily".

"He spent years as a wraith barely alive, recovering from the injuries he sustained when he was vanquished the first time. It took him a long time to recover enough to be able to try for a comeback."

"The last few years, he tried various means to return to a body but until last June, they all failed. Finally last year, he wove an intricate plan to return to a body and kill me in front of his followers. He planted an escaped death eater at the school. He managed to enchant the Goblet of Fire in making it think that I was the only entrant from a fourth school so that I would have to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. I don't know the details about how it works, just that I was compelled to participate even though I was underage and did not enter, nor did I wish to participate".

"My first thought was that someone had entered me into the tournament so that I could be killed. It wasn't a bad guess, but it was only half of the plan. I came close enough to being killed at least three times during the tasks. In the end, Cedric and I took the cup at the centre of the maze together. It was a portkey and it was supposed to take us to the judge's stand outside the maze. Instead, it took us to the graveyard in Little Hangleton where Peter Pettigrew and Tom Riddle were waiting for us.

"By the time we realized who was coming toward us, my head felt like it was splitting open and I could barely stand. On Riddle's orders, Pettigrew killed Cedric because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He dragged me to the tombstone of Tom Riddle Senior and tied me there securely. After that he performed a necromantic ritual which somehow transformed Voldemort from a baby-sized, nearly helpless reptilian thing to the man he had been before he was vanquished".

"After his resurrection, he summoned his death eaters. With his followers as witnesses, he spent quite a lot of time explaining how Pettigrew had found him, returned him to a rudimentary body and helped him execute his plan to regain his proper body. He even explained why nobody's blood but mine would do as the final of three key ingredients for his resurrection spell. He tortured me with the Cruciatus curse while I was bound, wandless and helpless".

"He ordered Pettigrew to untie me and return my wand. His plan was to toy with me, then kill me in front of his followers. First, he used the Cruciatus Curse. Then he used the Imperious Curse to force me to beg for mercy. That was when the first thing that he did not expect happened. I resisted then entirely threw off the effects.

"Next, he tried the Cruciatus Curse again. That was when the second thing he had not planned happened. I dodged the curse and used a grave-stone for cover. I came out from behind the gravestone and tried to disarm him, but he was too fast. His killing curse met my disarming spell in mid-air".

"I can't explain what happened next. Somehow, the shades of Voldemort's most recent murder victims appeared, one at a time. They told me that the Triwizard cup would take me back to Hogwarts. Cedric's shade requested that I bring his body back with me. They kept Voldemort busy and distracted while I made my escape. In the darkness and confusion, I bowled over Pettigrew and brought him back with me".

The interview which followed the narration went for two hours. Then Professor Hughes left telling him that it would take a little editing before the work would be sent to him for final approval before it was sent to other publications. Luna was ready to publish everything in verbatim in the Quibbler. Harry was satisfied either way. He supposed that the story was so long that the Daily Prophet would have to publish a special edition altogether. The Quibbler was a magazine and could publish it in its entirety. Luna even told him that she would ask her father to publish the story in this edition and not keep it for long. He should expect a copy of it in the morning of New Year's Day which was sooner than Professor Hughes would be able to vet and send it to the Daily Prophet. She would need to meet Professor Dumbledore to recheck a few facts and gather credible evidence. In return for the favour, she was getting to put her name on the story as the one who interviewed him along with Luna Lovegood.

With the interview done, they returned to the Black Manor where the elves had cooked enough food for an army and everything was devoured to the last morsel. Thereafter Harry asked his friends if they were in the mood to go out and everyone was. This time for a change, they tried Muggle London instead of Diagon Alley. Neville floo called Hannah telling her to take the Knight Bus to Grimmauld Place in London since she did not know the location of the Townhouse and they could not give the secret to her because none of them were the secret keeper. Hermione took the lead this time suggesting that they take one of those double-decker buses which they could use for a tour around London. It was barely 2 in the afternoon, so they had a lot of time on their hands.

Harry himself had never seen Muggle London properly since the Dursleys never took him along unless there was no other way. He had not learned his way around London while he was with them. He felt that the tour would do him some good too. They passed two hours taking in all the sights that London had to offer.

During the entire tour, Susan sat with him and held his hand. At times, she whispered words in his ear giving him goose-bumps or stole a kiss when she knew their friends were not watching. Yes indeed, things were going perfectly with Susan and life was good for the moment.

**Will you play the match-maker?**

Sirius met them at the gate to the Townhouse. He gave the secret to Hannah, inviting her also. Once they were inside, Sirius turned to Harry, "I had hoped you would be more careful, Pup".

Harry raised an eyebrow, "What is the matter?"

Sirius took a deep breath, trying to control his anger, "You know how dangerous it is at the moment. You were in Muggle London without any security. The six of you are important to our side and yet you threw caution to the wind! It is thanks to Auror Gray who was following you that we knew where you were. General Longbottom has told me to tell you in no uncertain terms that your security is not to be taken lightly. You will not go anywhere without informing Alastor Moody who is in-charge of your security when you are not in the school".

Harry clapped him on the shoulder and looked him directly in the eye. "You seem to forget that I duelled with and beat Tom just a couple of days ago. I know that he will recover, but not today. Even with the best healers, he will be licking his wounds for at least a week. What's more, I never go anywhere without security but they are much more subtle than the Aurors". Then he looked around the entry hall at his friends, "With Tom out of commission and his followers in disarray, I thought this would be our only chance to be kids for some time".

Sirius said to him soothingly, "Pup, after the beating you gave him, I am sure that he will not take you so lightly again. Besides as Dumbledore said, he is unconscious at the moment, so his followers may attack you in a group and I can bet that you cannot fend off 10 at once unless you were willing to expose our hidden world by performing some ancient magics in the middle of Muggle London. Also, I do not think that your friends can fight as well as you can. You are putting them at risk by going out without informing us about it. I am not going to try to stop you from doing anything but please keep it in mind that even you have some limitations".

Harry thought about it for a moment. Yes, he was confident that he could take on ten death eaters at once. Yes, it would create a lot of work for the Obliviators if he was forced to do so in the middle of muggle London. Although he was reasonably sure that the mystics kept a watch on him at all times, it was hard to spot them. Maybe they weren't as omnipresent as they would like Harry to believe. And it was true that Harry had his limitations still. He was a war mage but he was nowhere near the level he wanted to be. He was still learning things from the memories that the mystics had supplied to him. Every time he watched one of those memories, there was something new he learned.

He knew that he was already good enough to beat Tom in a straight duel. But the old snake was a coward, a liar and quite crafty. He had been in the business of terrorizing people for more than 50 years. He would throw away his followers like so many bits of chaff in the wind to get at Harry. Harry on the other hand, valued his friends. He would lay down his own life to protect them. Tom knew that. All he had to do was have one of his minions grab one of Harry's friends and he would have a distinct advantage.

Harry shook his head, as much to stop the musings as to deny what Sirius had said. "I am not the one that needs all the protection. If they make a grab at me, all they will get is a fight they can't handle". He gestured to his friends who had been listening the whole time, "The real danger is that he might get smart and try to grab one or more of my friends. If he had a hostage, that would be some real leverage. We need to protect them". Then he nodded to Sirius, "So, any time that any of us travel outside of Hogwarts or Hogsmead again, we will certainly let Master Auror Moody know".

Sirius smiled, "That is like a good boy, son. Now have you decided upon the list of people you want to invite?"

Susan answered for him, "We are yet to decide upon the list, Sirius. May be tomorrow morning, we will have an answer for you".

Sirius nodded, "Just to tell you, if there are more than 3 boys and 3 girls, I may need to find some new chaperones so please give me sufficient warning".

Susan nodded. Sirius said under his breath, "Not even married yet and already taking his correspondence" which got the rest of the friends laughing. It was a known fact that the lady of the House was supposed to look after the societal obligations of the family. That duty would fall to Susan after they were married.

Sirius then turned to all of them, "Now I wish to ask a favor of you all, if you are willing".

Harry nodded, "You do not need to ask, Padfoot".

Sirius started speaking seriously, "Harry, as you well know, Remus does not connect with people easily due to his furry little problem. Even when we were at Hogwarts, he spurned the advances of many beautiful witches who wanted to be with him. He believed that they would scorn him if they came to know about it. Even Lily and James tried many times to convince him that he should not think too much about his problem but he has been adamant. Recently, Nymphadora started having feelings towards him but he has been avoiding her, not willing to enter into a relationship with her. I asked him about it and he feels the same towards her but he is being a prat and does not want to take the next step. He is fearful that his condition may be transmitted so he does not want to encourage Nymphadora and her advances. I want you all to try and do something about it. He has had his share of sorrows and I wish for him to have happiness now. If anyone in the world deserves a small bit of happiness, it is him".

They all nodded. However Neville asked what had been on their minds, "How will we do it?"

Sirius grinned, "You are all young and clever. You will think of something".

**I want your permission**

The next day, Bill and Fleur arrived as he had invited them. His usual posse of friends were there and he decided to include them in the meeting. They were going to be there anyhow because they were the members of his Order and he was not one to keep small things secret from them.

After they were greeted properly and the elves had served them with refreshments, Harry turned to Bill, "Bill you were asking for some favour from me the other day. How may I help you?"

Bill nodded, "Yes, I was. You see shortly after the tournament, Fleur who had graduated from Beauxbatons came to Gringotts to work in the bank. We met in the course of work and we eventually started seeing each other. I started courting her and I told the family that I am going to marry her".

Harry nodded, "She certainly is lovely. I am happy for you. So, what do you need from me?"

Bill said to him hesitantly, "you see Harry, the problem is that I have to ask for permission".

Harry raised an eye-brow, "Permission? I am sure Mr. Weasley would be delighted with this union".

Bill said, "Yes, he is delighted, Harry. Father has already agreed to this. But I need your permission. You are the patron of our family in your role of Lord Black so; we need you to bless this union since the House Magic would only agree after you have agreed to it. Being the Lord we have to ask your permission and it will fall upon you to negotiate the conditions of our marriage".

Harry shook his head, "As far as I am concerned, Bill, you have excellent judgement and you may marry whomever you please. You may count on my blessing. Since House Weasley has been restored, your father is the patriarch and Lord of the house. I will ask him to negotiate the prenuptials with Monsieur Delacour. Of course, If Arthur needs me to back him up, I will be happy to step in".

Bill smiled, "Monsieur Delacour is an agreeable enough gentleman. I'm sure that wont' be necessary".

Harry frowned in concentration. Something had been bothering him and it was time he asked about it, "Bill, correct me if I am wrong. It seemed to me, the other day that Mrs. Weasley was a bit cold towards Fleur. May be I imagined it but I am pretty sure, she was less than enthusiastic".

Fleur smiled sadly, "She feels intimidated that I will take her son away. I love Bill but I will not do anything of the sort. I was attracted to Bill because he was not influenced by my charms at all. She feels that he is not making a proper choice of mate by selecting me".

Ronald who had not said a word till then, shrugged, "I can sort of understand what you are getting at". He then turned to Fleur, "I have seen how she and Ginny behave towards you and I tried to make them see reason once or twice but to no avail".

Harry noticed Hermione making a sour face and decided to raise this issue with her later. Right now, he had something to ask of them, "You do not need my permission, Bill but for tradition and good form, I am giving my permission anyway. I will ask Mr. Weasley to enter into negotiations for your marriage on terms amenable to you both. Is it enough? Also can you and Fleur get away from work for a week or two?"

Bill nodded, "Thanks for saying that you would ask father to enter into these negotiations and yes, we can get leave for a week but why?"

Harry grinned, "Actually I am planning a vacation trip and at the moment, I am short of chaperones so I want you both to take the part".

Bill replied, "I will think about it and let you know by tomorrow. Can I ask where we are going and for how long?"

Susan replied, "We are going to Ireland for a week and we will stay at a Manor belonging to House Black. We will leave on the morning of New Year and return on the 8th. So, if you are willing, please come prepared for a week- long vacation".

Since it was time for lunch, Harry asked Dobby to lay the table for them. After a heavy lunch, Harry turned to Fleur, "Fleur, I need some help from your father, Monsieur Delacour.".

She asked him, "What is it?"

Harry replied, "General Longbottom has tried to ask for help from the French Ministry in case things turn for the worse but he did not receive any satisfying answer to his request. We are as of now trying to get into talks with the ICW but the ICW is reluctant to interfere in a mere rebellion so I want to ask you to talk to your father and ask if he would mobilize some support for us if we needed it?"

She took some time to think through things, "He cannot guarantee anything in his capacity as head of DMLE in the French Ministry of Magic. Perhaps he can find support among some of the families. However, I cannot assure you of any help from his side unless I had the chance to talk to him. I can also try to mobilize some support from my friends at Beauxbatons in the meanwhile".

Harry nodded, "That is better than I expected. Please tell Monsieur Delacour that I would enjoy the pleasure of his company here at the New Year Ball and the invitation will reach him in due time. I expect him to be here as a guest of honour for me".

She smiled, "I will let him know to expect an invitation from you".

He spoke to her further, "There is another favor I need to ask of you. Do you by any chance know if Viktor Krum would be interested in visiting Wizarding Britain for a contract with Puddlemere United to play in the Quidditch League?"

Ron spluttered, "Why would we need him here? We have decent players in the league. How is it of any concern to you anyhow?"

Harry chuckled, "I need to have a talk with Viktor, Ron and I want him to stay here at least till the war is over. Professor Dumbledore told me that before all is said and done, we will need more wands on our side. Viktor's family is very prominent in Bulgaria and they can get help to us if needed. On the side, House Potter owns 55% of Puddlemere United so it is in my best interest to get the best seeker in the world to play for my team".

**Diagon Alley**

Life in the alley seemed to be going on as usual. But, if one looked closely, people were looking about themselves more, talking less and hurrying faster. People were not strolling singly or in twos, looking in all the windows, but rather scurrying in small groups, making their purchases and hurrying off. The news that Voldemort was back and the state of war was making its presence felt among the shop owners and patrons of Wizarding Britain's busiest commercial district.

What was harder to notice were the few wizards scattered here and there, who were sticking to the shadows and not shopping at all. Even less conspicuous were the Aurors hiding in plain sight, mixing in with the shoppers, waiting for the wizards in the shadows to make their move. They had received intelligence that there was going to be a raid today and they were ready for it.

A bang went off suddenly somewhere near the entrance to Knockturn alley. The Aurors tensed but they stayed put. They were under orders from Alice to do nothing until she gave the order. Nothing of the mayhem that a death eater raid would have caused followed. As it turned out, it was just a child playing with a muggle cherry bomb.

What the Aurors did not know was that the death eaters were looking for the reaction to the bang of the fire cracker. If it had brought Aurors to the scene, they would have postponed or cancelled the raid. As it turned out, the situation was attended to by an old Auror who had been on regular patrol there since the end of the last war. Everybody knew old Jenkins. If you weren't careful, you could forget he was even there.

Knowing that there were no Aurors in the Alley other than the regular patrol, one of the death eaters walked out of Diagon Alley to inform his companions that the time was right for their strike. The major problem with the Aurors was that they did not know who was with death eaters and who was not so they could not take preventive measures.

About 10 minutes after the bang, several things happened at once. Death Eaters appeared in the Alley with a pop. They started creating mayhem by shattering store fronts and setting them on fire. Unknown to them, a number of Aurors put up anti-disapparation wards and anti-portkey wards. The remainder of the Auror force, in pairs, put up shields and protective barriers while their partners got the people off the streets and began evacuating them through designated floos.

The next moment, Alice's voice rang out, "CHARGE!"

The fires all went out as suddenly as they had started. The wands of 20 Aurors who had been trained by Mad-Eye Moody and Sirius Black spoke as one. The bone crushers struck at the hapless death eaters like a hot sword slicing through butter. They were too tightly packed to even try to dodge. Some of them had the presence of mind to shield. The ones who were not behind shields went down like so much wheat before the sickle.

The next moment, the survivors tried their portkeys while the aurors came out to engage them in duels.

Kingsley came running out of Florean's ice-cream parlour followed closely by five Aurors. Hestia Jones burst out of Flourish and Blotts down the Alley followed by the five under her command. Proudfoot followed soon running out of the Wizarding travel Equipment shop. Nymphadora led her contingent of five out of Madam Malkin's. Another team of Aurors led by Gawain Robards was hastily leading the few civilians who had been trapped to the shops where the active evacuation floos were located. While they were being evacuated and sent away the shopkeepers closed down their store fronts so the death eaters would not come inside and harm them or the people who were making their exits.

The Death Eaters were so stunned that they ignored the evacuation efforts. Their plan had been a quick raid, cause some terror and retreat. Now they were besieged by a force of 20 Aurors, some of whom were veterans of the previous war. Their portkeys did not work. They had no doubt that disapparation was just as impossible. The first volley had already decimated them. Now they understood the fate that the raid on the ministry had faced just days earlier. With their shields up, they were ready to give as good an account of themselves as they could.

Kingsley shouted out, "Formation Alpha!" The aurors spread themselves out in a semi-circle around the group of death eaters while a stone wall appeared to seal off their retreat. In the few seconds that it took for the Aurors to dash to their positions, the death eaters tried killing curses, bone exploders and blood boiling curses, but everywhere the curses went, some obstacle appeared to take the curse before it could reach its target.

What happened next was more like a firing squad than a duel. The Aurors did not cast single spells, chipping away at the shields. They cast spell chains of shield breaker, Reducto and bone crusher. The first volley reduced the death eaters by half. The second volley finished them off. From beginning to end, the battle of Diagon Alley had lasted about 15 seconds.

The aurors worked in pairs, one standing guard while their partner sifted through the carnage for survivors. Some of the newer Aurors who were not yet battle hardened had to run off to be sick. The mass of flesh and blood that had been death eaters just a minute ago was too harsh a reality for them.

The shattered remains of two of the death eaters were still alive but they would not be much longer unless they received immediate medical intervention. Alice, who had stood back, ready to defend any Auror who got into trouble during the fight, pressed her badge to summon medics and a clean-up crew.

A minute later, with the wards dispelled, the medics and clean-up crew arrived. The medics attended to the survivors, but their chances were not good. It did not matter, really. If they survived, it would only be to stand trial and be executed anyway. The clean-up crew went about the grim task of identifying the dead and cleaning up the remains. Some of them were so pulverized that identifying them had to depend on what they were carrying. They gathered up all the portkeys they could find on the off chance that they might still work and reveal the location of the enemy base. The wands of the fallen were gathered up in the hopes that they could help identify their owners. Perhaps Ollivanders could tell their identity by inspecting their wands. He remembered every wand he ever sold, after all.

The Aurors had suffered a few injuries, most of them minor. A few of the new Aurors had to be treated for shock. Their casualties had been light. It looked like the new Auror training had paid off.

By the time the clean-up was done, it was nearly impossible to tell that a battle had taken place. Alice and Kingsley stayed until the last window of the last store front was restored to its pre-battle condition.

That evening, the newspaper carried the story about the raid on Diagon Alley.

_**"MINISTRY QUASHES DEATH EATER RAID**_

_**By Grummond Reinholt**_

_Ministry forces overwhelmingly defeated a number of death eaters who attempted to raid Diagon Alley today. We have been asked by the Ministry not to disclose details of the battle here. What we can say is that 18 death eaters were killed outright during the battle. Two more survived and were taken into custody. They were severely injured and are not expected to live._

_Shop owners and shoppers alike were impressed by the rapid response of Auror forces dispatched to deal with the situation._

_Minister Frank Longbottom was quoted to say, "We will not stand idly by while Voldemort's followers terrorize our people (Continued on page 6)"._

The populace of the Wizarding World was satisfied with their leader, General Longbottom who was not in a mood to parley with the scum but annihilate them. They wanted a leader who could make hard choices and he was just the man at the helm of affairs.

**Shopping! Who invented the idea?**

Susan told Sirius that evening that the group going to Ireland would be 4 boys and 4 girls and Bill and Fleur had agreed to act as their chaperones. Sirius agreed to their proposition. Since they had not had an opportunity to sit and talk since they had come home from Yule celebrations, Ron had decided to stay back. Neville had stayed too because the Green Hues was boring with Alice and Frank at work most hours of the day. Augusta had some other social engagements to keep her busy.

Susan arrived early in the morning with Hannah in tow. She found Hermione in her room and woke her up with a water jet to her face. Then together the girls went looking for the boys.

The boys had stayed up, talking until late into the night. When they finally went to sleep, they all crashed in the same room. Kreacher had produced two bunk beds for them. Since he was not going on his morning runs there was no reason to wake up early in the morning. Harry with the others was still sleeping when Susan decided to find her boyfriend and make him amenable to her demands.

Susan did not know about the wards which he placed at the door of his room nor did she anticipate that she would walk into one. With the marauder's being wary, Harry had become creative and the ward would become active if someone other than him tried to open the door of his room during the night when the ward was active.

As soon as Susan touched the door, she was petrified with her arms snapping to her body, her body rigid. Hermione trying to unpetrify her touched the door and immediately she was also petrified. Hannah started shouting which brought the boys out of the room, wand in hand and looking concerned.

Before Neville could cross the threshold, Harry caught his arm. With the slightest movement of his wand, the ward was deactivated freeing the girls. Neville ran to Hannah to hug her and patted her back soothingly whispering words of encouragement in her ear while Harry released Susan and Hermione from their petrified state.

Once they were over the shock of being petrified and were sitting for breakfast at the dining table half an hour later, Susan asked him, "What was that all about, Harry?"

Harry replied, 'That Sue was the ward that I put outside my chamber every night because that is the way my mind works these days. I make sure that no one can get the jump on me, something that I learned after a few unforgettable lessons".

Susan asked curiously, "What lessons?"

Harry shook his head, "Sorry, Sue. I can't say. That is all classified information. Whatever gave you the idea to invade my room like that anyway?"

She sighed, "Did you forget that you are supposed to take me shopping?"

He asked confused, "Shopping? For what?"

She swatted him playfully on the head, "Shopping for the ball and the trip. I cannot go to the ball that you are holding tomorrow, and have graciously invited me as your date I might add, without a proper gown to wear".

He asked mock confused, "Invited you as a date? I do not remember that happening. Besides why do I have to go with you to shop for the ball?"

Neville elbowed him, "Mate, stop digging your grave. If your lady says that she wants to go shopping then you have to go shopping".

Hannah cooed, "That's a good boy. Neville dear, how about we leave for Green Hues so you can make yourself presentable for the shopping trip?"

Neville dutifully stood and followed her to the Floo while promising to meet at the Leaky Cauldron in an hour.

Hermione was looking at Ron sceptically. Ronald put up his hands in surrender before she could say anything, "I am coming with you on this shopping trip, Hermione. You do not need to worry about that".

She smiled brightly, "Oh Ronald! You understand me so well".

When Susan glared at him, Harry cringed. After he had made a mistake, Neville and Ron had learned their lessons and appeared to be the good boys. That left Harry looking like the idiot who could not understand how a girl's brain works.

Before they left, Harry checked in with Sirius to let him know that they would be shopping in Diagon Alley. After Dobby served them a sumptuous breakfast and they had their fill, Harry and Susan flooed to the Leaky Cauldron followed by Ron and Hermione. As had become the practice, Harry was under glamour charms with Susan. They took a private parlour in The Leaky Cauldron where they waited for Neville, Hannah, Terry and Mandy.

They spent the rest of the day going through shops, buying stuff that caught their fancy and things they just liked. Most of the time was spent in Madam Malkin's selecting muggle clothing because it was not necessary for them to wear wizard clothes all the time. By the time they were done, Harry was swearing to never ever agree to go shopping with a woman again. It was a task which should have been taught at Adrishpuram because it tested his patience so thoroughly. In addition to working as the porter, he also had to try on a trunk full of clothes. When it came to pay for their purchases, Susan insisted that it was his duty to pay. When he raised an eyebrow, she explained that as her betrothed, it was one of his duties. Also, it was his punishment for being an idiot in the morning.

**THE BALL**

Finally the day of the ball arrived. Most of the guests had been sent invitations from Sirius which would act as port-keys at the appointed hour. Not just anyone was told the floo address of the manor for security reasons.

The manor was being patrolled by 10 hit-wizards who were excused from the Rosier Plantation for the night in addition to 10 Aurors led by John Dawlish that Moody had sent to provide security at the Black Manor due to a large number of important wizards gathering there. Moody himself was invited and Harry had no doubts that he would enjoy the ball by barking orders to security rather than dance.

The Black Manor was huge. The upper floors had access restricted except to family and a few selected family friends. Unknown to most of the guests, the members of the Orders were also allowed limited access to certain parts of the upper floors.

Unlike Potter Manor, the floo was set in a separate building which was about 200 meters away from the main building. The floo building was also the designated spot for the port-keys which would be coming in. Harry, Sirius, Andromeda and Remus were to receive the guests as they came through. Their names would be checked against the guest list and then they could sign the guest book. After that, they were shown the way to the main building.

A couple of Aurors would be placed in the building where the floo was located. Similar to Hogwarts, apparition was blocked on the manor grounds. Also, similar to the Ministry, anti-dark mark wards had been placed in the floo room. Anti-portkey wards would be put up as soon as the last port-key came in. The plan was that as each party guest wished to leave, they would do so by floo. The muggle born guests, whose homes were not connected to the floo network, presented another problem. They would have to floo to a public floo such as The Leaky Cauldron in London or The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade and make their way home from there. There were a limited number of guest rooms on the ground floor of the Manor for those who liked to party to excess and would need some rest before travelling. The party was expected to go until quite late.

As soon as it was morning, Harry and his friends would be leaving by port-key for Ireland. The plan was for the friends to have a week-long get-away before returning to school.

Bill and Fleur had agreed to join them as chaperones since they felt the holiday would give them time to know each other a little better before they were married. Harry was in fact anticipating a couple of marriages would happen before the final battle took place.


	45. Chapter 45

**BLACK MANOR**

The day of the ball finally arrived. Sirius had engaged the services of a catering outfit from the continent to decorate the place as tastefully as possible. The caterers worked with professional pride and efficiency. It only took them a day to decorate the ball room and the ground floor of the manor.

Most of the guests would begin to arrive by portkey at six o'clock. Some of the closer friends had arrived during the day. The Tonks, the Weasleys, Remus, Susan, Neville, Hermione, Hannah, Terry and Mandy were already there. Since the elves and the caterers were taking care of the decorations, set-up and food preparations for the ball, Harry and his friends had free time to do whatever they pleased.

Ron suggested that they play a pick-up game of Quidditch but sadly, nobody but Harry had a broom with them. Besides, the girls thought they would get cold, flying around. They eventually agreed to go for a walk around the grounds of the manor instead.

Winter had definitely come to the Black manor. Snow lay everywhere on the ground and in some places it had drifted as high as their heads. There had been no wind during the last snowfall. The bare branches of the leafless trees wore a coating of the white powder. The pines wore a thick mantle of snow in their boughs. In the brilliant winter sunshine, the effect was dazzling.

As the temperature was a bit above freezing, Hermione noticed that the snow was good for packing. She bent down and began to form a large snowball. It didn't take long for the rest of the teens to catch on to what she was doing. In a few minutes, in teams of two or four, they were all rolling huge snowballs with plans to make the world's biggest snowman. After about an hour, they levitated the final snowball to form the head of a 20-foot tall snow-giant.

After making the snowman, they decided to make teams and have a snowball fight. The game went on for about 2 hours. By the time the game ended, they were all red-faced and their clothes were wet from uncounted hits from the powdery projectiles. Harry ended the snowball fight by animating the snow-giant and having it drop its own head on the other team.

"That's cheating!", Ron spluttered as he emerged from the pile of snow that had been the snow-giant's head a second ago.

When Harry was able to stop laughing, he said, "Nope. We never made up any rules. That means there's no such thing as cheating. Besides", he said looking at the lowering sun, "It's time we went in and got dressed for the ball".

It was about four o'clock when they all filed back in to the manor, red-faced, soaked and laughing. Sirius sent them to their rooms to get ready. Harry had already dried his clothes on his way to his room. He thought it would only take him a few minutes to hand off his outdoor gear to Dobby and get dressed for the ball. But that is not the way it went.

When he arrived in his room, he was greeted by Dobby and two other house elves who had their orders from Sirius. His outfit for the ball was all laid out already. But before he could get dressed, he had a haircut, his eyebrows trimmed, a shampoo and a thorough scrubbing. By the time the elves were done with him, even his unruly hair had been tamed. As a finishing touch, they gave him a manicure cleaning up his ragged cuticles then shaping and polishing his nails to perfection.

When the elves had finished their work and Dobby approved, then and only then did they begin to dress him. His outfit consisted of a white silk shirt, black trousers, a set of Black robes with Emerald trim and accents, made of the finest silk that could be found with his house Crests on them, a cloak of the same colour and a pair of Dragon hide boots.

When Harry looked at the results in the mirror, he wondered who this well-groomed young man staring back at him might be.

He dismissed the elves, thanking them for their work. Of course, they were terribly embarrassed about being thanked by their lord.

When Harry started to leave the room to go downstairs, Kreacher popped in holding a small staff. Bowing, the ancient elf presented the staff to Harry, "This be yours, Lord Black. The ceremonial staff to show that you be have power under the roof".

Harry accepted the staff gracefully then inspected it closely. It was made of wood and worked with precious metals. The head was in the shape of an Adder.

When Harry arrived downstairs, he found all of the men and boys there, but not one of the girls or women for that matter and he was worried. He asked Sirius, "Where are the ladies? Why are none of them here? Are they alright?"

Sirius laughed heartily, "Pup, they are all still getting ready. Has no one ever told you that you could give them hours to get ready and they will still need 5 minutes more?"

Everyone laughed at this statement except for a voice which said, "What was that you just said, Sirius Black?"

Sirius turned to find Emmeline dressed up in a sky blue gown, her straight hair falling down her back. Her expert and understated make-up was just enough to draw attention to her already beautiful features and a smile to top it all off.

Sirius gave voice to what was obvious to all the other people in the room, "Emmeline, my dear, you look absolutely radiant!"

Harry stepped forward and pretended to kiss her hand, "My compliments. You certainly do look lovely. With you in the room, I am certain that nobody will even notice that I am here".

She waved him off, "You are such a charmer, Harry but it will not work on me. I am dating a man who can give a compliment in any situation and better ones than that".

Sirius walked up and hugged her. He said playfully, "Don't be so heartless to him dear. He has a chance to improve now that he is under my tutelage".

Remus who was sitting in a chair nearby rolled his eyes, "Yeah! Yeah! Aren't you the same guy who took a year to ask Marlene out on a Hogsmeade Weekend?"

Harry snorted while Sirius blushed. To his credit, Sirius rallied valiantly almost instantly, "I was a child then, Moony. I did not wait for a year because I was afraid. I was waiting for James to pluck up the courage to ask Lily out. Besides, you're the one to talk. When have you ever asked a girl out?"

Emmeline countered him, "As I recall it, James gathered courage for three years before he asked her out in fourth year, and then she turned him down. You started going out with Marlene in fifth year. By that calculation, you were the one without courage".

Harry was a little puzzled about something and he asked Emmeline, "Do you not mind when he talks about Marlene? I mean he intended to marry her at some point in time and maybe still harbours feelings for her?"

She smiled and mussed his hair, "You are yet to learn a lot about life, Harry. Yes, I do get sad at times about it but we are together now. That is what matters. Life is too short to hold grudges. We can either keep grudges or we can go out and live our life as we want. I am choosing to enjoy everything that life has to offer me".

Before the talk could continue anymore, Sirius poked him in the shoulder and pointed to the top of the staircase where Susan stood. She was dressed in a form fitting robe which accentuated her figure. It was hard to say what colour the robes were because they were iridescent, reflecting different colours depending on how the light hit them. The overall impression was that they were silver, setting off the burnished copper of her hair. Her hair which she was wearing in loose ringlets down her back, held out of her face by a circlet of gold which matched the necklace that Harry had sent her as a Christmas present. She was also wearing the earrings that Sirius had sent her. To finish off the outfit, she was wearing a pair of peep-toe pumps that matched her robes. Her make-up was subtle and it only enhanced her natural beauty.

Harry's mouth was hanging open as she descended the last few steps and sidled up to him. When she reached him, smiling, she gently put her finger under his chin and closed his mouth, "Close your mouth, Mr. Peverell. We are not a cod fish".

Sirius and Remus were laughing at his condition while Ron was looking dumb-founded not sure if he should hit his friend on the head to bring him out of his trance. Finally Emmeline had pity on him and she shook him bringing him out of his trance, "Wake up Lover boy! You have your whole life in front of you to fall in love with her".

Susan blushed at the compliment while Harry hugged her saying, "All the radiance in the world today cannot equal you, Sue".

"If the pleasantries are over, may be you would like to pay attention to your guests, Lord Black", came a voice from the doorway. Harry saw Amelia standing at the doorway to the meeting room. He rushed to greet her formally.

She, instead of offering him her hand, hugged him and said, "It is good to see you two bonding so well, Harry".

After he was done greeting her, Sirius approached him, "Pup go to the floo building and greet your guests. I will be there to take over in an hour".

Harry took Susan's arm and they walked to the floo building together. While they were going, Harry took stock of the security as he walked nonchalantly towards the floo building. There were hit-wizards patrolling the property while two were placed outside the entrance of the main building. Three Aurors were present inside the floo building standing in dark corners under Disillusionment charms. Other Aurors were present in different parts of the manor watching over the guests, keeping out of sight in the same way. Only someone who was extremely sensitive to magic could sense them standing there.

He stood with Susan at the designated spot where people would be coming by portkeys that had been sent to them.

Sirius had arranged for the portkeys to have three different landing zones in the building and the guests would arrive at two minute intervals. They would alternate between the three zones and that would allow up to six minutes each for them to sign the guest book, discretely have their identities checked by security and be directed to the main house. What they did not need to know was that anyone who attempted to crash the party would be stunned and delivered to a holding cell until their true intent could be determined.

The first one to arrive via the portkey was Luna Lovegood who landed gracefully with the Byangoma on her shoulder. She hugged him and pecked him on the cheek before she greeted Susan and then turned to him, "Thank you for inviting me, Harry. I have never been to a ball before this year. The Byangoma tells me that it will be a great year indeed".

Harry asked her with a raised eyebrow, "the Byangoma told you? What happened to the Nargles?"

She smiled, "The nargles are busy making little nargles so they gave their responsibilities to this Byangoma. Has Ginny arrived?"

Susan answered, "She would be inside the main building. Go on, we will join you soon".

The next were Ernie and Lilith. Lily's father had been invited too and he was coming by himself a bit later. Ernie and Lilith had taken the port-key which Harry had given to them. Harry liked Ernie very much as their families had been allies since before the time of the Vikings. He was also on good terms with Lilith since she had joined the Order of the Snow Leopard. He greeted Lilith while Susan greeted Ernie. They were sent inside promptly because the arrivals were speeding up. What Sirius had not carefully scheduled were the people who knew the floo address and arrived that way. A few like Frank, Alice, Moody and a number of senior Aurors had flooed in while other guests continued to land every two minutes by portkey. During his hour on duty, the time went by in a blur. Harry thought that more than a hundred guests must have arrived.

An awkward moment came when Daphne arrived with her family. She was dressed in a blue gown which accentuated her figure. She was clearly dressed to impress. Her hair was loose and falling below her shoulders. Her blue eyes beamed with joy when she saw Harry. She hugged him a little too tightly and too long for his comfort while she murmured in his ear, "It is good to see you, Harry. I have missed you so much during this vacation".

Susan saw what was happening. She said to Harry in a pointed tone, "Harry, we still have guests coming".

Daphne extricated herself from him hastily while Cyrus and Roxanne had a mysterious smile on their lips. Harry greeted the two of them and then turned to Astoria who was looking impishly amused. Harry sent them to the manor to clear the way for other guests.

Susan was incensed at Daphne's forwardness with her betrothed. If she had her way, she would have whipped out her wand and given the ice queen a huge nose and a scorching case of acne. But she thought better of it. She would have to talk to that girl soon and make it clear that Harry was hers.

The next to come were the Creevey brothers by portkey. When they came in, Colin started talking to him excitedly, "Harry, we stayed at Hogwarts for Yule. You should have seen the pranks!"

Harry cut him off before he could go any further, "Colin, I would love to hear about it but at this moment, I am busy receiving my guests. Can we talk later?"

Colin reluctantly agreed and Dennis dragged him away. Harry was interested to know how much things had progressed between Colin and Ginny. Something told him that they would be perfectly matched to each other.

Dumbledore came next. He gracefully landed when his port-key arrived and Harry greeted him joyfully, "Lord Dumbledore, welcome to the Black Manor".

Dumbledore looked like the grandfather that he always did and answered his greetings with a smile, "I thank you for the hospitality you have shown to me under your roof, Lord Peverell".

Minerva, Pomona, Aurora, Bethsheda, Martha Hughes and Filius Flitwick were also invited and they all arrived minutes after Dumbledore. Harry had invited Vikram but the mystic had refused saying that they were not ones to socialise more than necessary.

The next to come were the Delacours. Sirius had sent the invitation to them at Harry's request. Fleur stepped forward and kissed him on his cheek, "Harry, let me present you my papa Sebastian Delacour, my mamma Appolline Delacour and of course you know Gabriel".

Harry shook hands with Sebastian then pretended to kiss Appolline's knuckles saying, "Charmante my lady". Gabriel did not let him say anything but hugged him warmly. Susan had a brief moment of annoyance but it passed swiftly.

Harry turned to Sebastian, "Monsieur Delacour let me present to you my betrothed, Susan Bones".

Sebastian greeted her warmly and said to Harry playfully, "Are you not a little young to get betrothed so soon?"

Harry chuckled, "Yes, I am a leetle boy still". He had turned to look at Fleur when he emphasised on little boy and Fleur smacked him, "And I have learned my lesson since then to never underestimate you, Harry".

After the Delacours were on their way, Susan asked him, "What was the little boy thing?"

Harry chuckled at the memory, "Shortly after our names came out of the goblet of fire, I was sent into the chamber where the other champions were. Fleur had addressed me as leetle boy while talking to her headmistress. That changed quickly though. She learned her lesson at the first task".

He received many other guests during his hour-long shift. Then Sirius took charge of receiving the guests. Andromeda had agreed to take the final shift and greet the late-comers. Sirius had timed the port-keys so that those who were invited by Harry came in the first hour. Those who were invited by Sirius would arrive later. In that way, Harry was saved the trouble of making the acquaintance of everyone who came by portkey. He only greeted those who he invited.

Dinner was being served in the Ball Room. It looked more like a dinner hall at the moment. There were several well placed expansion charms. little circular tables had been arranged for most of them except for a long table where the Guest of honor and other important dignitaries were to sit. By about eight o'clock, everyone had arrived. They were being served dinner before the dance started. Harry had an aversion to mead and wine, he had to appear to take some in the view of the guests or that would have been bad manners.

Harry would have been happy to sit at one of those little circular tables with his Hogwarts friends, but his position as one of the lords of the Wizengamot and as the host made it imperative for him to sit at the long table. He sat at one end of the table while the other end was taken by Sirius as they were the hosts. Monsieur Delacour was assigned a seat beside Harry as per his preference with Frank on the other side.

As they sat talking, Sebastian asked him, "Harry, Fleur told me you wanted to ask something of me?"

Harry nodded, "May I assume that you have read the Daily Prophet recently, Monsieur? The terrorist known as Voldemort is back from the dead and active once more. I had to fight him just a few days ago. The ministry has a considerable force of 200 Aurors at the moment but what is worrying is that he has more. And he is still recruiting. I do not know if you have heard but the most savage werewolf of recent times Fenrir Greyback has been recruiting for him on the continent. Just a few weeks ago, the ministry hunted down and eliminated 30 of the worst type of criminal werewolves who had fled justice on the continent and come to Britain illegally. We need more wands at our side because I know the time will come when we will have to fight a decisive battle against him. It may not be possible for us to defeat him without the strength of numbers. General Longbottom has tried to ask for help from France, Germany and Bulgaria but so far got nothing".

Sebastian turned to Frank, "Is this true, Monsieur?"

Frank nodded, "We have had no help from any other country so far. They fear that Voldemort will turn his wrath towards them if they helped us. We are on our own and we need help. You are the head of DMLE in France. You are also well connected in your country. You can gather help for us if we need it so I implore you to think about it at least".

Sebastian nodded, "I will think about it, Monsieur".

Dinner lasted for an hour. Everyone had their fill. Then it was time for the dance. At a signal from Sirius, the guests all rose from their seats. The remains of dinner disappeared. The head table moved to one end of the room, laden with drinks and refreshments. The majority of the small tables disappeared and the remainder of them lined up along the sides of the room. An eight piece band seemed to appear out of no-where and set up on risers at the opposite end of the room from the refreshments table. It all took about two minutes and the dining hall had become a ball room once more.

Tradition dictated that the host opened the dance with their partner. Susan took Harry by the arm.

While the band finished tuning up, she whispered in his ear, "Are you going to be alright starting up this dance? I heard that you were a disaster at the Yule Ball last year".

Harry gave her his best lop-sided grin and said, "I will try not to step on those pretty pumps you are wearing".

He then lead her confidently out to the middle of the dance floor while the guests applauded whistled or cat-called according to their nature. The band counted off, then struck up a slow waltz. From the very first note, Harry lead as the young couple glided effortlessly around the dance floor. Those who had been jeering quickly changed their tune when they realized that Harry could really dance. After about 12 bars, Sirius joined them with Emmeline, the two couples perfectly synchronized as they revolved around the floor. A few bars later, the rest of the Head Table joined them with their dance partners.

Susan, pleasantly surprised that her partner was more graceful than the average troll, asked Harry, "When did you learn to dance like that?"

Harry's emerald-green orbs looked directly down into her sparkling-blue eyes and he chuckled, "Please don't distract me, Sue. I'm afraid that I'll lose count".

She smacked him playfully on the shoulder, "Get serious". Then she raised an eyebrow, "Do you mean to tell me that your friends who don't know anything but war actually taught you to dance?"

The first dance ended. The wizards bowed to their partners as the witches curtsied in reply. Those who had been watching the artful coordination of the first dance now walked on to the dance floor as the band leader counted in for the next tune. It was a popular dance number that was getting a lot of air play on Witch Radio and there was a dance that went with it. Harry and Susan changed poses and when the first note rent the air, they were off. Even Mad-Eye took a few minutes away from bossing the Aurors to join in and dance with Amelia. The dance step would have been pretty basic all by itself, but the music was fast and there were endless variations on how people moved, leapt and spun as they somehow managed to avoid colliding or stepping on each other's toes. The footwork which included a stomp and the arm movement which included a clap were part of the percussion.

The dance number ended after about five minutes and the crowd went wild with cheering, clapping and whistling. The band pumped their fists in the air three times in acknowledgement and not wanting to lose any momentum, they struck up the next number.

Harry and Susan were a bit breathless after the dance so Harry led her from the dance floor to take a break and get something to drink. The refreshments table was at the opposite end of the ballroom from the band so it was a bit quieter there.

"Harry, where did you learn to dance like that?", Susan asked him while trying to catch her breath. "You were amazing. You never missed a beat".

Harry's mind flashed back to all those laps around the lake while the mystics tried their best to keep him guessing, then all the dance lessons. Harry fondly said, "My teacher of Wizarding etiquette drilled it into me. She taught me that a proper gentleman must know how to dance. It took a lot of cursing and hexing from her to get to where I am today. Every time that I stepped on her toes, she caned me".

She looked amused, "What was she, a squib or something? Why did she have to resort to using a cane?"

Harry winced in memory, "It was not a regular stick of wood but a slim, flexible branch which hit very painfully and it left bruises on my backside. She was a witch alright but she told me that I would not learn my lesson if she used magic to punish me. The muggles have some forms of punishment which would be a torture to us".

She chuckled, "Look at you. Harold Peverell the war mage who can make Voldemort tremble is afraid of a cane".

Harry scowled, "You would not take it so lightly if you were disciplined that way".

"May I have this dance, Lord Peverell", said Astoria Greengrass, who had detached herself from Dennis Creevey.

Dennis was already asking some other girl for a dance. If Harry recognised her correctly, she was Rose Zeller the scion of the House of Zeller.

Harry looked at Susan who just shrugged meaning it was his choice to agree to it or not.

Harry agreed, "It would be my pleasure, Astoria. But I have to tell you that my keeper for the evening is very possessive and will want me back soon".

Susan scowled but said nothing. She kept watching everyone around them while Harry went to dance with Astoria when Justin approached her, "Susan, may I have this dance?"

She agreed and went to dance with him. Justin once had a bit of a crush on her which had ended last year. She came to know of it when he had asked her as a date to the Yule Ball. She had told him that she had her eyes fixed on someone already and he should find someone else.

"Harry, have you decided?" Astoria asked him.

"Decided what?", Harry asked, a little confused because he did not know what she meant.

"You had told me that you do not yet know what you feel towards Daphne and wanted to take some time to sort through your feelings. I wanted to know if you have thought about it", she reminded him of the day when she had told him that Daphne Greengrass, one of the prettiest witches in Hogwarts harboured a major crush on him.

"Ah yes, Astoria, now I understand what you are asking. That is something that I should discuss privately with your sister. This concerns me and Daphne. If she asks me anything about it, I will talk to her about it".

Astoria huffed, "Alright, keep your secrets. I suppose that I will have to bribe Tracy to get some answers. Now, can we have this dance properly before I have to return you to your keeper for the evening?"

After they had danced for about 5 minutes, Astoria dutifully returned him to Susan, "Here is your date, Heiress Bones. Can we trade partners?"

Susan passed Justin to him and started dancing with Harry again. "What did she want?" she asked him.

"She was asking about things that really do not concern her. I told her just that", he answered her vaguely.

Susan knew immediately that he was not telling her everything. She decided not to press him right now because she was happy with things as they were. Everything would happen in its own time.

"Susan, can I borrow your date for the evening?", asked Ginny who was dancing with Colin.

"Sure Ginny", she said and passed Harry to her.

Colin went to find Luna Lovegood. Conrad Du Vant asked her for a dance. Conrad was from the Ancient House of Du Vant, a capable wizard whose family had sat in the neutral faction for ages. He was also a good dancer and danced gracefully with her while Harry danced with Ginny.

"Harry, we have had so little time together this year", Ginny was saying.

"I have a lot on my plate, I suppose", Harry replied, "Besides it seems to me that you have a lot going on too. Like running the Harry Potter Fan Club for instance.".

She blushed until her face very nearly matched the colour of her hair, then spluttered, "What? How do you know about the club? It is a well-kept secret. I know that you didn't hear about it from Hermione".

Harry chuckled, "You are right that I did not learn about it from Hermione nor any other member of the club for that matter. But I have my ways that I may go anywhere unseen and unheard if I want to. I sat in on one of your sessions and learned all about it. We can talk about that another time if you like". Then he gave a glance to where Collin and Luna were dancing, "Meanwhile, I hope that you are genuinely interested in Colin. That you are not just talking about running the Harry Potter Fan Club".

She gave him a smack on his shoulder, "Stop teasing me. I really like Colin, Harry but we have to see if we are good for each other. For now, we are just going with the flow. To answer your other question, we do not discuss the club every time we talk. We are just running it. Most of the columns are written by other people".

He returned her to Colin and went to find Susan. She was sitting with a butterbeer in her hand. He sat beside her and taking one of her hands, he kissed it lightly asking, "Has no one asked my lady for a dance?"

She took a deep breath, "I only want to dance with you but you do not seem to have time for me".

Harry took her by the hand and said, "There is nothing I would rather do than dance with you, my lady".

The couple took to the dance floor. The two of them managed three dances in a row before they were interrupted again.

"If you do not mind Susan, can I borrow Harry for a dance?", asked Daphne.

Of course Susan minded. But to say so would have been unladylike, "Of course, I won't mind, Daphne but only on the condition that you will return him to me promptly after a dance".

Daphne happily agreed and Harry started dancing with her.

"Harry, I was terrified when I read about the duel that happened in the ministry. I wanted to come find you that day but I have no idea about where you live. Father told me that your place is protected by a Fidelius Charm so I could not know. Were you scared?", she asked him.

Harry took some time before answering her, "Yes Daphne, I was a little scared alright. Only a fool would not be scared. The little fear we have helps us to stay alert and stay alive. When we are afraid, we do not make mistakes or try to be the hero. I was facing the worst dark lord in recent history so I was obviously scared but not much. I realised that he is not as scary as they make him out to be".

After a few moments when they were quiet, he asked her, "How has your vacation been so far?"

"It has been very good", she replied. "Father has planned to take us to France tomorrow for a week so I am excited about it. I hope I will be seeing you at Hogwarts in a week?"

"Yes, we will be seeing each other in school", he replied, "That is , unless Voldemort has recovered from his injuries already and decides to attack us here at this moment".

She chided him, "That's not very funny, Harry. At least do not spoil the mood now. Things have been very tense since he came out in the open. Mother wanted father to close the apothecary in Diagon Alley and work by Owl Order after she read about the raids on Diagon Alley yesterday. He had not even told her about it when he returned home on the day of the raids and she took him to task for it".

When they had danced for two songs, Susan realised that Daphne was not going to release him any time soon. She motioned for Hannah to go and get her betrothed.

Hannah grabbed Neville and approached Daphne. She said to Harry, "You have danced with everyone today except for me, Harry. Do I have horns on my head or am I walking around in an invisibility cloak?"

Harry said, "Not at all, Hannah. I thought that you would want to dance with Neville alone all night so no one else can claim him. So I had to console myself with whomever I could find".

Neville protested, "Oi mate, why are you digging a hole for me?" He then turned to Daphne, "Heiress Greengrass, may I have the pleasure of a dance with you?"

Daphne gracefully accepted and Harry accepted Hannah's hand. When they were dancing, Hannah said, "Susan told me to go and get you and I had not danced with you yet".

Hermione took hold of him after that dance and they danced for some time before Susan who was dancing with Ronald reclaimed him.

Fleur, who had been dancing with Bill Weasley and sometimes Charlie or one of the twins, borrowed him from Susan.

When they were dancing, she asked him, "Have you talked to Papa?"

He nodded in affirmative, "He told me that he would consider my request and will help if he can. Thank you for the help. I owe you one".

The dancing went on for nearly three hours. Harry danced with Susan when he could but there were a lot of lovely ladies who waited their turn and kept him busy. The band did an excellent job of testing the endurance of the dancers, then mixing in some slow music to give the couples a chance to dance closer. At two minutes to midnight, the band stopped playing.

Sirius got everyone's attention, "Since my son does not feel very comfortable addressing a gathering of people, this onerous task has fallen to me". A few chuckles greeted his statement.

He continued, "I want to thank every one of you for joining us in this festivity tonight. The Houses of Peverell, Potter, Black and Rosier are very glad to have been your hosts for this ball and are hopeful of organising more balls like this in the future. I do not have too many words to say on this occasion because I have always more been a man of wand than words. So I will conclude by asking you to join me in counting down to the New Year".

Harry welcomed the New Year with Susan in his arms and a kiss on her lips while standing on the grounds of the manor. The caterers had cast warming charms on the grounds so it was not very cold out there. Harry wanted to kiss her under the stars while saying good bye to the year gone by and welcome to the year which was coming.

After another round of dance, they were taking a walk in the grounds. Sirius found them walking around the grounds and sent them to their beds, "That will be quite enough lolly-gagging, you two. Yu won't believe how soon the morning will come and you have a portkey to catch to Ireland in the morning". Making a shooing motion with the backs of his hands, he said, "Off to bed you two. Get going".

**Diagon Alley**

For the first time since Harry had gone to the mystics, he slept without any wards around his bed. He had been bone tired last night and did not care to set up any wards.

Sirius woke him and kissed his forehead, "Wake up son. Come downstairs soon. We don't have much time before you have to go".

When Harry descended, he found Emmeline was at the table. Moony was waking others up. Terry and Mandy joined him shortly. Nymphadora brought Hermione, Susan and Hannah downstairs. Bill brought Ronald. Remus had to wake up Neville after he diffused the ward that Neville had put around his bed. Soon breakfast was underway.

Harry asked Sirius, "How many stayed behind last night?"

"Almost all the muggle born students stayed. They were sent to stay in the guest rooms where spare beds had been prepared for them. There was another attack in Diagon Alley last night. An Auror was injured and two death eaters were killed. We could not risk sending them to public places in the dead of night without any protection. We will send them on their way later today".

Ronald was looking grumpy and blurry-eyed from a lack of sleep. He muttered, "Who's idea was it to get up at this ridiculous hour of the morning anyway?"

Bill ruffled his hair, chiding him, "You can catch up on your beauty sleep once we get there, Ron. It's not as if there aren't any beds for you lot".

"Are you coming along, Bill?", asked Ronald.

"Oh yes. Mother wanted me to keep an eye on her ickle Ronnikins to make sure he stays out of trouble", he said making others laugh.

"Alright you lot, eat quickly and join me in the entrance hall. We will floo to London before you leave England", Sirius said while getting up and dragging Emmeline with him.

They reached the Floo building after an hour and Sirius was there alone. Emmeline had flooed to her house to get ready and go to the ministry afterwards. he turned to them, "We are going to floo to the Leaky Cauldron. From there, we will go to the portkey point in Diagon Alley. There we will receive the port keys".

One by one, they all went to the Leaky Cauldron. They took the exit to Diagon Alley. There was already a guard set up for them in the Leaky Cauldron. They were escorted under cover to the portkey point. The Portkey point was set up to one side in a side alley so that no one would arrive in the middle of Diagon alley and drop on someone's head or something equally awkward.

As they all reached the portkey point, another Auror was waiting for them with pieces of rope in his hand. Sirius levelled his wand at him, "What did I tell Alastor Moody when we met in his office?"

The Auror calmly replied, "You told him that your son would always beat him in a duel".

Sirius took the portkeys from him and the Auror merged into the shadows. Harry understood that he was under the protection of Aurors or mystics at all times when he was out in the open. In fact once or twice, he had spotted an Auror on his tail but did not say anything because it would have served no purpose. This way, he at least knew what his protectors looked like. He however had not been able to spot a mystic yet.

Sirius was saying, "Now you lot, behave and enjoy the vacation. The week will be gone before you even know it. Wizarding Britain is not going anywhere. It will still be here when you return with all its problems, including the recent Dark Lord infestation. The purpose of this vacation is to enjoy it as much as you can. I will be disappointed if you failed to do that".

The first to go were Remus and Nymphadora. Harry and Susan went two minutes later. Next were Neville and Hannah. In another two minutes, Terry and Mandy went. Finally, Bill and Fleur vanished.

**Ireland**

The portkey deposited them outside a Manor which looked like a little palace. The grounds around the property were vast and spread out for acres. The manor was built entirely out of cut and polished basalt blocks. It looked beautiful, impervious, regal and timeless all at the same time. There was a grand main floor with 15 foot ceilings and two more floors above that. The outer wall was built of the same polished stone blocks stacked 20 feet high with guard towers at the corners and smaller towers on either side of the main gate. The stone was so carefully cut and fitted that it was hard to see the seams between them. Each wall and every tower was topped with stone crenellations made of black and pink veined granite polished to a glossy shine. The main gate was built of a mixture of forged metals with the Black family crest worked into its bars.

Harry's jaw dropped in wonder at the workmanship. He took a few steps forward to touch the gate and see for himself if it was real. As he touched the crest, the portcullis points slid free of their slots in the ground and the gate lifted smoothly upwards. Harry could feel the wards as he passed under the gate and realized that the gate was the least of the measures for keeping unwelcome guests out. Harry noticed that the others had not followed him inside. He turned to see them standing outside the gate.

He asked, "What happened? Why are you not coming in?"

Remus replied, "Call for the head of the elves here, Cub. His name is Dory. Ask him to bring the ward book. You will need to add us to the list of the persons who are allowed access to the building".

Harry could not remember doing anything like that when he visited the Potter Manor for Susan but shelved that thought for later. He called loudly, "Dory".

An elf who was older than Kreacher answered his call. His skin was hanging on his body in folds. His eyes were sunken. He could barely stand. His body shook as he bowed, "Dory welcomes master to the Black Manor".

He said to him kindly, "Dory please fetch me the ward-book".

Dory snapped his fingers and the book appeared in his hands. He handed it to Harry.

Harry took the book and first removed all the names of people allowed access to the manor that he did not recognise. Then he added the names of those who had accompanied him here today.

After they were all in, the portcullis slammed back down.

Harry turned to Dory, "Are you the only elf here or are there more?"

"There are 4 elves in total master. Lory, Sunny and Kinny are the other elves. We all do different work". Then another tremor shook the old elf's body, "Master, I have grown old and want to retire".

Harry knelt down in the snow so that the old elf did not have to look up at him and told him, "I cannot condemn you to death by freeing you. How else can I help you?"

Susan addressed him, "Harry, you do not need to give him clothes for retirement. Just give his duties to another elf and tell him that he is retired now. That will be sufficient".

He turned to Dory, "Is there someone else you can recommend in your place?"

The elf perked up, "Sunny can handle these duties, master. I would have suggested Kinny but she is making little elves".

Harry raised his voice, "Sunny".

The elf who appeared was quite a lot younger than Dory. He spoke with a voice that was loud and firm, "You called, master?"

Harry addressed him, "Sunny, I place you in charge of the elves at this manor". He turned to Dory, "Dory, I am pleased with your dedication and your service. You are hereby retired. You may continue living in the manor as you wish".

"Master is too kind", said the old elf as he bowed. Then he vanished with a pop.

Sunny showed them to their rooms. They all wasted no time getting into bed and passing out. Every one of them had stayed up late at the ball and needed a bit more sleep to feel really fit.

**The plan**

The manor was situated in a valley, ringed by forested hills, making it a picturesque location. As Sunny told him, it was a holiday home for an Irish Family who had married their daughter in House Black. The manor was given as part of her dowry so, it belonged to House Black now.

It was a three story structure and was surrounded on two sides by a lake which was almost as wide as the lake at Adrishpuram. On the other two sides, it was flanked by Hills making it easily defensible in case there was an attack.

When they woke up in the early afternoon, Remus had all of them come to the meeting room. There were no tables but comfortable sofas for them to sit and even some mattresses on the ground with quilts to wrap themselves in. The atmospheric charms cast in the room were working perfectly but there was no harm in wrapping themselves in quilts when it is snowing outside.

Sunny had some hot chocolate for all of them. They all sat contentedly on the mattresses or the sofas as they pleased.

Remus started speaking after they all had made themselves comfortable, "So, tomorrow you are going to start enjoying your vacation. I hope you will enjoy it to your heart's content. There are a few rules which have to be followed. While we are designated as your chaperones but we are not going to keep following you everywhere because we trust that you are all mature enough not to engage in activities that will bring you shame. Rule number one is that there will be no and I really mean no books opened during our stay. Just so you do not go looking for books, Sirius has had the library emptied already and I took extra care to remove any books which might have been in your trunks". Hermione looked distressed at this announcement. Remus continued, "The second rule is that you cannot spend all day by yourself. You have to mingle with other occupants too. The third rule is that you all have to do what I ask of you. There will be no exceptions. This rule will apply to Bill and Fleur too. Is that clear?"

They all nodded to agree to his rules. They were pretty simple rules that they could abide by and yet enjoy their vacation. It was a pity that it was snowing. They would have liked to go flying on their brooms. They could have fun by other means though, and they were determined to do so.

After Moony had his say, he retired to his room. Harry called a meeting with Fleur, Bill and Nymphadora. He included Susan in it because she was inseparable from him.

He started addressing them, "What I am about to say must not reach Moony's ears. Firstly, Nymphadora, would you speak honestly to what I am about to ask?"

She scowled, "Don't call me Nymphadora. Yes, I will answer your questions unless they are too personal".

Harry grinned, "It is your name. What else am I supposed to call you? Now to the question, Padfoot told me that you fancy Moony. Is that true?"

Susan smacked him on the head, "Of course it's true. Didn't you see how she was trying to stay as close to him as she could during the ball?"

Harry turned to her and said in his sweetest tone, "I only had eyes for you, Sweetheart. So I did not notice anything or anyone else".

Fleur swatted him on the arm, "There will be time later to flirt with her, Harry. Stay focused here".

He nodded, "Right. Our goal then, is to make Moony realise that he is being a prat by keeping her at arm's length. I propose that we have Bill show interest towards Nymphadora to make him feel jealous. If that doesn't work, we will come up with something else".

Bill hesitated, "I can understand that it is a noble purpose Harry but why do I need to be the scapegoat?"

Harry chuckled, "That should be obvious, Bill. You are extraordinarily smart, not to mention that you have a way with the witches".

Bill asked, "Why don't you become the scapegoat?"

Harry shook his head, "No, I couldn't even get a date for the Yule Ball last year, that is until Parvati had mercy on me. Besides, I give lousy compliments. I am just a leetle boy, after all".

Fleur rolled her eyes, "Will you ever stop using that Leetle boy again and again? I said I had made a mistake once Harry. If you were a couple of years older, I would have asked you to the Yule Ball last year. You would have been far better than Roger Davies who was drooling all the time".

Susan mock-glared at her, "Can you please keep your hands off this one? He is already mine and I do not share".

Harry pulled her closer to him in his arms. He kissed the side of her head, saying, "You do not need to be jealous of anyone, Miss Bones. I am yours, today and forever".

Fleur spoke then, "Fine, Bill can act like he is interested in Tonks here and I will play the heart-broken girl if that is what you want. But what if this does not work?"

Harry waved her off, "It should work. Just follow the plan I have made. If this one fails, I will follow any plan that you come up with".

**The rift**

The next day, they decided to explore the manor as well as the grounds and woods outside. As they agreed, they divided into pairs. Harry went with Susan. Neville paired up with Hannah. Ron and Hermione went together. Terry was with Mandy. Harry did not know if there was anything between Terry and Mandy but he thought it was the perfect time to find out.

Each pair took a chaperone with them. Harry chose Moony to start working his part of the plan with him.

They walked off towards one of the hills. The other couples did the same. They had decided to spend two hours or so out on the grounds before they returned. They found a place, sheltered from the wind, between the trees. In a few minutes, they had cleared the area of snow, adding it to the drifts around them. It did not take them much longer to set up a fire pit in the middle of the clearing, conjure some comfy chairs, get a fire going and set up some charms so that the clearing was comfortable and warm.

They each took their seats to take in the warm glow of the fire while enjoying the sight, scent and sound of the forest in winter.

Moony had closed his eyes, lost in thought when Harry asked Susan in slightly louder tones, "Sue, do you know why Bill and Fleur were fighting this morning?"

Susan, who knew about the charade, replied, "I do not know the whole story. I suppose it was because Bill was overheard saying that he thought that Tonks is very beautiful and an Auror to boot. I don't know if it is true but Fleur claimed that he was going to break off their engagement and court Nymphadora".

Remus's countenance showed no visible change but Harry could see a subtle twitch in his jaw and guessed that the werewolf was listening to every word they were saying.

Harry continued, "If it is true, I will have to ask Arthur to cancel marriage negotiations with Monsieur Delacour. It would be awkward of us to start it and finalise things only to end them abruptly. However I do think that Tonks would complement him nicely. Wouldn't they be perfect together? An Auror and a Curse Breaker both adventurous and loving life".

Susan dreamily replied, "Oh yes, they would be perfect together. But what about Fleur? What will she do?"

Harry looked a bit surprised, "Are you kidding me? She is a really talented witch, bright and charming. She's not too hard on the eyes either. She'll be fine".

Susan shook her head, "No Harry, she is quarter Veela. Veela do not choose their mates lightly. Once they have done so, they do not change their mind".

Harry did not want to lay it on too thick. It would have made Remus suspicious if they went on too long about Tonks and Bill.

Harry took in a deep appreciative breath of air as he surveyed the scene and asked, "Sue, do you like the Manor?

I like it a lot myself. Here, in the middle of nowhere, it is quiet and peaceful. We can live as we please and there is nobody around to tell us otherwise. I would like to come back here as often as I can".

She nodded, "Yes, I like it here. Since we have come here I sort of forgot that we have a war brewing back in England and that our families are embroiled in it. I wish I did not have to go back".

Harry gave her a genuine smile, "I promise that as soon as we have taken care of Tom and his followers, we will come back here and have a nice long vacation".

Two hours later, the fire was burning low and Moony was snoring softly in his chair. Harry woke up Moony, "Remus, we need to go back. It has been two hours".

Back at the manor, there was a different scene going on. When they entered the room, Neville was scowling at Bill, "Mate, some chaperone you were. You left us there by ourselves for the better part of an hour, telling us that you would be back soon, leaving us waiting. Where did you disappear to?"

Bill looked like a deer caught in wand-light, "Neville, I was coming back. Then I found a Thestral. I started to play with it and lost track of time".

Terry spoke up, "Really? I didn't know that we are Thestrals".

Harry asked him, "What do you mean by that, Terry? You look pretty substantial to me and you do not have wings either. Why would you call yourself a Thestral?"

Mandy answered, "Harry, Bill left Neville and Hannah and came over to where we were. As soon as he came over, he spent the whole time talking to Auror Tonks here. When we asked about Neville and Hannah, he vaguely replied that they were grown up and could manage without him".

Hannah turned to Bill, "If you had left us to go to Fleur I would have understood that but why to Auror Tonks? I mean she is not your girl friend".

Harry was watching Remus as the scene played out. The werewolf looked pretty uncomfortable with all the talk.

Fleur went berserk meanwhile, "What were you doing William Arthur Weasley? Why would you go to her and not me?"

Remus calmed her down, "Fleur, if you want to fight, please do it with him somewhere alone. We do not want to hear your differences being made public". With that Remus left them.

When he was gone, Harry turned to the others, "Did we overdo it? Do you think it has affected him at all?"

Fleur replied, "He sure was uncomfortable. But I do not think he will ever speak out this way. We will have to think of something else".

Mandy said, "If you all agree I have a plan".

**Do you love her?**

The next morning, Bill and Fleur were not talking to each other. Harry and Ron told Remus that they were all going out and that they did not need chaperones for the moment. As it was, two of their chaperones were in a bad mood. They didn't need their mood to ruin things for them.

As planned, the girls stayed back except for Mandy. She went out to the woods while the boys went out exploring. Bill stayed back ostensibly to heal the rift with Fleur. Nymphadora told Remus that she had to report to the Aurors that everything was fine and she was off to do that.

As Sirius had told him, there were Aurors looking after their security and not showing themselves. Their shift changed every eight hours. 12 Aurors had been employed for this purpose with 4 Aurors in each shift. Nymphadora was to report to them once every 8 hours that she was fine. She could do that with her Patronus but she had gone to inform them personally.

About 20 minutes after Nymphadora was gone, Mandy came running back to the manor. She was out of breath, panting, her robes torn in places, her face and arms scratched from the thorns of the plants she had run through to get here.

She saw Fleur and tried to speak while she was gasping and trying to catch her breath, "Fl... Fleu... Fleur..."

Fleur caught hold of her and asked her, "What has happened? Why are your robes torn? What made you run like this?"

Hermione hollered for Remus who came running, his wand in hand and asked her desperately, "What happened, Miss Brocklehurst?"

She lunged for him and hugged him tightly, "Prof... Professor... Death... Death Eaters in the valley. They were trying to take me captive when Auror Tonks came out of nowhere and started duelling them. She told me to come and ask for help".

Remus urgently said, "Tell me where they are". Then he turned to Bill, "Where are the others? Have they returned?"

Bill shook his head and he cursed loudly and barked orders to him, "Bill and Fleur it is your duty to keep the girls safe. I will go and rescue Dora. If the boys come back in the meanwhile, tell them to stay here".

Taking the directions from Mandy, he rushed to the East where Mandy said she came across the Death eaters. There on the top of the hill, Tonks was battling with two of them while two more stood guard over their prisoners. He could not believe his eyes! The boys were already captured. Harry had a gash on his forehead. He was unconscious and chained up with the others.

Blood rushed into his eyes and he ran forward growling throatily. In the time it took him to reach them, the two duelling Tonks had subdued her and tied her with chains. One of the death eaters who had bound Tonks turned in time to send a banishing charm his way throwing him back. As Remus stood again, he started speaking, "Oh! The might of light now depends on you, Remus Lupin?"

Remus had not heard the voice before and said to him, "Whoever you are, if you do not release them at this moment then I swear by Merlin that".

The one who was talking to him taunted him, "You are not in a position to make threats, Lupin. If you do not throw your wand on the ground this moment, my friend will not hesitate to blow her head off".

The other death eater dug his wand into Tonks's head to emphasise the point. Remus threw his wand away. Tonks shouted, "Remus, no! Why did you do that? They won't spare any of us anyway".

One of the death eaters picked up Remus's wand. He turned to the one standing guard over Nymphadora, "Blow her head off first. She talks too much".

Remus fell to his knees, "No... Please don't hurt her".

The one nearest to him cooed, "Ooh, they are love-birds!"

Tonks snapped, "We are not lovebirds?"

The one covering her asked her evilly, "Oh really? Then it should not upset you when my friend offs him?"

Tonks eyes spread in terror and her voice quivered, "No, please no. I beg you".

The fourth one said, "So they are love-birds or at least she is". He turned to Remus, "Do you love her?"

Remus shook his head albeit hesitantly, "No, I do not".

The one standing closest to him and covering him at wand point turned to the one covering Nymphadora, "We are wasting time here. Start killing them and start with her. Our work here is done. We only needed Potter and we got three others. We will be handsomely rewarded".

As the man had uttered "Reduc..." Remus jumped from his place and tackled him to the ground. They were entangled but the one who had been covering him immediately petrified him and started laughing, "Such bravado but useless. It is indeed love. Now my mind is changed. I think I will torture her slowly while he watches and then I will kill him when she has succumbed to our torture".

He turned to Remus, looking into his eyes, and asked, "Any last words you want to say to her?"

Remus had never been so helpless in his life. He was wandless, petrified and there was no way that help could arrive for them. For a brief moment, he wondered what had happened to the Aurors. Perhaps the Aurors themselves were the death eaters and had brought their cohorts here. Their biggest hope, Harry and his friends were bound and lying unconscious otherwise Harry could have saved them single-handed. It did not help that their captor stunned them every two minutes. Also Remus knew that Bill and the girls maybe could get them free but he had left them in the manor and had ordered Bill to keep them there. Even if he could send a message to them, it would be too late by the time that they could arrive. Perhaps it was the end of their lives.

His captor meanwhile had tied him down with heavy chains and unpetrified him. "Say what you wish to, Remus Lupin. Mind you, it is the last thing that you will speak".

He turned to Nymphadora and started saying earnestly, "Dora, I want to tell you something today because I do not think I will get another opportunity to do so. Ever since I met you, I have been smitten by you. I was entranced by your charms and everything you did is endearing to me. I had been dead inside after that fateful Halloween night but you made me feel alive after you stumbled into my life. I wanted to tell you how I feel about you but there is no future to our story. I am a werewolf and I am afraid that I would have transferred this condition to our children if we ended up married. I kept my distance. If I could, I would have married you in this moment".

His captor stood aside and said, "What is stopping you from stepping forward and snogging her brains out then, Moony? Go ahead, you have my blessing". Remus noticed then that the chains which had been binding him had vanished.

"And our best wishes too", said Susan who had came walking up from behind him with the others and they were all watching the scene while Remus pled to Dora's life.

He looked up to see that Harry was standing in front of him. The one who was covering Nymphadora was Neville. Ron and Terry were standing guard over the captives but who the captives were, he did not know.

"What... What is th..." he could not finish his words because Nymphadora had lunged for him at that moment kissing him and the others started whistling and cat-calling them.

After about 5 minutes, when Remus managed to extricate himself from her, he turned to Harry, "What was this, cub?"

Harry gave him an ear to ear grin, "Padfoot told us that you were being a prat and not willing to accept your feelings toward her so we had to do this. I came up with the ruse that Bill was trying to pursue Nymphadora to make you jealous and take action. But that was taking too long. So, Mandy came up with this brilliant plan".

He was still astounded at the lengths they had gone to. "But I could have harmed you seriously, Harry. It was dangerous and who are these captives".

Harry said to him sombrely, "Moony, I really do not like to brag but I do not think that you could defeat me in a duel so we decided that I should fight you instead of anyone else". He then turned to the captives, "As to these, they are homunculi that we had conjured and made them look like us. We knew you would not look closely and walk right into our trap. And that is just what you did".

Remus smiled, "I owe you for this one, Cub and I intend to pay it back with interest soon".

Harry waved him off, "Promises Uncle Promises".

The rest of the day, they spent in the sitting room lounging on mattresses laid down for them. Remus had Nymphadora sitting in his embrace covered with a blanket while Susan sat with him. Neville had Hannah with her and Bill had Fleur. Terry and Mandy were sitting apart from each other. Hermione and Ron despite having been dating for the last 6 months were still maintaining a distance from each other. Harry did not even know how their love story had started. He had just seen them walking into a broom closet one night and they were yet to come out with the details of their relationship. Harry decided that it was time they both went public. He decided to do something about it before they went back to London.

Remus told them a story about the first time that Sirius asked Marlene for a date, "There was Padfoot shaking in his boots and afraid to approach Marlene to ask her out. James and Wormtail had a bet that Sirius would not be able to ask her out. Soon other students knew about the bet and they all started making their own bets either on James's side or Wormtail's. What Wormtail did not know was that James had told Sirius about the bet and had promised to split his winnings so Padfoot had to ask her out.

The real problem was getting her by herself to approach her because Sirius was extremely popular among the witches and he was conscious of his reputation. He did not want other girls to know if Marlene turned him down. That way, his reputation would remain unblemished. On the last day when he was supposed to ask her out and win the bet, he decided to ask her when she was coming from the Girl's washroom on the fourth floor. The tiny problem was that she always seemed to be with a large group of girls.

To deal with that problem, Prongs donned the Invisibility Cloak and waited outside the door of the washroom without being noticed. He threw in a couple of Dungbombs at the opportune moment. Moments later, the girls cleared out of the washroom. In the confusion, Sirius stopped Marlene. He had to ask her three times before she managed to make out what he was saying. Marlene said yes almost immediately. Later Sirius split his share of the winnings with her".

This set every one laughing trying to imagine how it would have looked. Harry managed to ask him between his laugh, "You mean to say Sirius had done an underhanded deal with her and she agreed to it?"

Remus nodded, "She was already interested but when she knew that he was going to make a pocketful of Galleons with her help, she made a deal with him. Sirius split his winnings and spent his share on their date".

Harry turned to Nymphadora, "Sirius has told me that Remus never showed any interest in any witch while he was at school or later for his own reasons, did you date someone?"

She blushed, "Harry, I don't know if that is an appropriate question to be asking right now. But yes, I dated a boy during my last year at Hogwarts".

When she did not reply for a few moments, Bill asked her curiously, "don't keep us all in suspense, Tonks. Who was it?"

She replied, "Charlie Prewett, your brother".

Ron almost shouted, "What? He sure didn't ever let on".

Hermione slapped his shoulder, "Honestly Ronald! Why would he need to tell you?"


	46. Chapter 46

**Unknown Castle**

The Dark Lord was still in a coma. The healers said that they were finished mending his body and they were on to administering the necromantic potions to him but there was no way of knowing when he would wake up. They had assumed he would wake up in a week but when he did not wake up on the 7th day, they left it to the fates. This was the first case where a patient had been brought to them in such a condition and not already dead. There was no knowing what the result would be. They hoped that the Dark Lord would wake up soon and the potions would be helpful for it. That was the most that they could do.

Meanwhile, Severus was taking stock of the Death Eater numbers, looking for chinks in the armour. He knew that the ministry had captured portkeys from the death eater casualties. But, showing his shrewdness, the Dark Lord had put their destination in a forest from where they would be able to apparate to the castle. He had foreseen that perhaps some of them might be taken captive. If the portkey with them was confiscated, it would bring Aurors to his hiding place. In fact, the ministry had tried sending a team led by Alastor Moody which had landed in the forest. It was found that all the portkeys were made with that destination as the end point. Investigations had been made in the surrounding areas but it yielded nothing for them.

Meanwhile, Severus had stopped organizing or authorizing any followers from carrying on raids of any sort. True he could have got many more of them killed if he encouraged them to go out and act foolishly. But Voldemort would have been suspicious if he found that his followers kept acting idiotically and Severus did nothing to stop them thereby getting them killed. However there was almost always a raid or an ambush somewhere in London undertaken by some over-enthusiastic death eater on their own volition. In the last 5 days, 10 Death Eaters had been killed or taken prisoner apart from those involved in the battle in the Ministry Atrium or in the battle of Diagon Alley.

Dumbledore had asked him to see if Nagini could be killed or abducted from the castle. Severus had asked the reason from Dumbledore. He told him that while Nagini lived, Voldemort could not die. She was his tether to this plane. Severus had tried to find a way to do it but to his woe, she was always around Voldemort in the Master Bedroom and there were Healers around him all the time. Maybe later, he could get a chance at killing the great snake.

Ever since Severus had come to live in this castle, he had started to think about what his life had been reduced to. He was a brilliant student. He could have made a name for himself as a Potion Master but he could not resist Voldemort's view of the perfect world where wizards would not have to hide. He had been ensnared by those dreams, even killed for him. There was no guarantee that he would have changed if it had not been for Lily's death. If the prophecy had not been made, he might have gleefully cast the killing curse at James Potter and all his friends. Severus loathed his older self but knew in his bones that he will have to answer one day for Lily and James's death. He would accept whatever fate may bring for him.

"Mr. Snape", said the healer who had just entered his chamber, "Have you brewed the potions as we required you to?"

Severus nodded, "Indeed I did. What is the condition of the Dark Lord now?"

She said indifferently, "He should be back in the world of the living within a day or two but I must accept that I was shocked with the amount of damage that was caused to his body. I mean he is the greatest Dark Lord and a mere child did that to him".

Severus frowned in anger for her benefit, "He is no ordinary child. He is a menace to us. I must agree with you a bit though. I had not expected him to be so powerful".

When the healer left, his musings changed to the teen. When Harold Peverell came to Hogwarts 4 years ago, Severus had some perverted pleasure for a moment or two seeing him looking so malnourished. But as time passed, he realized that the boy was a wonderful child who had been dealt a cruel hand by fate. Sadly, that did not stop Severus from being vindictive towards the boy. He still looked very much like his father, James, who had been his nemesis during his time at Hogwarts. By ill-treating him every way possible, he was getting back at a man who had been dead more than 14 years now. He still looked out for the welfare of the boy. Even though he had realized his mistake some time ago, he still had a part to play. That involved continuing to mistreat young Lord Peverell in every situation where word might get back to Voldemort.

There had been a lot of change this year. The brat showed what he could do with proper guidance and people to look after his interests. From the first class this year, he had been unstoppable. He did things which Severus could not even begin to imagine. With his performance in academics at Hogwarts, he had thought that Draco would face a worse fate than he did in the duel. Compared to what Harry could have done, Draco really only got a reminder of who the new Lord Black is. What his capabilities were could be known only by asking either Dumbledore or Voldemort. Dumbledore liked his secrets. That left only Voldemort i.e. is when he woke up from his coma.

He had been to the cottage outside of Hogsmeade, a few times during the summer, for the training program that was being held for the students but he had not seen Harry there. Dumbledore had told him that Harry was being hidden somewhere that Voldemort could not find him. He had not probed further. Now, he was beginning to realize that Dumbledore was forging the weapon to kill Voldemort, a weapon which was effective and deadly. Merlin forbid, if it turned towards Severus then there would be no one who could save him. He could not wait for Voldemort to wake.

**Ministry of Magic**

The War Tribunal under the new regime was going to have its first meeting today. There were a lot of prisoners who were to be brought to trial this day. Frank had decided to first deal with those who had been granted amnesty under the previous regime. Then they would move to those who were caught in the Atrium of the ministry. There were a lot of names which sounded familiar to him but the most prominent were Lucius Malfoy, Thaddeus Nott, Rawle and Gibbons.

The tribunal sat to judge the prisoners. Dumbledore had arrived to witness the proceedings, along with a few other wizards, as he had done during the previous war. There were a few more people in the witness stands who had come to see what the ministry did to them.

For security reasons, the ministry had made a few changes. There were no floos connected to any of the chambers of the Houses in the Wizengamot or to the offices of the ministry officials. Every floo was redirected to the Atrium. There, without exception, every visitor, employee and official was frisked with the probity probe. It was custom made to check for the dark mark or any concealed item such as an extra wand.

No one was allowed to carry their wand inside the chamber except the Chief Warlock, Minister of Magic, the Head of DMLE or the head Auror. The Aurors who were on security could stay just outside the doors. Since no apparition was possible within the entire ministry, there were not that many threats.

There were Aurors placed at the lift entrances and in the corridor which gave access to the lowest level where the court rooms were. Access to the Department of Mysteries was completely restricted except for the Minister of Magic, the Unspeakables and a few visitors who had to be approved in advance.

Narcissa and Draco Malfoy were present in the chamber this day in anticipation of the hearing for Lucius Malfoy. There were family members there for other prisoners who would likely get their hearings today, filling up the seats of the spectator's gallery. It was not easy to find barristers to represent accused death eaters with the current political climate. But with enough gold, a reputable lawyer, Jenna McCormick had agreed to take their cases under certain conditions.

At the designated time, the judges arrived at their places. Frank rapped his gavel, "Let the first session of the War Tribunal commence.

A moment later, he started addressing the gathered people, "The first matter listed today is that of Lucius Malfoy. Aurors, bring the accused in".

Kingsley Shacklebolt went out. He returned a moment later with two trainee Aurors bringing Lucius Malfoy between them shackled in chains. They sat him on the chair where chains shackled his wrists, ankles and chest, holding him securely in place. The Aurors went out again.

Frank turned to him, "Lucius Abraxaus Malfoy, you have been brought before this war tribunal to be tried on the charges of being a death-eater, of harbouring known offenders, aiding, abetting, of attacking the Ministry of Magic with intention to overthrow the rightfully elected government. How do you plead?"

Lucius still had some stubbornness left in him. He sneered rigidly, "Not Guilty".

Frank took a moment before he started saying again, "Since you have pled not guilty, you will be questioned under the influence of Veritaserum in the presence of your attorney". He turned to Gawain who was sitting on one side, "Chief Investigator Robards, you may proceed".

Robards forced Malfoy's mouth open. He shoved three drops down Lucius's throat. He waited for a few moments to ensure that he was properly under the influence. He asked Malfoy, "Is Draco Lucius Malfoy your nephew?"

Lucius shook his head, "No, he is my son".

McCormick stood at her place, "I object to his line of questioning. This question has no bearing on this case".

Frank turned to Robards, "Investigator Robards, in order to test if the accused is under the influence of Veritaserum, please ask relevant questions".

Gawain nodded, "I apologize. Do I have permission to proceed?"

Frank waved his hand telling him to proceed. He turned to Lucius again, "Mr. Malfoy, are you a death- eater?"

Malfoy replied in a monotone, "Yes".

"Mr. Malfoy, did you take the mark willingly at Voldemort's orders?"

Malfoy fought to avoid answering the question, but the potion had done its work, "The Dark Lord did not order me. I begged him to give me the dark mark".

Robards wrinkled his nose in disgust. He said, "What offenses did you commit under his orders?"

Lucius started telling, "I used to torture his captives for information. I was sent on scouting missions. I was sent to bribe coerce and intimidate others to further his plans. Thus far, I have not had to kill anyone".

Robards continued, "Did you ever cast any of the Unforgivable curses in his service?"

Lucius replied, "I used to torture his captives with the Cruciatus curse".

Robards asked him again, "What happened on the night when Cedric Diggory died?"

Lucius started retelling, "I was summoned by the Dark Mark just after the Dark Lord had already regained a body. He tortured Potter with the Cruciatus curse. Then they duelled. Something unexplained happened. Potter escaped and took Pettigrew with him".

Robards continued, "What happened on the night of Yule when you attacked the Ministry with Voldemort and his death eaters?"

Lucius replied, "I was summoned by the Dark Lord to gather his faithful. The plan was to prepare for a campaign at the Ministry of Magic to obtain a prophecy orb from Potter. The ministry was waiting for us. I was disabled by Sirius Black who amputated my wand hand with a cutter which also destroyed my wand. Not long after that, a bone crusher disabled my other hand while I was trying to stop the bleeding with my back-up wand".

Robards continued, "Where is Voldemort hiding now?"

"I do not know. I suppose that he is hiding in a location which is secured under a Fidelius Secret. He is the secret keeper. There are many death eaters with him in hiding".

"Is there any way we can get in the castle?"

"No, the Dark Lord has placed nasty wards at every entrance and exit of the manor which only allow one with the Dark Mark to enter. Anyone else would die a horrible death if they tried to enter the place without his leave".

Robards then turned to Frank, "I am done questioning him. I rest my case here".

Frank turned to McCormick, "Do you want to ask any questions or tender any evidence of his non-complicity in the entire affair, Miss McCormick?"

She stood at her place and said, "Yes, I do have a question or two for the accused.

Frank said, "Very well then. Ask your questions".

She proceeded to stand in front of Lucius, "Lucius, have you ever regretted entering into the service of Voldemort?"

His eyes went wide at this question. Of all the defenses she could have come up with… Did she not know what would happen to him if word of this ever got back to The Dark Lord? But he had to answer, "Yes".

She asked her next question, "Please then, tell the court about when you have regretted serving Voldemort and why".

Lucius shivered then began to weep, "He plundered our family vaults. He threatened me and my family with torture, death and worse. He tortured me to amuse himself. He spouts pure-blood propaganda while making up one excuse after another for murdering pure blood families. By the time I realized what he really is, it was too late. And now, when any of this gets back to him", he scanned around the spectators, "and it will, he will kill me... and likely my son and wife too".

She shook her head, "Thank-you Lucius. That will be all". Then she turned to the tribunal, "For mercy's sake, I ask the court for leniency. Once engaged in the service of Voldemort, these people have no choice but to continue to serve him, even if it costs them everything and everyone. I rest my case".

With the accused being interrogated under the influence of Veritaserum, there was nothing else that she could do. Lucius himself had admitted his wrongdoing. He would be punished according to that. For the number of crimes that he was accused of, life imprisonment in one of the maximum security cells in Azkaban was the punishment which could be inflicted on him. She decided to intervene if he was sentenced to something worse than that. That was the deal that she had made when she was hired by the Malfoys. She would save him from being sentenced to execution through the veil or the Dementor's kiss. That was the most she could promise to them with Veritaserum being used so abundantly on the accused.

The tribunal debated upon the degree of punishment for a few minutes. Moody was of the opinion that they should just chuck Malfoy through the veil and be done with him. Amelia wanted him to be sentenced to the Dementor's kiss. Frank said that they would not stoop to the level of the death eaters. They would award punishment according to the law.

After they were done deliberating, Frank pronounced the judgment, "Lucius Malfoy, on the basis of the evidence, that being your statement under the influence of Veritaserum you are found guilty of being a death-eater, of attacking the ministry of Magic and casting the unforgivable curse. The maximum punishment is incarceration for life in Azkaban in one of the maximum security cells. There is no other punishment which befits you than this, your disillusionment with Voldemort notwithstanding. By this judgment, you are sentenced to incarceration for life in Azkaban and a penalty of 2 Million Galleons is levied on you which shall be payable within a period of 1 week starting from today. Should you fail to pay this fine, your estates and vaults will be confiscated. Aurors take him away".

Thaddeus Nott was also sentenced to the same punishment with the same amount of penalty. The same was with Rawle and Gibbons. In one stroke, the ministry had successfully gained 8 Million Galleons for the war while stripping the death eaters of the same resources. What was even better was that if they failed to pay, the ministry could seize their estates which would be bought by others, preferably lords of the light faction.

As soon as the trial was over, Narcissa rushed home to pack her belongings. She was planning to go to Switzerland this same day. She would meet with the Gnomes. They would pay the penalty that was needed to be paid so the manor would not be sold. She had already decided that they were done with Wizarding Britain until the war was over. They would hide in a small country in Asia Minor where no one could find them. When the war was over, she would return. Draco however would have to return in a week for Hogwarts. At least he would be safe there while she sorted out living arrangements and protection for them in Europe. May be next year, she could ask Durmstrang if they would take a transfer student. Their arrangements to go into hiding had been prepared months ago. Lucius had made the arrangements in advance so that if they needed to make a getaway, they could do so at a moment's notice. The Gnomes had seen to the arrangements. She was content that he had fulfilled his obligations towards his family.

There was also something that she needed to ask of Lord Black. she decided to come back under the cover of night. Ask the boon she desperately needed. May be, if she succeeded then her son would be spared.

What she did not know was that when the death eaters came calling at Malfoy Manor to deal the Dark Lord's form of justice to Lucius's wife and child, they would find the Aurors waiting for them. Amelia and Mad-Eye would never pass up such an opportunity.

The next day, the Daily Prophet carried the news with glee.

_**"LUCIUS MALFOY CONVICTED**_

_**-by Alexis Stellar**_

_In the first session of the newly formed War Tribunal, the infamous Lord of the House of Malfoy Lucius Abraxas Malfoy was convicted of being a death eater, casting the unforgivable curses and attacking the Ministry of Magic. He was sentenced to life incarceration in Azkaban. He was also fined for two-million galleons. Failure to pay the fine within a week will result in seizure of the Malfoy estates and vaults. (See page 6 for the trial transcripts)_

_Under the influence of Veritaserum, he gave a detailed account of his crimes while acting under the orders of the wizard otherwise known as Lord Voldemort. (Continued on Page 8)"_

This however was not the crème-la-crème for the day. There was news in a box on the front page which excited people while making them anxious at the same time.

_"Coming soon: An account of the life of Voldemort- the self proclaimed Dark Lord, as narrated by the Boy-who-lived, verified by Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Penned by Martha Hughes, Professor of History of Magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, assisted by Luna Lovegood, Special Correspondent for the Quibbler."_

People were excited to know what the duo of the boy-who-lived and the victor-of-Bavaria had to say about him. Of course there was no one else who could know as much about him as Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. to top it off, the Daily Prophet had ceased publishing any story without a memory or a source to back it up so it would be authentic.

The Quibbler had just published its weekly edition this morning. it was grabbing the attention of people with the same news that the Daily Prophet was going to publish soon.

_**"VOLDEMORT's ORIGIN REVEALED**_

_**By Luna Lovegood & Martha Hughes**_

_A few days ago, I was invited to a lunch by Harold Peverell-Potter-Black-Rosier-Weber, aka Harry Potter, aka The-boy-who-lived, aka The-boy-who-stole-witches-hearts, along with Professor Martha Hughes, the newest member of the faculty at Hogwarts. She teaches History of Magic succeeding Professor Binns who finally passed on to his next great adventure._

_In the said meeting, my Byangoma told me that I would be told earth-shattering news. what was revealed is indeed a slap in the face for the purebloods who pledged their loyalty to him without knowing his origins._

_As Lord Peverell told us, his real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, a half blood descended of the House of Gaunt. He is the son of a Muggle and a squib. Yes, you read it right. The said Dark Lord is son of a Muggle and a squib. Our esteemed pure-bloods kiss the hem of his robes._

_What is more is that his mother gave birth to him after she had bewitched a muggle using a love potion. The muggle left her after she stopped using the potions. he grew up in a muggle orphanage surrounded by muggles. For all intents and purposes, he was no better than a muggle raised. Yet our esteemed purebloods bowed to him._

_If the above does not sound hypocritical to you yet then you would be disgusted to know that he killed his muggle father and grand-parents when he was a student, then framed his uncle, Morphin Gaunt for the murders._

_In a clash with Lord Peverell a few years ago, he confessed that he did not believe in blood purity but power. All he wanted was to grab power. He showed those rosy dreams to his followers who followed him like mindless sheep funding his campaign, pledging their loyalty to him. They served his interests with mindless devotion._

_For more on the interview, please see P. 20)._

_That edition of The Quibbler sold out. it was going to reprint. Barnabas Cuffe was hoping that the story that they were going to print would garner more attention, bring in more Galleons for the Prophet. Their story would contain quotes from Dumbledore. may be some evidences which would make it more desirable than the story which was published in the Quibbler. It was a pity that Martha Hughes was insisting that Luna Lovegood's name to be included as one of the writers._

**Azkaban**

Lucius Malfoy was given a cell in the upper-most floor of the dreaded prison. The cell was dreary, far too small for a man who was used to the comfort of manors.

The room was hardly 10 by 10. There was no bed for him to sleep on either. There was a straw mattress on the floor with a thin, worn-out blanket. There was only a hole in the floor to do his business. The most dreaded thing about the top floor was that the dementors visited there every day for an hour in the dead of night.

As the Aurors brought him in, one sneered at him, "Now you are in your proper place, death eater, Right with your brethren. I hope that you perish here".

The other was laughing for some reason and it irked Lucius. He snapped, "What are you laughing at, mudblood?"

The Auror gave Malfoy a hard poke in the ribs with his truncheon, and said, "Mind your manners, convict". Then slammed the cell door shut, leaving the erstwhile Lord Malfoy to meditate over his sore ribs.

As they were leaving, the first guard asked the second one, "What were you laughing at anyway?"

The other replied, "Peter Pettigrew was in the same cell when he was kissed by Dementors".

Of course Pettigrew had been portkeyed out of there by Sirius and Remus to meet his fate with the werewolves on the night of a full-moon. But Lucius did not have to know the truth. What they said would keep him fretting all night.

As Lucius was trying to fight the chill which was in the air due to the constant presence of dementors nearby, while lying on the straw bed in his cell, someone from the adjacent cell asked him in a whisper, "Is it true that the dark lord is back?"

Lucius replied, "Yes, the Dark Lord is back. I had the fortune to see him return".

In response to his answer, a cackle was heard. A cackle so nefarious and full of malicious glee that it shook Lucius's bones. He shuddered. He recognized the master of that voice. It was Bellatrix Nameless who seemed to have gone mad. "Master will soon come to release me! Time for blood traitors and mudbloods to die".

That night, Bellatrix kept cackling, shrieking that her lord would come to free her soon. That she would have her revenge on them.

**Chief Auror's Office**

Moody called Rufus Scrimgeour into his office. When Rufus entered, Moody was grumbling about something incomprehensible. Rufus did the formal salute to him as his superior, "You called, Head Auror?"

Moody pointed him to a chair, "Take a seat, Rufus".

As Rufus sat, he could see Moody was lost in contemplation, "What has got you worried, Alastor?"

Moody showed the Quibbler to him, "Did you read the story printed today?"

Rufus nodded, "Indeed I did and I found it hard to believe. If it had not come from the duo of Peverell and Dumbledore, I would not have believed it. What an irony".

Moody smirked but then schooled his features, "Xenophilius does not know that he has invited trouble in his home".

Rufus asked him, "How so?"

Moody looked at him as if he was talking nonsense, "You are a senior Auror. Use your brains. Voldemort does not want his true identity known. He will definitely go after Xenophilius and his family for publishing the article".

It dawned on him what Moody was saying, "So what should we do, Alastor? You know Lovegood does not view us with favor".

"Keep two Aurors posted in Ottery St. Catchpole all the time. They can keep a watch on the Rookery and the Weasley Home. If they notice anything out of the ordinary, we can apparate in with a strike team to round up any would-be trouble makers. Do not waste a moment to go to their aid. Is that clear?"

Rufus nodded. He said authoritatively, "Yes Sir".

With that Moody dismissed him. His next plan was to visit Barnabas Cuffe to see to the security of the Daily Prophet. If Moody thought their security needed some help, he would assign a couple of Aurors there.

**Ireland**

Unaware of the happenings in Wizarding Britain, Harry Potter and his friends were planning a hike in the woods. For a change they were going muggle or as much as they could manage to do without magic like lighting a fire with a matchstick, living in a perfectly muggle tent, sleeping in a sleeping bag without warming charms, cooking by hands etc.

For food, the elves had produced enough for them to eat for a week even if they ate at their normal rate. Most of it was already cooked except for a few things. They left Remus and Nymphadora at the manor, telling them to take a day for themselves. Harry would call Remus on the mirror if something was amiss.

They had two chaperones between the six of them. if it came to escaping, Harry could apparate. So could Neville, Bill and Fleur. If a situation came up, each of them could take a person side along and two of them could take an extra and apparate away.

As they were making their final preparations, Hermione looked through the gear then asked, "The snow is pretty deep out there. Do we have any snow-shoes or cross-country skis?"

The rest of the group looked at her like she had just grown another head. Then Terry said, "I think I know what you're talking about, Hermione, but I don't think that any of us have ever used them".

Hermione explained, "They are two different ways of travelling through deep snow without sinking into it. Muggles use them. Cross-country skiing is a popular winter sport. The skier is propelled by means of poles and either fish-scale texture on the bottom of the skis or by wax that sticks to the snow under load or slides over the snow with lesser load. Snow shoes are light-weight frames with webbed material to spread out your weight and prevent you from sinking into the snow. Of course, there are also snow-mobiles, but they are smelly, noisy and we don't have any".

Harry piped up, "The muggles I lived with never did anything like that, Hermione".

She answered Harry, "Well, of course they didn't. They lived in the south of England and the snow almost never gets deep enough for the really good winter activities".

Neville spoke next, "It sounds like we could cover ground more quickly with the cross-country skis. What do you think?"

Hermione said, "Either one is a lot easier on you than plowing through deep snow. Yes, you can travel faster on the skis, but I must warn you that it takes a lot more getting used to than snow-shoes".

Hermione must have forgotten who she was talking to. None of these people ever backed down from a challenge. It didn't take five seconds for everyone to agree that cross-country skiing was the way to go.

It took a while for her to transfigure the skis, bindings, boots and poles out of some bits of firewood. It took considerably longer for her to explain the structure of the skis, how they had to be sprung for the weight of the skier and gear that they had to go flat under the full load of the skier's weight and be curved under half-load or no load. Then she told them about the age-old pros and cons of fish-scale vs. Wax, that fish scale gripped when pushed backward and slid forward while wax gripped when it was pressed down but slid under half load.

Finally, it was settled. They decided to go with the cross-country skis with fish-scales. They set about the work of transfiguring their skis, poles, boots and bindings. The skis were the trickiest part. At first, they just copied what Hermione had done. That worked out pretty well for Fleur, Hannah and Mandy except that Hannah got the fish scales going in the wrong direction. Susan, being more petite, needed a lighter spring to her skis. The boys all needed heavier springs to their skis and Harry heaviest of all. Hermione made the rounds, inspecting everything and helping them make corrections until they all got it right. When they were done, Harry placed permanency runes on everything.

With the gear sorted, Hermione took them all outside and started teaching them the basics. They were all enthusiastic students. It didn't take her much more than an hour before they were able to make good progress on their skis without falling over. She took only a few more minutes to teach them how to go down hills while controlling their speed with the snow-plow manoeuvre. After a break for lunch, they all piled on their camping gear and headed out into the hills.

Harry led the way, making clear tracks in the snow as he went. The rest of the teens followed him in a line, staying in his tracks. Bill took up the position as the rear guard. Going this way, they made rapid progress. They found a spot someway up a hill from where they could see nothing on the floor of the valley. While Harry was reminded of the deep valleys of the Himalayas, these had nothing on them. They were endless depths but here, the manor was situated on the valley floor.

When they found a spot big enough to pitch their tents, They all removed their skis and stuck them, tails down and tips crossed, beside the poles, in the snow. Harry and Neville started to erect their tents while the others started on their own. After putting in the fifth pole, they were frustrated with the slowness of the work. Neville asked him in an undertone, "Would you complain to Moony if I hastened the pace of our work?"

Harry smirked, "Did you just read my mind? I was going to ask the same of you".

They turned to find that the others were all digging holes to erect the poles. Harry whipped out his wand and cast, "Erectus". The tent started pitching itself. Within a few seconds, they were done.

They turned to find the others looking amused. Except for Hermione, who was frowning.

Harry asked her innocently, "What's wrong, Hermione?"

She scowled, "We were not supposed to use magic for any of the chores".

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "Fine, you and the others can do it the way you want. I am here to have a look around and enjoy this place, not to labour in erecting a tent".

Hermione asked him, "How can you get away with using magic anyway? I mean won't the ministry find out about it? We will be issued warnings for this".

Harry smirked then started saying, "Hermione, do you mean to tell me that you have not read about how the trace works? What the Ministry knows is what spell has been cast in an area where there is an under-aged witch or wizard. If there are adult witches or wizards in the same area, they cannot tell who cast it without an on the scene investigation. That is why I got a warning when Dobby cast the hover charm at the muggle's home. What's more, they don't worry themselves about it because they assume that any adult witches or wizards in the same area are supervising them. Bill and Fleur are here. We won't get any warnings for using magic while they are about. Besides, since my participation in the Triwizard tournament, I have been considered to be an adult by the ministry. I do not have the trace on me anymore".

Ronald did a face-palm and said, "That's how Fred and George have been developing their products all these years".

Hermione turned to him, "What do you mean?"

Bill answered her, "Most of their products are based on magic. If they did not work on them at Hogwarts, it is clear that they did so at the Burrow. That means they must have found a way around it years ago".

Realization was dawning on Hermione. Harry could sense a rant coming. To avoid it, he hastily said, "Anyway Hermione, me and Neville have erected our tents. We are going inside. You, Ronald and the others can try erecting it the muggle way, if that's what you want to do".

Bill and Terry had already erected their tents with magic. With all the other tents already up and a look from Ron that asked, "Are you really going to be the only one that does this the hard way?", Hermione gave in and set her tent up by magic too.

**Is Harry a cook?**

They had brought some cooking gear with them, but no camp stove. Hermione had done some camping with her parents, but her mother had always done the packing. She had no idea of what to do other than an open fire. It was Bill, with his experience from camping at dig sites that came up with a solution. In a few minutes, he had dug a hole through the snow and plant cover. Next, he lined the hole with stone, small rocks which he summoned from the surrounding ground. He built the back and sides of the oven out of more small rocks and held them in place with clay, leaving one side open to allow fuel and air flow. He built a stone chimney up the back to vent the smoke just above head level. Finally, he added a cooking surface that was arched underneath and flat above. The surface was made smooth and level by adding clay to the surface. This work would have taken a skilled craftsman days to complete and the choice of materials would have almost certainly have lead to a catastrophic failure, but Bill managed to fuse the whole thing into one functional piece of ceramic.

By the time the stove was done, Harry and Ron had gathered enough firewood to keep the stove hot for several hours. Neville and Hannah gathered edible fruits and root vegetables. Neville's extensive knowledge of herbology helped him to know where to look and how to gather them. Hermione and Bill worked together to set the fire and get it lit.

Fleur, Susan and Terry worked at dicing vegetables and making other preparations for cooking.

When they returned, Harry expressed his wish to cook. When everyone expressed astonishment, he shrugged saying that Mrs. Figg had taught him to cook when he was little. That he had cooked for the muggles for years.

That was the first time since he had left Privet Drive that Harry cooked food. Once he had asked Sirius if he needed to cook in Grimmauld Place. Sirius had threatened him at wand point to not even think about it. He had told Harry that it was alright to know how to cook, but he did not need to cook for anyone unless he really wanted to.

After a sumptuous dinner, they all decided to strap on their skis and go off in pairs. For some reason, Terry was showing a lot of interest in Hermione. It irked Ron. Terry was paying attention to everything that Hermione did or said. It was clear to everyone that he was hitting on her. Surprisingly, Mandy was not bothered by it.

Susan, who had noticed what was going on, asked him, "Harry, Terry has been flirting with Hermione all day long but you haven't said anything to him. Do you not care about Hermione?"

Harry laughed, "She does not need my help, Sue. If it came to it, she can deal with him herself".

They took their course through the woods. Harry spotted a Thestral and he started petting the boney, winged, horse-like creature.

Susan quizzically asked him, "What are you doing, Harry?"

Harry replied fondly, "I am petting a Thestral, Sue".

Her eyes were spread in surprise. She asked in a small voice, "Can you see them? How?"

Harry had a moment of pain in his eyes but it was gone before she could notice. "They are called the Horse of Death because only one who has seen someone die can see a Thestral. I can see them since the third task".

Susan was opening her mouth to say something but closed as she understood what he was saying. She asked, "But where can you find them, apart from the wild, I mean?"

Harry eyed her skeptically, "Have you never wondered how the carriages of Hogwarts move?"

She answered, "They are enchanted to move by themselves, Harry".

"No Sue, they do not move by themselves. Thestrals pull them. Since most of the students have never seen anyone die, they cannot see them".

She said, "Can I feel them?"

Harry took her hand and moved it across the Thestral's body making her feel every inch of it before he brought her hand near its nostrils. Susan shuddered lightly when it breathed out.

Leaving the thestral behind, they moved further into the forest. Finding a place to sit, Harry conjured two chairs. He removed his skis and set them up in the snow the way Hermione showed them earlier.

She eyed him, "Whatever happened to going Muggle?"

Harry raised an eye-brow, "Are you going to sit on the hard ground in this weather? Because I do not see that we have brought any mats".

Susan removed her skis and set them up the same way as Harry. Then she vanished one of the chairs and pushing him into the remaining chair, she sat in his lap then cooed in his ear, "This is the perfect seat for me, Mr. Peverell.".

Harry quivered with excitement. She continued, "It is so peaceful to stay like this, having no trouble. Why do people turn to evil, Harry?"

He took a breath before answering her, "When it gets right down to it, Sue, I think it's all about fear. People who give in to evil have let fear overcome love, hope and trust. Their hearts are empty because if they loved someone, they could lose them and suffer pain. By contrast, those who choose the path of light, we know that whatever loss we may suffer, it is worth it to have loved.

The way I beat Tom in our last confrontation was that I showed him what it is to love. His soul is so dark that the touch of light disabled him, stopped him and defeated him.

He has no friends. He loves no one. He has only minions which he controls and intimidates with his power. The more power he has, the more people he can control. He thinks that if he has enough power, nobody can hurt him. The quest for power at any cost has made him insane. And it won't do him any good because no matter how powerful he becomes, there will always be someone who can exploit his weaknesses and blind spots and defeat him".

She asked him, "Harry where will we be living once Voldemort is dead and we are done with Hogwarts?"

He eyed her, "What? You don't like Bones Manor?"

She chided him, "Sure I do, but I like Potter Manor even better".

He was opening his mouth to say something before she started to kiss him.

Neville and Hannah decided to stay in their tent. They talked about their life forward. While Harry had his life sorted, Neville was not even close.

Hannah had made him lie down with his head in her lap while she ran her fingers through his hair. Neville was intently looking at her saying nothing. Since the silence was getting heavy, she asked him, "Neville I assume that being Dumbledore's apprentice, you would not take an ordinary job. Being announced as his apprentice is like saying that you are his successor. So what have you planned for the future? Will you be entering into the political arena?"

Neville took his time to form a reply, "Han, I have not really thought about it. I mean I just started having the best time of my life this year. My parents being revived, you being a part of my life are the things that I am enjoying at the moment. In the near future, we have a war to fight. We will have to stay alive at the end of this war to think about the future. If we make it through the war, I would like to teach students".

She snorted, "You? Teach? Don't take this the wrong way, but you are a fighter, not a teacher".

Neville said sceptically, "Have you forgotten that Dumbledore is called the Victor of Bavaria? He is a teacher. Of all the wizards in the world Dumbledore was the one to defeat him. When Dumbledore stepped in, the war was over quickly. Fighters like Lord Black, Lord Potter and Lord Longbottom had been fighting him, leading the British contingent, they had at times been able to injure, cause considerable damage to his forces but he was bested by a teacher".

Hannah pacified him, "Alright, calm down. I was just yanking your wand but if you feel like being a teacher then I agree with your decision".

He asked her, "What have you thought about for yourself?"

She answered instantly, "I decided about that years ago, Neville. Susan and I decided that fighting was not for us. We wanted to be healers. More recently, Susan started enjoying fighting but I cannot fight like you all do. I think I will try to become a healer. When you are teaching at Hogwarts, I will convince Poppy Pomfrey to retire and take her place at Hogwarts".

Neville snorted, "She will outlive all of us, Han. I don't think that Madam Pomfrey will ever retire. But I do like your choice of a career".

Hannah pointed out, "You haven't told me what you intend to teach".

Neville turned to her, "Do I know anything better than Herbology? I am not that good in defense, I am really pants at Transfiguration, I bungle up my potions, and charms is too complicated for my own taste. Besides there are many people better than me at charms".

Hannah smacked him lightly, "Don't put yourself down. You are second only to Harry in defense. I have heard that Professor McGonagall has not had a single chance to berate you for any of your transfigurations this year. You have not bungled a single potion since Harry put Snape in his place. Charms is not hard. You could teach any subject you choose. I can sense that this war will leave places vacant for new recruits when all is said and done".

Terry had decided to tail Hermione for the time being. She was not one to sit in a tent and laze around. Hermione strapped on her skis and dragged Ron along with her. Taking a look at the direction Harry and Sue had gone, she struck out in a different direction, blazing another trail through the woods. Terry had decided to tag along with them saying that he wanted some exercise too. Mandy had opted to go with Fleur and Bill to ask them something.

When they had skied along for a while, they came into a clearing. The forest looked beautiful with the view around them. The weather had cleared for a bit so they could see down to the floor of the valley which looked like a picture on a postcard. In awe of the beauty of the place, Hermione muttered, "This looks like it has come out of a poem".

Terry nodded, "Do you mean the one where the poet walks into the forest, comes upon a trail which leads into the denser parts of the forest then sees a picturesque scene".

Hermione turned to him, "Do they have such poems in wizarding literature?"

Terry waved her off, "Not really. Wizards do not get involved in such things under their own name but many a wizard wrote poems or stories under pseudonyms. They were published in the muggle world. I have come across such poems besides a few written by muggles".

That sparked a conversation between them of literature which made Ron feel left out. He had never indulged in literature as the other two were doing. When he had heard enough, he snapped, "I did not know that Ravenclaw read anything other than course books".

Terry smirked, "Perceptions, Ron. They are dangerous things. Yes we Ravenclaws value knowledge but we prioritize things. We stop to enjoy little joys, unlike Gryffindors who believe in the head-on approach to any conflict".

Hermione who seemed to have been irked at the interruption turned to Ron, "Out of school, we all are just children".

When they returned to the manor, Ron was miffed with Hermione. She seemed to not care about it. Terry was jovially talking to her making animated conversation. Harry noticed that a rift had formed between Ron and Hermione. That was apparently noticed by others too.

Bill asked Hermione, "Did something happen between you two to set Ron grumbling, Hermione?"

She seemed to realize for the first time that everyone was gathered around, leaning to listen to her answer. She said bluntly, "Ron has no taste for literature. His mood was soured when Terry started talking literature with me. I did not know that Wizards liked things like this".

Moony had sensed the tension. He tried to diffuse it, "Enough about that. How was everyone's day?"

Harry replied dreamily, "I had the best day ever, Moony. I think I won't mind another day like this". He turned and winked to Susan who was blushing red as a tomato.

Ron was scowling, "We went skiing through the woods up in the hills. She spent the whole time talking to Terry about poems and stories. I think that she forgot that I was even there".

Harry asked him, "Why does it matter if she talks to Terry though? I mean she is free to talk to anyone, isn't she? It's not as if she is your girl friend or anything". Harry had deliberately said it to provoke Ron into admitting their relationship.

Before Hermione could say anything or stop him, Ron had snapped at Harry, "You know it Harry. Why are you asking?"

Harry asked innocently, "Ron, I don't remember you telling me anything. In fact, Susan who is with me all the time these days does not remember anything like that. Do you, Sue?"

Susan shook her head while trying to school her features into an impassive expression, "I do not remember anything like that, Harry. In fact, as far as I recall, Hermione came alone to the ball. Ron had come stag too".

It was all too much for Ron. He burst out, "We have been dating since last summer, Harry. How many times have you seen us together? Why are you asking?"

Hermione did a facepalm. She waited a few moments to see if Harry was going to say anything before she started to speak, "He was just egging you on, Ron. He wanted us to accept our feelings for each other. We did that". She turned to Terry, "Isn't that why you have been hitting on me the last few days? You were a willing accomplice in his devious plan, weren't you?"

Terry was grinning widely, "Of course I was though I had a hard time convincing Mandy to go along with it".

Mandy zapped him with a stinger as he said this. She scowled at him, "And you have never been quite so attentive towards your girlfriend as you were to her. You will pay for this once we are back".

Terry looked hopefully at Harry who shook his head, "Sorry mate, I don't get into sparring matches with angry witches".

This elicited a chuckle from all of them.

**Unknown Castle**

The healer who was diagnosing Voldemort was knocked backwards with a blast of magic as Voldemort suddenly regained consciousness and sat up. He started bellowing, "Potter! I will kill you! I will tear you limb from limb!"

One of the healers was tending to the one who got blasted. Another Healer scurried off to find Snape.

Voldemort had the last healer by the neck and was shaking him, as he growled, "How dare you touch me? Do you not know the wrath of Voldemort?"

Severus bowed low to him, "My Lord! He was only trying to heal you".

Voldemort released his grip and let the healer crumple to the ground. He turned to Severus, "Robe me, Severus".

Severus conjured a robe which he held up while Voldemort shrugged into it. The healers had done their job well. His body was as fit and functional as ever. There weren't even any scars.

Properly attired, Voldemort then asked, "How long have I been unconscious?"

Severus answered firmly while looking him in the eye, "Lord, it has been fully nine days. After the battle at the Ministry, you appeared outside the castle by means of the portkey which you carry. You were badly injured. The healers had to regrow many of your bones because they were crushed badly. They could not be worked on without vanishing them".

Voldemort winced at the memory, "I remember now. I was fighting Potter in the atrium. He turned out to be more powerful than I expected. We walked into an ambush that the ministry forces had laid for us. Did anyone else survive? How many returned?"

Severus lowered his eyes, "None, my lord. Of the 60 who went with you, only 10 survived. They were all captured. Nine of them are in Azkaban for life. The Ministry has made it an offense to have the Dark Mark. It is punishable with life in Azkaban now".

Voldemort remembered something, "I took the orb of prophecy from the brat, Severus. Where is it?"

"I placed it with Parkinson for safe keeping, my lord", said Severus.

"Go. Send Parkinson with the prophecy to me, Severus. Make sure that no one disturbs me unless I call", he ordered.

As Severus went out, Voldemort could not help but think about the duel which he had fought. No, it was not a duel but a one-sided fight because he had not anticipated that the brat would be so powerful. He had not even duelled with him but played with him as one plays with a child. He had answered every curse or hex with one of his own. Voldemort had failed to even hit him once in a straight, fair duel. Then there were the spells that he had performed. Nobody had ever defeated him in a battle of wills like that. He had even quenched his fiendfyre. That was not an easy thing to do.

The firewhip which he had used was too powerful. Voldemort had to squander much of his energy to produce obstacles to avoid being ensnared or he was sure that Harry Potter would have beheaded him with the firewhip. Then the way he had trapped him in a ball of fire, it had even scared Voldemort. If the brat had used more power in his spell, there was no way Voldemort could have escaped it by over-powering it but that had been his undoing. To overpower the spell had consumed a lot of his reserves. Then the mage shield which he had used to block the lightning bolt had nearly finished him off. The intensity of the bolt was such that it had jolted him to his core with the impact. The high powered spells which followed had nearly broken down the mage shield. The boy had magically exhausted him while he looked like he could go on forever.

The boy had played with him. There was no bigger shame for Voldemort in the world than to have been played by a mere boy. For the next time, he would have to be at his best to stand a chance against the boy. The only spell which he got past the boy was the bone breaker which he had cast after he pulled the playing possum trick. Even that had not been able to stop him. Perhaps it was not even the extent of his powers but only a part of it. Every spell which he had faced from the brat was meant to kill. it was only after putting all his power in it that he had been able to stay alive.

The cage of water which he had formed to imprison him was such complicated magic that even he could not stop himself from being in awe of the complexity of it. If that was not bad enough, he had not anticipated that the boy would know anything about mind magics. And yet, he had trapped Voldemort in his mindscape so easily. Then injured his consciousness to the point of nearly extinguishing it all together. Voldemort despised love. The boy had burned him with that feeling. It was like somebody was burning him slowly. If he had to feel one more moment of that, Voldemort was not sure if his consciousness could take it anymore. The Horntail had been the worst. it had been the most agonizing experience that he had ever felt in his life. The boy... No, he was not a boy anymore. The other man had dealt with him so brutally that even Voldemort could not match it by himself. True that he was cruel but never so brutal. He had killed every one of his foes swiftly then moved on. It looked like the boy was making him pay for all the injuries he had ever given, for all the death he had caused, all the agony he had spread. The boy was making him live it tenfold. Perhaps that was what Dumbledore meant when he said there were worse things than dying. Suffering unimaginable torture, knowing you could not die was one of the things worse than dying. Voldemort was sure that the boy would not have let him die before he had finished torturing him even if Voldemort could die. At least with death, one could be liberated of the pain but being immortal, bearing the pain was too much.

For a moment during the fight, Voldemort had wished that he could die. The way he was being pummelled by a boy had been the most humiliating thing to happen in his life. He wanted to make sure that another thing like that would never happen again. He would have to be more careful next time they fought or the boy would make him kneel. There would be nothing more humiliating than that.

Once someone had told him that he would be a grand sorcerer power wise. Voldemort had never been more elated than at that moment. The boy's power felt like it was at another level altogether. When he was studying necromancy somewhere in Ancient Greece, his master had told him that a necromancer needed fear only a wizard who was his equal or better. A grand sorcerer's better could only be a Mage but the boy was more than that. He could have defeated a simple Mage by use of his repertoire of dark spells and dirty tricks. But the magic that this boy was using was not accessible to an ordinary wizard nor was the knowledge to use those magics so common. No, the boy had dabbled in his family magics or rather one magic i.e. the magic of Peverells or in some other magics which were just as ancient and deadly. As they say, introspection is the first step towards reclaiming what one had lost, Voldemort was ready to admit to himself that the other man was not an ordinary wizard anymore but his equal or may be his better.

The only bright star on the horizon was that he had got the prophecy. At least he had got the thing he had wanted. Now he would find a way to defeat the brat. But he would have to use every ounce of his cunning and all his resources to get at him. Even if it meant killing every death eater he had, then so be it.

Voldemort's musings were interrupted when Parkinson entered the chamber. He bowed low presenting the prophecy to him, "My lord, here is the prophecy".

Voldemort took the prophecy. He said coldly to Parkinson, "Leave me. Let no one disturb me until I call".

As Parkinson retreated, Voldemort found his wand on a bedside stand beside his table. He picked it up. With anticipation buzzing through his nerves, he tapped the prophecy. Almost instantly, he knew that he had been duped. The orb fastened itself to his hand. There was a male voice instead of the female which Severus had heard. It was a male voice full of hate and venom towards him.

A deep resonating male voice boomed out from it, "Did you really think that we would allow your scaly meat-hooks to touch the true prophesy? The unspeakables send their compliments".

From the moment that the voice began to speak, Voldemort tried in vain to hurl the orb from him. When that did not work, he tried to dispel the sticking charm. Then he ran out of time. The moment that the voice finished speaking, the orb exploded, spraying a fine mist throughout the room which quickly settled and covered everything. The acid fog had already eaten through his robes and the skin on his exposed hands and face. He screamed as the acid made itself felt, eating its way through his flesh.

Severus was the first to appear in the doorway. Yelling, "Aguamenti!", he quickly sprayed down Voldemort, diluting and neutralizing the acid. He then washed down the rest of the room to prevent further damage or a fire because things were beginning to smoke.

The healers arrived a moment later and started tending to the Dark Lord. They administered a draught of living death so that he would not try to kill them while they worked on his new burns.

Croaker had filled the orb with acid and enchanted it to stick, deliver its message then explode the moment it was tapped. He didn't think it would do the snake man in, but he was willing to give it a try. The added bonus that Croaker could not have anticipated but Severus saw was that the Phoenix feather wand was burnt and dissolved into nothing. The Dark lord's wand was destroyed!

The healer who was examining Voldemort reported to Severus, "That was a powerful acid in that orb. The dark lord has third degree acid burns to his face and hands and second degree acid burns to most of his upper body. It will take a day or two for us to re-grow the damaged skin".

Severus curtly nodded, "Do as you see fit, Healer but remember that this should be done with a minimum of inconvenience to him".

The healer reported further, "He will have to be moved to the infirmary. Most of the furniture in this room has been damaged or destroyed. The room will have to be emptied, repaired and the furniture replaced before this room will be habitable again".

Inwardly, Severus wanted to dance the Conga seeing the condition Voldemort was in. He shuddered for a moment thinking what would have happened if he had given in to his temptation and opened the orb himself. He wanted to find the one who had pranked the Dark Lord, kiss his hand for the feat. He had hated Voldemort but he absolutely loathed that wand. Now that it was gone, Severus was gleeful. The Dark Lord was without his best weapon.

Severus nodded, "Very well, you shall have to tend to his injuries in the infirmary".

**Ireland**

With everyone's relationship questions settled, there was no more need for ploys and conspiracies. The week went by in a whirlwind of winter camping, cross-country skiing and romance. Just for variety's sake, they tried the snow-shoeing too, but it just didn't have the same appeal. Only one day remained before classes resumed at Hogwarts and it was time to pack up and head back to Wizarding Britain. They had every kind of fun that they could dream about within the rules set by Moony.

Speaking of Moony, he spent most of his time lost in Nymphadora. Harry figured that he would soon have to ask for Andromeda to marry off the two of them. Harry had a curious fascination with Moony having a kid. He would spoil him rotten but that was in the future. Nobody knew what the future would bring. All they could do was hope.

The thing that Harry did most nights was star gazing. It had started without planning to. He was in the kitchen getting some hot chocolate for himself when Susan came down from her room.

As he had prepared a cup for himself, she snatched it from his hands. When he protested, she cooed, "Be a dear, Harry. Make one for me too. I love when you make it".

Left with no other option, not that he did not want to, he made another cup for her. He found that Susan had put the first cup under a stasis charm so it was still hot.

They took their cups into the meeting room where they crashed on one of the mattresses. As always, she sat in his lap with the quilt covering both of them. He asked her, "Why are you still up? Could you not sleep because you were dreaming of me?"

She rolled her eyes, "In your dreams. Actually yes, I was thinking of you. I wanted something sweet."

Harry pulled her closer, "As it happens Miss Bones, I was craving some dessert. May I have some now?"

She melted into his arms. They broke it off after about 5 minutes when Harry disentangled himself from her embrace, "Sue if we stay down here much longer, Moony will come and put us in detention".

She snorted, "I suppose you are right. He has been looking for an opportunity to get even with you. What do you have in mind?"

He smirked, "Come with me". Pulling her by her hand, he picked up some blankets on their way to the roof. Once under the open sky, Harry spread the blankets. They sat arm in arm with each other, looking at the stars and talking.

When it got cold, their joints began to stiffen. Harry dug into his pockets and pulled out some leaves which he passed to Susan while chewing a few himself. They had applied the Impervious charm to keep their seats dry while they sat there. The snow had let up and the clouds had blown away. The ice crystals that remained high in the air created a rainbow halo around the moon.

After getting comfortable, Susan asked him, "Was there a reason to bring me up here?"

He smiled, "Indeed there was. I like the stars, the openness of the sky. It makes me feel free as opposed to being in a room. Perhaps having spent most of my childhood in a tiny cupboard had this effect on me but I like the open sky. I can see the stars and make up stories about them".

She asked curiously, "Stories?"

He replied, "Yes. You see I had no friends when I was little so I liked to think that I knew the stars. They were my friends. I would often name one and make up a story about him. My favorite star is Sirius".

She snorted, "Just because he has the same name as your father?"

He shook his head, "No but because he is also known as the Dog-star".

They kept talking until deep into the night. Eventually they both fell asleep. They woke up from their slumber when they heard Nymphadora saying, "Oh you two are in so much trouble".

Trouble as it turned out was that Moony had them grounded for the day. He kept them separated.

Moony told him, "Go to your room. Do not come out until evening".

Susan went on a hike in the woods with the girls. Harry spent the entire day pleading with Moony to let him go out with Susan but Moony was adamant. He had no problem with them spending the night on the roof. What he was angry about was that they did not tell him where they could be found, that made everyone worry.

It was not as if they were the only ones who were found out of bounds. Once Moony found Mandy and Terry snogging as if there was no tomorrow, to his consternation, just outside the door to his room. He had to tell them to find somewhere private where they would not be putting on a display for everyone else. No one had a problem with it but decorum dictated that they should at least try to be discrete.

Bill and Fleur were supposed to be their chaperones but after the first day, they were never seen performing their so-called duties. Since Nymphadora took most of his time, Remus could only pay attention to the students. He did not care about the other set of chaperones. Bill and Fleur abided by his rules but spent most of their time together away from others.

Once the students decided that they needed to find where the two of them actually went. So they followed the couple, of course. It turns out that Bill had enchanted a clearing into the perfect garden with fragrant roses blooming, the wind sweeping through Fleur's hair and the weak sunlight of winter making her skin sparkle. Bill produced a little radio from his pocket. He started playing wizarding songs on it while they both danced slow graceful dances. They looked so beautiful together that their radiance could blind the world. Others kept eavesdropping on them for sometime before deciding that it was time they too enjoyed the music. Without a word being said, every one led their pairs into the clearing. An impromptu dance party started. Bill was surprised when he saw the others but did not say a word. Later Bill would tell them that they were practicing dancing for their wedding. It turns out Monsieur Delacour had accepted the hospitality of the House of Weasley and the offer of the union of William Arthur Weasley with Fleur Isabella Delacour.

Hermione had been skeptical when others were expressing their joy about the news. Harry sighed knowing he had a long talk coming with the ladies in the House of Weasley pretty soon, if Bill and Fleur's marriage was to be successful.

Speaking of Hermione, ever since they had decided to come out into the open Ronald had started to show affection openly towards her. a peck on the cheek or a chaste kiss was becoming a common happening for them.

The peak of adventure had come the day when Harry and Susan had to face mortal peril. It so happened that Harry and Susan had snuck away from the others without letting Moony know. Moony usually set some time for them to report back. He wanted them to let him know where they would be but they wanted to take some alone time for themselves. This time they climbed to the peak of the hill, finding the perfect spot, they sat talking. The woods were sparse there. There were little to no wild animals roaming about. They found it slightly eerie but paid no heed to it.

They had brought blankets. Harry was lying on it, keeping his head in Susan's lap, talking to her. They had become so intimate with each other that they could talk through their eyes without ever saying a word. These holidays had done them a lot of good.

They were talking, planning a vacation where there would be no one else except the two of them. Suddenly Harry's senses started giving him distress signals. He sat up with his wand in hand ready to begin fighting if it came to it. It turned out that it was a pack of the most dangerous animals in the magical world, Nundus. Harry almost yelped at their sight. His mind was in over-drive riffling through information on Nundus that he was certain Pashupati had given him.


	47. Chapter 47

**Ireland**

Harry was going through all the information which he had about the Nundu. none of it had anything about how to actually beat one. He could not recall if there was someone who had killed a Nundu. The mystics had told him that they had come across the beasts at times and the only way was to retreat from them because they were magically impervious to almost every spell. Harry had no hate in himself to be able to cast the killing curse successfully so he could not kill them that way. His only option was that of side along apparition with Susan even if he had to bypass the war wards around the manor and apparate inside directly. Being able to apparate directly inside when it was not supposed to be possible would lead to questions being asked but he decided that he would rather face the questions than risk getting killed by these beasts. At the opportune moment, he would apparate away with her.

He had stood protectively in front of Susan hiding her behind him but Susan, obstinate witch that she was, had her wand out in a trice and was standing side by side with him.

He whispered to her, "Stay behind me, Sue".

She refused, "I will not hide. We have promised each other to face threats side by side. I will not stay behind at this moment. Now what is the plan? How do we kill them?"

Harry was keeping an eye on the beasts, which had started to form a circle around them. The beasts were keeping an eye on the two of them. Harry knew there was only one way out and it was not going to be fighting. These beasts were powerful, too fast. He maybe could get one or two at most but there were 5 of them here. Even if he had his armour on and his silver sword with him, there was no way he could think of to keep Susan from harm if they all attacked at once. He had already made a decision but by the time he acted on it, several things happened at once. He had taken hold of Susan by her waist then lifted her in his arms. Startled by the sudden movement, one of the beasts charged towards him. In that moment, Harry lost concentration. Knowing that apparating in that condition could lead to splinching, he changed his plan on the fly and took to the air instead.

By the time the first beast got to them, Harry and Susan were already 10 feet into the air. However, Harry kept ascending. He remembered that Pashupati told him that an ordinary Nundu could jump up to 15 feet in the air while the powerful ones could do 20. They kept rising until they were 30 feet up before Harry stopped to take a moment to decide what to do next. He could apparate from here, bombard the beasts until they were all dead or scattered or fly back to the manor.

Susan in the meanwhile had closed her eyes, clutching him tightly. She was shouting herself hoarse, perhaps scared of the claws of the beast. Harry could not blame her for losing it. He also had been freaked out when the beast lunged for them. Instead of disapparating, he had taken to the skies.

Before he could decide what to do next, he could hear spell fire below him and the beasts snarling in response. He started descending cautiously to find what the commotion was about. At a height of about 15 feet, he could see that 5 wizards were fighting the beasts. He instantly recognised them from their gear. Their gigantic height, resembling small mountains in appearance, leather masks and unusual looking wands were a giveaway for him. The mystics had come to his aid! These were some of the best of their lot. Harry had seen a handful of them in the Battle in Burma.

He thought to descend and join in the fun. A mystic flying on a Thestral met him before he could land. He shouted to him over the din, "Do not land. Get out of here, Harry. Take her to safety. We cannot keep them at bay forever".

He could see that the mystics were trying to trap the beasts rather than kill them. Perhaps they did not want to kill them or maybe they really could not kill them. He knew that a well placed 'taditam' could grievously wound the beasts however the mystics were not using any lethal spells at all.

He had not realised that Susan had opened her eyes. She was watching everything unfold. Harry had understood the message that had been given to him. He recognised the mystic who had talked to him. It was Pashupati, the herdskeeper of Adrishpuram who had come to his rescue. Harry wanted to stop and talk to the man but as the mystic said, they could not keep the Nundus at bay forever.

Susan had realised that they were not walking or standing on the ground but flying! She shrieked, "You can fly? How?"

Harry shouted to her, "Keep your questions for later, Sue. Right now, we have to get out of here as fast as possible".

He started flying rapidly towards the manor. He murmured an incantation so that the wards allowed them to pass through the air to land on the roof of the manor. As soon as they landed on the snow covered roof, she started hitting him with her fists, "You idiot Harold Peverell. You could fly yet you never told me! Not a word of warning and suddenly we were hovering high above the ground without any support".

Harry caught hold of her hands. Enveloping her in a hug, he said to her seriously, "Sue, we are fine now. Calm down and I would appreciate it if you kept it to yourself that I can fly".

She asked curiously, "Why? That is an achievement that you should be proud of".

Harry shook his head, "Sue, if word were to get out that I can fly, it would find its way to Voldemort in no time. I do not want that to happen at any cost. You will just tell them that we had apparated inside the manor from the clearing and you will say nothing about the wizards we have seen".

She asked curiously, "Are they your friends?"

He nodded, "Yes, they are my friends. They always come through whenever I need them".

When they came down from the roof, everyone was in the meeting room talking about something. Everyone went silent as they walked in.

Remus noticed they looked dishevelled, out of breath. He asked Harry, "Cub, where were you? What is wrong?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "We took a walk through the woods near the peak of the hill where we came into contact with a pack of Nundus".

Almost everyone gasped. Remus took several moments to find his voice to ask him, "How did you escape them then?"

Susan answered, "We apparated to the roof of the manor".

Mandy, who had been interested in the manor and its ward schemes, had studied them a little, asked her, "Susan, the manor has anti-apparition wards around it and some very hostile war-wards. How could you apparate directly to the roof of the manor?"

Harry answered her, "I am the Lord of the manor here. There are some secrets that I do not share with others. What I will say is that even for me it took a great deal of effort".

Remus eyed him suspiciously, "Are you telling the truth?"

Harry looked him in the eye, "Yes Moony, we apparated to the roof of the manor".

Remus sighed, "I believe what you are saying, Harry".

The Nundu incident had been a day ago. Since then, Remus had stopped all of them from going out without telling him. If they did go out, they had to take a chaperone with them. That took some of the fun out of the vacation but after a death defying adventure with Nundus, Harry was sure that his wish-list was pretty much fulfilled for the moment.

**London**

The last two days had been absolute chaos for the wizarding world since the Daily Prophet had published the story of Tom Riddle. To think that the most feared Dark Lord in recent history was a half-blood was as ironic as it could get. The purebloods who had rallied under his banner could not find a place to hide their shame with the truth coming out into the open. As it was clear, a Tom Marvolo Riddle existed. He had been the Head Boy during the 1944-45 school year. It was plausible that he could have been the boy who became Voldemort. That taken together with other details that the Daily Prophet had unearthed, it was clear that he was indeed the one who came to be known as Lord Voldemort in a later part of his life. The article had told of Dumbledore's first meeting with Tom, how the boy had shown a tendency toward cruelty even then. Then Dumbledore told them about how Voldemort had murdered his own father and grandparents because he hated muggles. There had been a few more stories about his time at school. How he had worked towards building his following by bragging to be the heir of Slytherin while concealing any information about being the son of a muggle and a squib.

The Black Townhouse was getting a sack full of letters everyday which were being vetted by the elves. Any letter which contained a curse or a portkey was handed off to the Aurors. The howlers were chucked straight into the fire that was kept burning for just that use. Other letters were kept to be answered later. Many of the letters however were from ordinary wizards and witches who expressed their solidarity with the boy-who-lived. Many promised to stand beside him when it was time to fight.

Meanwhile, Sirius had started living in the cottage on the hill for safety reasons, just in case someone remembered that the Black Townhouse used to be somewhere around Grimmauld Place and the death-eaters decided to keep a guard. The anomaly in the house numbers would of course be noticed, making people think. Muggles would consider it a mistake of the local authority while the death eaters would know something was amiss. Since everyone knew that Harold Peverell lived in a Manor which was under the Fidelius Charm, they would know that they were on the right track. No one was allowed to go out through the front gate of the Townhouse anymore. They could only floo in or floo out. As it was, the townhouse was only used for meetings of the Order for the time-being. Sirius had shifted Harry's trunk and other belongings to Potter Manor. He was planning to ask Hermione to live with the Weasleys until they were to leave for Hogwarts at the end of their winter vacation.

**Unknown Castle**

Voldemort was sitting in his chair, seething. The healers had done their job well. There was no trace of the acid burns but that was not the reason of his rage. He was reading the news papers spread out before him. Every piece of news was a blow to him. Losing 50 followers was a loss he could bear but the papers had dared to call him by his name. Then there was the news about Diagon Alley. It was almost pathetic as to how quickly his death eaters had been mowed down. The news about the war tribunal sending 9 of his followers to Azkaban promptly and sending one through the veil was worrying. It would kill the morale of his forces. Then there was the article in the Quibbler which was salt to his wounds. The article in the Daily Prophet made his blood boil.

There however was very little information as to the whereabouts of his nemesis, Harold Peverell. The other man had beaten Voldemort so easily which was something nobody had ever done. (Of course Harsh had defeated him but that had been obliviated from his memory). The brat had learned some really ancient magics. It worried him. What he was puzzled about was where the boy had learned it. Obviously Dumbledore would not have taught him those spells. Dumbledore himself was not one to kill someone unless he had no other choice. As he liked to say, there were worse things than dying. Severus too had missed something vital. Severus had told him that the old fool had been keeping the brat hidden somewhere but had not been able to find out anything more. Perhaps, Severus was not as close to Dumbledore now as he thought himself to be.

His musings then turned to the prophecy orb which he had retrieved from Peverell. The other man had played Voldemort like a harp. He fell for it. The thrice damned Prophecy was either removed a long time ago or had not ever been there. The unspeakables had even fooled his followers. He understood now that the ministry had laid an elaborate trap to lure him out. He could see that Dumbledore's mind was behind it. He had the penchant to understand how others worked. He perhaps had changed the prophecy with the fake one which Peverell had let him take. When Voldemort had got the prophecy, he had questioned himself for a brief moment as to why Peverell would let it be taken so easily after he had brought him to the verge of death but in his greed, in his desperation to escape, he had banished the thought. Now he understood that he had been led around by the nose (regardless of the fact that he had no nose).

The only good thing was that he got a sneak peek into the ministry's capabilities and Harold Peverell's powers. He would have to make preparations for his campaigns while keeping those capabilities in mind. He was also amused that the ministry was fighting back. They hoped that the ministry would be able to fight him effectively in the future also now that he had seen what they could do. Now was the time to do things rather than to think.

He raised his voice and called, "Severus".

Severus Snape entered the chamber then bowed low to him, "My Lord?"

He started speaking in his low menacing tone, "Severus, what have you done about The Daily Prophet and The Quibbler for publishing such outrageous articles about me?"

Severus drawled, "I had sent five Death Eaters to the residence of Xenophillius Lovegood to intimidate him into retracting the outrageous articles published about you but his residence was empty. While they were scouting around the property, they were ambushed by a team of Aurors. Two death eaters were killed. The Daily Prophet has a security team of about 10 wizards who are always present in the building. An Auror has been permanently posted in the building in case they need reinforcements".

Voldemort growled, "How many have we lost since Yule?"

Sirius answered, "About 70, my lord. I have had forbidden them from any raids without your leave but they did not pay heed to my words of caution".

He gave such a ferocious howl of anger that it shivered Severus's bones. Voldemort tried to raise his wand to blast the wall of the room to vent his frustration when he realised that his wand was nowhere in his chamber. He asked, "Severus, Where is my wand?"

Severus hung his head to avoid eye contact while he delivered this devastating blow. He said in an indifferent tone, "My lord, when the orb exploded, spraying acid everywhere, your wand was the closest thing to it. There was no way to save it. It dissolved in the acid".

Voldemort let loose such a guttural cry that it rattled Severus's bones. After he had been able to control his fury, he turned to Severus, "I want Ollivander here, Severus no matter what you have to do. Now what have you done towards punishing Lucius Malfoy for his statement during the trial as was published in the paper?"

Severus bowed low, "My Lord, Lucius is incarcerated in Azkaban. He is beyond my reach. I dispatched 10 of your followers to kill his wife and son. They have reportedly left Wizarding Britain. They can be found nowhere. The Death Eaters were met by a team of 20 Aurors led by Sirius Black. They killed every one of your followers. Knowing there is no use in sending more of your followers to die without serving any cause I have since then forbade them from launching any more attacks without your direct orders".

What Voldemort did not know was that Severus had sent a letter to the Headmaster telling him that death eaters were going to raid Malfoy Manor. Since Amelia and Moody were already getting ready to lay a trap for them, they had authorised a strike force under the leadership of Sirius Black to meet with them when they attacked Malfoy Manor. Since the Manor was protected by some nasty wards, the Aurors who could not enter inside had laid traps around the ward line of the property knowing that Narcissa must have erected the war wards. While they were laying traps for the death-eaters, the Floo Regulation Authority had turned off the floo connection to the manor so no one could floo in or out. They had certain knowledge that Narcissa and Draco were not in the manor anymore. When the death eaters came, they were cut down like the scythe going through the crops.

**Diagon Alley**

Kingsley Shacklebolt could not understand why he was assigned to undercover duty in Diagon Alley of all places but since it was his duty to follow orders, he was doing just that. He along with five other Aurors had been placed on undercover duty in the Alley. They were told to keep an eye especially on Ollivanders. They were not part of the regular patrol but they were to stay under glamour charms and mingle with other residents while keeping an eye on the citizens. Currently, Kingsley was dressed as an American in a three piece suit, a hat on his head and he was as white as anyone else on the street. No one could recognise him as one of the most effective Aurors of the ministry in his current disguise.

What Kingsley did not have but Alastor Moody did was information which had came from the Order of the Phoenix. One of the order spies had reported that Voldemort's wand was damaged beyond repair due to some incident which had taken place at his hide-out. It was a strong possibility that Voldemort would try to abduct Ollivander and force him to make a new wand. He could not just walk into Ollivander's and buy a new wand like anyone else would have.

There were no details as to how or when they would attack. Therefore, Moody had told Kingsley that he and a select group of five Aurors will be staying in the alley at all times.

Another measure that the ministry had taken was that anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards had been laid down all over the alley. They were active all the time so even if the Aurors could not act swiftly; the death eaters would not be able to take him away almost instantly. One could apparate or take a portkey only at the designated points in the Alley. Unknown to even Kingsley, a team of Aurors kept an eye on the designated points.

Currently he was sitting in a cafe across from Ollivander's keeping an eye on the wand-makers shop. There were a few more Aurors undercover. They were in the different shops scattered around Ollivander's. Security for Diagon Alley in general had been beefed up. There was a regular force of about 10 Aurors placed in the Alley in addition to the Undercover Aurors.

Kingsley's musings were broken when he heard a commotion further down the Alley but he did not move from his place. There were enough Aurors to deal with whatever was happening. When he heard spell fire being traded, he stood up from his place to go see what it was about. About 10 Death Eaters were in the Alley. They were fighting the Aurors. These Death Eaters looked like they were not here to do a raid but to keep the Aurors engaged. They were shielding more than they attacked, taking every spell from the Aurors on their shields. He knew that the Death Eaters understood that trying to raid the Alley was useless now with the Aurors being so prompt in response so there was obviously something else going on here. No one was fool enough to die for something which could not happen. He decided to stay back to watch the end game of this idiocy when something else caught his attention. Two people who were former employees of the Ministry of Magic and were on the list of those being searched to be questioned had just walked towards Ollivanders. In a moment, he understood what their plan was.

They were playing the game of distraction. The supposed raid was a ruse to keep the Aurors engaged. These two were sent to take the wand-maker prisoner. He started walking towards Ollivanders with his wand raised, then noticed that Hestia Jones had also seen through the ploy. She was rushing to Ollivanders too. With a quick finite, as his features turned to normal, he ordered her, "Go to the Aurors. Tell them to use spell chains starting with shield breakers. I will handle these two".

He could see through the window that the death eaters had stunned Ollivander. They were tying him up to bring him out. With a well aimed stunner, one of them was downed. He could have used a dangerous spell but there was an off-chance that he could have hit Ollivander by mistake. After the first death eater was downed, Kingsley took cover behind a stone which was big enough to hide his girth when he crouched behind it. The other death eater as he had thought had come out of the shop to find the one who had attacked his companion rather than trying to enervate him. What a fool!

As soon as the other death eater stepped out, Kingsley sent a bone breaker at him which hit him in the ribs. He could hear the distinct sound of his bones breaking. A stunner followed the bone- breaker. The death-eater was down.

Fighting had stopped at the other end too. About 5 Death Eaters had managed to escape the Aurors by walking into the Leaky Cauldron, into muggle London from where they apparated away. The rest were either dead or stunned and grievously wounded. Kingsley was glad that they had got two of them alive. Perhaps they would be able to give them some news. If not then Moody could torture them as he wished.

"Are you alright? Hurt in any way?", Hestia asked him who was coming up from the other end of the Alley.

"They did not even get a chance to fire off a single spell", he replied, "I took them by surprise. Now come. Help me pack them up to be delivered to the ministry".

First, he bound the death eater who had a few bones broken. Then they went inside to find that a shelf had been upended, wands scattered here and there. Ollivander had a gash on his forehead but otherwise he looked unharmed. The other death eater had hit his head on the wall when he was thrown away due to the force of the stunner which had knocked him out. Kingsley picked up Ollivander in his arms and carried him outside where there was medical staff tending to the Aurors or wizards who had been injured.

"Hestia, after the healers have tended to this one, take them to the ministry", he directed her while a healer was mending the gash on Ollivander's forehead. A few drops of Dittany, a spell and the old wizard was as good as new. Kingsley enervated him. He asked, "Are you alright, Mr. Ollivander?"

The old wizard actually smiled, "All thanks to you, Kingsley Shacklebolt or I would have been standing before Tom Riddle now. Thank you for saving me".

He waved him off, "Think nothing of it, Mr. Ollivander. I was just doing my duty. Did they by any chance tell you why they were here?"

Ollivander shook his head, "No. I have no idea why there were here or why they wanted to abduct me when all the treasure is in the shop. Now if you will excuse me, I have to put my shop back in order".

With that Ollivander walked into his shop. Kingsley went to go to report to the Ministry leaving Hestia in charge of the situation.

**Ireland**

A letter arrived for Remus Lupin on the morning when they were supposed to return to London. The letter was from Sirius. It contained pieces of rope which would act as their port-keys for returning to London. None of them were in the mood to return, leaving the manor where they did not feel even a tremor of the war brewing back home but their life was in London for now.

In the meanwhile, Remus had it investigated if there had been any Nundus in the hills as Harry had told him. He trusted Harry with his life but he had to see to everyone's safety and make quick decisions if things turned for the worse. The news had been confirmed by the Aurors who were keeping guard on them. The Aurors said that they had heard spell fire and the howling of the beasts but when they were close enough to investigate properly, the beasts were running away as if someone had chased them away. They had not noticed any other wizard or witch in the vicinity however. That had made Remus wonder as to who exactly had fended off the beasts.

This morning, Harry was already at the dinner table eating breakfast with Susan sitting on his lap and table laden with breakfast when Remus came down. No one else was there. He was curious, "Cub, what made you get up so early?"

He replied, "We were up sometime about 3:00 a.m. Since we could not get back to sleep, we decided to spend the time talking".

"Talking about what?", Moony asked.

"Talking about approaching Aunt Andromeda regarding your upcoming marriage to Nymphadora, of course. I want a grand wedding with everyone being invited to it. May I assume that you do not want to delay it inordinately?", Harry asked, a smirk playing on his lips seeing Moony gaping like a fish.

Remus tried to control his emotions, "But why? I mean why do you need to go to such lengths? I want just a simple ceremony".

Susan chided him, "Really Moony? You are the Steward of Lord Peverell. She is a Black. A simple wedding? You should not waste all the chances of making connections that we could have. Think about how we can meet others, maybe solicit help for the war? We can invite people from other countries under the pretext of being guests for the wedding, recruit them to our cause. Not to mention, this will give me another chance to dress up prettily".

Harry concurred with her, "Indeed. Think about it, Moony. If you want, I will convince Sirius to marry at the same time as you".

Moony challenged him, "If you make Sirius agree to your suggestion, I will agree to be subjected to your whims".

Harry smirked, "Agreed. Now where are the slackers? Will they travel on empty stomachs?"

"Just because you do not take the pains of rotating your head on your neck to notice us does not mean that we are slackers", said Neville who had just come down with the others.

After about an hour, they were taking the portkey to London.

**Hogsmeade**

The portkey deposited all of them outside the Cottage on the Hill in Hogsmeade. Harry looked around in confusion before turning to Moony, "What are we doing in Hogsmeade?"

At that moment, Sirius apparated beside him, "You are going to be living here for the foreseeable future, pup".

Harry hugged the man quite warmly then let him go after a minute, "Padfoot, why are we going to live here? What happened to Black Townhouse? Or are you going to remodel it before your marriage?"

Sirius snorted, "Marriage? Whatever gave you the idea that I am going to marry soon?"

Before they could continue the conversation, Dumbledore had appeared among them wearing his eccentric robes. He joined in the conversation, "We can make small talk later. For the moment, Mr. Boot and Miss Brocklehurst need to get going".

Bill and Fleur escorted Terry and Mandy to the Three Broomsticks. From there Terry and Mandy flooed to their houses and Bill and Fleur went to the Burrow. Since there was going to be an Order meeting, the children took to other rooms in the cottage.

In the meeting room, Harry noticed that the table was the same as the one in the Townhouse. He could not contain his curiosity anymore. He asked Dumbledore eagerly, "Professor, what has happened?"

Dumbledore started speaking, "Riddle woke up about 9 days after he was injured at the Ministry. He opened the fake prophecy orb which you had let him take. It turns out that it was filled with a powerful acid. When it exploded, it burned his Hands, arms, face and chest. His wand was also destroyed. His healers promptly shoved a sleeping draught down his throat again. Since then, he has been without a weapon. The articles about him have been published. They garnered much attention. His followers have been discussing the articles out of his hearing. I have been inundated with requests for interviews on the subject. I suppose such requests were also sent to you but the mail ward on you stopped them from getting through.

Your father left the Townhouse because the general location of the Townhouse is known to many witches and wizards. They might notice the missing house and make the connection. Therefore it was thought prudent to empty the house of everything for the moment except for a table and some chairs to conduct the meetings of the Order.

The Order has been passing information to the Ministry. Many raids have been foiled due to the said information. Since the battle of the Atrium, he has lost 70 followers. As many as 20 more have been sent to Azkaban for life including Lucius Malfoy. His wife and son have not been seen in Wizarding Britain since. As per my information, they are hiding in a small country in Asia Minor. Now, did you have any death defying adventures during your vacation?"

Harry smirked, "Oh yes, Professor. Sue and I ran into a pack of Nundus but I was able to apparate both of us out of there before either of us was hurt".

Sirius was shocked and asked a bit hotly, "Where were your chaperones?"

Harry answered him earnestly, "It was my fault, Padfoot. I had given our chaperones the slip because I wanted to have some alone time with Sue".

Dumbledore diffused tension before it could mount up, "All is well that ends well. For now, it is sufficient that none of you were hurt".

With that Dumbledore took his leave while Harry turned to Sirius, "I know I should not have been so careless but I had become over-confident. I promise it will never happen again".

Sirius glared at him, "See to it that you do not break this promise, Pup. I cannot even think of losing you. Now did you manage to make things happen between Moony and Nymphadora?"

Harry smirked, "Call a meeting of the family, Father. You will know there".

**A family meeting**

Harry had insisted that the family meeting take place in the Townhouse. For the time being, it was the current seat of residence. As such, it was also the seat of power.

By evening, all the Blacks were there. While Moony was not strictly a Black, he could be present because he was steward to the Lord of the House.

When they all had made their presence known, Harry stood to address them, "I do not know the formalities for an occasion like this. I will come straight to the point. During the vacation from which I recently returned, I discovered the meaning of life, love and other small joys which we often ignore". He turned to Andromeda, "Aunt Andromeda, do you ever regret that you married for love?"

She shook her head, "No, I would do it a hundred times if the need be".

He beamed at her, "That is what I thought". He turned to Nymphadora, "Will you tell them or should I do it?"

She rolled her eyes, "Do you think I am afraid? No, I would say it a hundred times that I am in love with Remus Lupin".

Andromeda raised her glass, "A worthy choice".

Harry started grinning, "That is good. Now we come to Sirius and Emmeline".

Sirius asked him, "What do you mean?"

Harry asked him innocently, "Do you mean to say that you do not wish to marry her after you have been courting her for months now?"

Sirius's condition was that of a person caught between a rock and a hard place. If he denied, Emmeline would kill him. If he accepted, Harry would insist on marriage as soon as possible. But perhaps it would not be so bad After all. James had been the happiest after he had married.

He turned to Harry, "I do wish to marry her but I have yet to properly propose to her. I would like to do that with all pomp and grandeur. I had not expected it to be so sudden".

Emmeline snapped at him, "As it happens, he has just asked you. You are yet to propose. What are you waiting for?"

They talked about possible dates for the wedding but Andromeda told him not to waste his brain cells on it. She would coerce the four of them into finding a date in the near future. The meeting ended with Sirius returning to the Cottage while Harry remained in the Town House.

Before he went to sleep, Harry received a letter from a Barn owl. It was a letter which contained no crest so he had no idea about the identity of the sender. He cast a few detection spells at the letter before he opened it. It turned out that it was a plea from a family member.

_"My Lord_

_I, as a daughter of your house, am eligible for your protection. I have the right to ask a boon of you in that capacity. What I want to ask is of a sensitive nature. It cannot be asked for in a letter therefore I urge you to grace me with a meeting in the Hogs Head three days hence at 08:00 in the evening. I swear on my magic that there is no deceit involved. I will not bring any cattle with me._

_Narcissa Cassiopeia Malfoy nee Black_

_Lady Regent for House Malfoy"_

Harry thought about the letter for some time before he decided that as a member of his house, she was entitled to ask a boon of him. He was bound to give it if it was reasonable. He wrote a reply to her immediately agreeing to meet her in the Hogs Head while once more cautioning her against trying to betray him.

Before he went to sleep though, he finished writing a letter which he had been working on for the last few days and sent it with Hedwig. If things went well then within a week, the Daily Prophet would be publishing an article which would change the perception of wizarding Britain.

**Unknown Castle**

Voldemort was furious. It looked like he had inherited the worst sort of luck since he had been reborn. None of his plans were succeeding. And now he was wandless. His foolish followers could not abduct a wand-maker, an ancient old wrinkled man at that. Now, Ollivander's shop was always guarded by 5 wizards. There were some really nasty wards active around his shop so he could not make another attempt at abducting him without losing more followers. There was only one way now, abducting a wand-maker from out of Wizarding Britain because every wand-maker in Great Britain seemed to have disappeared. He would also have to start putting his plans in action as soon as he could manage because the amount of time he lost would be equal to the amount of time the ministry had to make more preparations. The only good news was that the giants had finally made it to Wizarding Britain at last. They would bring some much needed relief for him and his followers.

He had dispatched Fenrir Greyback with a team of 3 Death Eaters out of Wizarding Britain to find a wand maker and bring him to the castle. There would be wands needed to be made in the near future for his followers after he had broken them out of Azkaban unless their wands could be found in the inventory of the prison.

Unknown to him, all the wands in the inventory of the Island fortress had been removed by the ministry. For those criminals who had been moved out of there and sent to different places, their wands had been placed in the inventory of the Ministry of Magic. For those who were die-hard death eaters or had been recently convicted for life, their wands had been snapped and burned. Wands belonging to wizards and witches like Bellatrix, Dolohov, Rookwood etc. had been destroyed by the ministry in an attempt to keep their wands from them. Dumbledore had used his influence as Supreme Mugwump to have other countries accept prisoners from Wizarding Britain until the time they could find another location to keep them but only those awarded with light sentences could be transferred. Nobody was willing to harbour hardened death eaters and risk attack from Voldemort. A slightly positive development had been that Nurmengard was willing to take some of the prisoners but the details were yet to be worked out. Sending someone to Nurmengard meant that they saw the last of those people but since Nurmengard was under the authority of the ICW, they would have to come to an agreement before anything could be done. Frank was not of the mind to let the ICW have even a bit of influence over his dealing with Dark Lord Infestation.

For the present, Voldemort wanted a wand and information. There was literally no news about Harold Peverell in the news papers. Now he was wary of his disappearance. Perhaps it was time that he took some time to hone his skills so he could emerge victorious against Peverell. He was freakishly powerful. He knew of the most ancient of magics. Only with his studies in Necromancy could Voldemort hope to stand against him now.

**London**

It was quite late when Harry finally went to sleep after finishing the letters he had to send without putting up any wards. Susan woke him up with a kiss. Harry woke up bleary eyed, his lips locked with her. He pulled her into an embrace, "That is the kind of good morning that I like, Miss Bones.".

She extricated herself from his embrace. She pointedly told him, "Come downstairs to the kitchen. We are leaving for King's Cross in an hour".

There were four Aurors on duty to escort him and Susan to King's Cross. He grumbled at being treated like a VIP but Susan pacified him by telling him that it was on Moody's orders. General Longbottom wanted him to be protected at all times. Since Sirius had disabled the floo in the Townhouse, they had to either walk to King's Cross or they could drive in Ministry cars to the station. The Aurors had chosen the latter. Within a few minutes, they were at the station, pulling their luggage on trolleys, entering the station.

Last night, Sirius had told Harry that he did not need Harry to get up yet, but he had to get going to the Ministry because he was needed there. Moony was at the Rosier Estate. That left just the two of them.

The effect of Voldemort's return was clearly visible as soon as he stepped on Platform No. 9 ¾ through the barrier from the muggle side. The mood was gloomy. The usual chatter and excitement was absent. Students were moving together in groups. No one was staying back.

He entered the usual last car of the train with Susan to find that his friends were already there. Ernie, Lilith, Daphne, Conrad, Justin, Mandy, Terry, Luna and to his surprise, Isobel McDougall who was sitting comfortably in Justin's arms. The last compartment was vacant for him and his group so he slipped his trunk into the over-head luggage rack with Susan's. He had released Hedwig to fly to Hogwarts ahead of them since there was no need to keep her cooped up in her cage when her rightful place was in the open sky. Susan told him that she had never brought a cage for her owl. It had travelled to Hogwarts ahead of her every year.

After stowing their trunks in the over-head compartments, they came down to the platform to wait for their friends. As expected, Neville and Hannah came together with an Auror guard. The Weasley's and Hermione came with about 10 minutes to go before 11 a.m. Harry frowned at Ron, "Could you lot not come sooner?"

Ron grinned, "What? And break with tradition?" This elicited laughter from others.

He also noticed that this was perhaps the first time that Molly Weasley had not come to see her children off to school. When he asked, Ron told him that she was making preparations for Bill's wedding, even if half-heartedly. If things go off without a hitch then Bill and Fleur will be married sometime during Beltane.

Luna Lovegood came to see them as the train was leaving London. When she saw him, she asked directly, "The Byangoma tells me that you met Nundus during your vacation. Did you like them?"

Harry tried to adopt a serious demeanour for her, "Luna, I liked the Nundus well enough but not enough to try to pet one".

That brought a smile to everyone's face. The prefects joined them about after an hour. As soon as they walked in, Ronald started saying all conspiratorially, "Guess what happened just now?"

Harry was indeed curious, "What happened?"

"Malfoy sat quietly in the Prefect's meeting. He did not raise his voice even once. He even tried to hand in his resignation to the Head Boy who refused. He has not been talking to Parkinson either. Something about her father being a coward", Ron told them gleefully.

Harry thought over his words for a minute before he started speaking, "I imagine his father being sent to Azkaban had this effect on him. I had also heard that Parkinson is on the run, perhaps in hiding with Voldemort. Without his father behind him, Malfoy cannot go around bullying others. If people actually knew about how quickly his father had been bested, it would make him feel even more ridiculous".

Hermione asked him, "You never told us about the battle in the atrium. What happened when you were facing him? Were you scared? What spells did he use? How did you counter them? How did you injure him?"

Harry glared at Ron who clamped Hermione's mouth and murmured into her ear, "Hermione, please breathe. You are getting into a rant".

Harry was smirking, "I can see that you remain as inquisitive as ever. Okay to satisfy your curiosity, I will try to answer some of those questions". He turned to Susan, "I know you have wanted to ask me but you didn't because you want me to tell it in my own time".

He started retelling of the battle in the Atrium, "The battle was only 10 days ago, but it feels like it was another lifetime. Most of the details are hazy. We had cast so much magic that day that I am sure Voldemort would have been magically exhausted for days. As for fearing him, I would accept that I was a little scared but then being scared is natural. We laid a trap for him. When he appeared, I simply stepped out from under the disillusionment charm I had used, said to him 'Hi Tom'. He looked furious because I had the nerve to call him by his real name. What I remember clearly is that I drew first blood. There is nothing else I remember for certain. From what I heard from Headmaster, he had about a hundred broken bones, innumerable bruises, lacerations, a nasty concussion, 2nd and 3rd degree burns. I was the lucky one. I escaped with only a bone breaker to my off hand and magical exhaustion which was cured by the next morning. It was the most arduous duel that I have fought yet in my life. Despite using magic, it took them 9 days to cure him". Harry deliberately left the part about mind magic out. He trusted his friends but he was not going to create an opportunity for news about what he had learned from Tom during that encounter to get back to him.

Hermione protested, "Harry that is not fair. You have barely told us anything".

He looked at her curiously, reading her surface thoughts, "Hermione, your mind is still an open book. Even though I am not casting a spell, I can read your surface thoughts. Until you are proficient in Occlumency, I am not giving up a single detail. It is for your protection as much as it is for mine".

Something different happened during that train ride. Neither Malfoy nor any of his cronies turned up at their compartment for their obligatory visit. In fact, Harry was pretty bored without the ferret coming up. He went to look for him. Malfoy was in a compartment with other Slytherins from his year. They all looked pretty subdued. Malfoy was sitting by himself looking out of the window. Parkinson was sitting cosily with Nott. Every now and then, she would give a glance at Malfoy who seemed to not care at all. Crabbe and Goyle were there sitting in their places, perhaps waiting for Malfoy to do or to say something.

Harry remembered that the Malfoys had not been seen in Wizarding Britain since Lucius had been convicted. From what the Goblins had told the ministry, House Malfoy had no liquid assets in their vaults to pay the fine. Frank had wanted to seize the assets but Narcissa came out of nowhere with a cheque for 2 million Galleons. She had disappeared again the same day. Some spies of Dumbledore reported that she was headed to somewhere in Asia Minor. He would know the truth for certain within 2 days though.

Leaving his musings for later, he went in search of others. He was hailed by a lot of students who were on the express including the muggle-born who had come to the Ball. Sirius told him that all of them had been taken to their residences by the members of the Order to safely escort them and to see where they lived in case they needed to visit them sometime soon.

The low winter sun had set hours ago by the time that the Express pulled into Hogsmeade station. There were the carriages with their lamps lit, lined up to take them to the castle. One of the carriages was taken by Harry, Susan, Neville, Hannah, Ronald and Hermione.

One strange thing that had happened was that the carriage did not take them all the way up to the castle but stopped at the gates. On the gate there were 8 Aurors who were going through people's trunks to see if they had brought any dark magic items with them to the school. Harry had never been more thankful than that moment for the space under the Fidelius charm in his trunk. At the last count, he had a sword, two wands and 5 Grimoires stored in that area. He was also angry at Sirius for not telling him about the beefed up security at the castle. Filch was looking truly evil with the probity probe in his hand. The way he was jabbing everyone thoroughly, Harry was sure that the caretaker was really enjoying the work.

The Auror who was checking the trunks was now looking into Harry's library. Many of the books which were from the Black Library had caught his eye. He was reading their titles, frowning. When he had looked at all the books, he called over his supervisor showing him the books. Harry heard mutterings of, "Dark magic" and something that sounded like confiscated.

The Auror supervisor, who by his looks was somewhere in his 50s, asked, "Whose trunk is this?"

The tone of his voice suggested that he thought himself to be on a higher pedestal than whoever owned that trunk. Harry normally had no problem with pretenders but this one rubbed him the wrong way. He carelessly stepped forward and said, "If you had looked at the crest on the trunk, you would not need to ask such foolish questions".

The Auror recognised him. He immediately bowed low, "Lord Peverell".

"Is there a problem with my trunk?" Harry asked.

The Auror said hesitantly, "These books are on Dark Magic, Lord Peverell. I fear we have to confiscate them".

Harry sighed, thinking about the argument he would have with the Auror just for a couple of books. Just then Moody was seen coming towards the gate, growling, "What is the matter here?"

The Auror showed the books to him. He retold everything he had just said.

Moody looked at the Auror as if he was speaking a different language, "Who gave you orders to confiscate books? If these are not cursed then return them to their place. Let them go in. There are a lot more students to come through". He turned to Harry, "Come along, lad. Bring your friends. I will escort you all to the Great Hall".

As Harry stepped past the gate, he could feel that there was something very nasty, hostile around him. It looked like it had surrounded Hogwarts like a gigantic dome. It was over-bearing on his senses. Harry faltered for a moment. Moody asked him, "Felt them, did you?"

Harry asked him confused, "Yes. I felt something. What was that?"

Moody grimaced, "The war wards of Hogwarts. They are nasty, hostile at first but not so once we have been given admittance. For us who are extremely sensitive to magic, we can feel them on our skin more sharply than others. The headmaster has access to these wards. They can only be activated in times such as these. These wards will not allow anything to fly from outside to inside the castle grounds nor allow anything to go out except Owls or Thestrals or Hippogriffs. If anyone with hostile intentions tried to enter by force, they would be incinerated. Within an area of two kilometres in all directions, Hogwarts is now impenetrable except by the leave of the Headmaster".

Susan asked him, "How could you feel them? I mean I felt a slight tingling on my skin but I did not falter".

Moody smirked, "It varies from Wizard to wizard. Sometimes, their power also matters. The more powerful the wizard is, the more they would be sensitive to magic".

They all sat at their tables for the feast. Dumbledore took to the lectern as soon as they were done with the feast. He peered over at the students through his half-moon glasses before he started addressing them, "I know most of you have spent the winter vacation hearing all sorts of things about a boy called Tom Riddle. He lived in this castle, walked these corridors, studied among the students, turned to evil later. He is so evil that he is indisputably the worst dark lord of modern times. Yes, there was a battle in the Ministry Atrium. I hope none of you will inundate Mr. Peverell with requests to hear about it.

Further, security around the castle has been increased. The war wards are active. No one can go out of the castle unless I permit them to. No one who has hostile intentions can enter here without my leave.

Aurors are stationed around Hogwarts. I ask you all to co-operate with them. They have been asked by their head to not be lenient in dealing with those who disobey their orders. I would urge you all to not go looking for trouble.

Lastly, Merlin forbid, if anyone of you is found with a dark mark then you will immediately be carted off to Azkaban since the punishment for being a death eater is life-long incarceration in the Island fortress. Now off you all trot to your beds to get rested for lessons which resume tomorrow".

**Chamber of Secrets**

The first thing he did that night was to go to the Chamber of Secrets. As he had expected, Vikram was there waiting for him.

As soon as he saw Harry, Vikram whipped out his wand and sent a curse at Harry. Harry however was alert. He dodged the curse which to his horror was an entrails expelling curse. He sent the same curse at Vikram who swatted it away with ease. Harry asked him, "Were you trying to kill me, Professor?"

The other man snorted, "Hardly. It was not even a challenge to you. I just wanted to know if you had become lax with all the holidays and lack of practice".

Harry shook his head, "No. I did not tell anyone but I had not been feeling my full strength until the Ball. Charak told me that it can happen in cases of severe magical exhaustion. The only cure is lots of rest so I was keeping away from all practice".

The mystic nodded, "How was Ireland?"

Harry had a pleasant expression on his face, "Awesome. I truly enjoyed it. What was Pashupati doing there though? And how the Nundus got there?"

The mystic replied, "He was there on orders from Guruji. Mystics had been called from Adrishpuram to be around the manor where you had stayed. The Nundus were escaped from the nearest magical reserve where they are kept contained. Pashupati told me that you did the right thing when you came across the Nundus but why did you let her know that you can fly?"

"What else could I do?", Harry asked him. "I had lost concentration. I could not apparate so I had to fly. However be assured that she would never say a word about it".

That night, Harry kept duelling with Vikram for two hours before he decided to go to sleep. It had been a tiring night. He could hear his bed calling to him.

**A bear**

Bed, as it turned out had to wait for him. Harry came across the strangest sight on his way to the Gryffindor Common Room. On the seventh floor, he saw a bear going in the direction of the Room of Requirements. He could not understand how a bear could have entered the castle despite the security measures in place.

He decided to transform into Blizz and follow the bear quietly. He did not want to kill the bear and if it came to a fight with wands, he may accidentally end up killing it. The only way was to subdue it. With his padded foot, he followed the bear into the Room of Requirement. He decided to give it a fright. He raised his head and gave a mighty growl.

The bear almost fell on its hindquarters in its haste to turn towards the Snow leopard. The bear looked eerily familiar to Harry but he could not understand why. The bear, thinking there was a threat to its life, swung its mighty paw towards the leopard. But the leopard was as nimble as it was powerful. It dodged the swipe aimed at him before taking a swipe with its own paws (No claws). Soon there was a fight going on with neither the bear giving up nor the leopard willing to step back.

They could have gone on for longer but a cat jumped between them looking angry, meowing loudly. Harry was caught up in the heat of the moment. He was about to strike the cat but noticed the markings around its eyes. At the last second, he stayed his paw.

The cat turned into Professor McGonagall (of course who else could it be?). She was glaring at both of them, looking extremely angry and displeased. Her mouth resembled the thinnest of lines. She had her wand pointed at both of them. "Really!", she barked, "Was it so hard for you to stay out of trouble for an hour?".

Harry realised she was addressing the bear. She then turned to Harry, "Now Mr. Peverell, will you transform on your own volition or do you want me to do the honours?"

Harry transformed at the same moment as the bear. He was astonished to see Neville Longbottom! "How?", he asked in surprise, "When did you become an animagus?".

Neville was grinning, "Uncle Algie started the training last summer. It was taken over by Professor McGonagall when I came back to school. Today was the first time that I transfigured. She went to fetch some potions for me. I decided that there was no harm in having a look around. I never noticed you coming behind me. I see you have kept this a secret from me, mate. Was that the first time you transformed today?"

**A/N- let's see who remembers it. There was an indication that there was at least a student going through the process of becoming an Animagus in one of the previous chapters. When was it? Can anyone give me the general idea?**

This chapter marks the end of the first part of this story. The next part will not be so long. It will more like feature important things. I would not go into day to day details because that gets arduous after some time. Keep enjoying!

I have had heard so many hateful things about the pairings I did. I was disappointed with it. I do not think that Susan is worth of all the hate that some people chose to give her. True there was not much to the start of their romance but Romance was not the focal point of this story since the start. I hope you all would like what is there in the coming chapters.

I know there are a lot of open ends in this part. I want you all to compile all those open ends and make a list. I want to see how many of you have paid attention to them. In the next part which I have named _**Harold Peverell and the Order of Snow Leopard, **_I will be closing the ends one by one.


	48. Chapter 48

Hello Guys,

Lord of the mystics here.

While this is not a chapter but I am here to have a Heart to heart with you all. I know many of you did not really like this story much but this has been loved enough time to make me feel over-whelmed. I had never imagined I can write something which would be so well liked.

Now that we are done with this part, I want to ask you all to do a small favour to me. While I know I do not get much in way of reviews but I want you all to list your favourite characters and your favourite moments so far. i would love to know it.

Second thing, I know I left a lot of open ends in this part. i want you all to drag my attention to such open ends so that we may be sure of having closed all of them. I would be grateful to you all.

Love to you all awesome readers.

Yatharth


	49. Chapter 49

A lot of people have been asking me if i abandoned this story. in fact, some of the regulars of this story did not read the next part and i was counting on them to do so. I have not abandoned this story. This part was finished and I continued the story in Harold Peverell and the Order of Snow Leopard. The story is on my profile and updating regularly.

Thank you all.


End file.
